Novak Djokovic cruises into Wimbledon second round after victory over Jordan Thompson  

If stopping oil is the protest of the day, stopping Novak Djokovic is the challenge of the sports era. Alas, Jordan Thompson would probably never be the man to disrupt the inevitable.

But at least he did well. With 21 aces, a modest number of mistakes and a determination to dream, the world number 70 played one of the best matches of his career.

And yet that’s the problem with facing Djokovic – your best will is usually measured by the respectability of the defeat it achieves. In this instance, that meant a commendable 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 loss for the Australian and another of those early round opportunities where Djokovic works his way to turf familiarity.

Even in his lower gears, the 23-time Slam winner has never conceded a single break point against a man who has contested two Tour-level finals on this surface. In fact, the closest he came to a fight or stress once the match ended was when he turned to a vocal group of Aussie fans on Center Court and held his ear.

Perhaps we can return to the old story of a great champion who has yet to find love here, as Roger Federer once did. That much is indisputable and valid.

The Serb praised his “very special, romantic relationship” with Center Court

Djokovic will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry or former Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka

But it’s equally true that such adoration is one of the few items Federer can hold about Djokovic at this point. There’s also the matter of his eight Wimbledon titles, but it will take something very dramatic for Carlos Alcaraz or someone else to stop the 36-year-old from matching that record these two weeks.

“I don’t know if I wanted to meet Jordan so early in the tournament,” said Djokovic. “It was a great performance from him.”

It was indeed a fine effort, but again, everything is relative, as exemplified by 29-year-old Thompson, who seems to become disoriented on his way to the arena. For Djokovic, undefeated on that court since 2013, and Wimbledon overall since 2018, it’s more like a second home.

“Centre Court has been the most extraordinary court in tennis history,” he said. “It surprises me every time. This court and I have a very romantic relationship.

“It is a huge privilege at this age and at this stage of my career against the young guns. So far so good.’

This match rarely deviated from trend – Djokovic broke for 4-2 in the first set and never came close to giving up his serve in the numerical tightness of the second.

The tiebreak created some danger, especially as Thompson blasted down the aces, but the Australian’s double fault for 3-1 was decisive and Djokovic finished it off efficiently 7-4. The third was also a decent game, albeit more so on paper, before the world number 1 shifted his level slightly to break for 7-5.

Djokovic will then face the winner of the second round tie between Stan Wawrinka and Tomás Martín Etcheverry.