"If it was for any other tournament, I wouldn't risk it" - Novak Djokovic professes his 'love' for Wimbledon after 1R victory in knee injury comeback

Novak Djokovic opened his Wimbledon campaign with a straight-sets win over Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. The Serb was clinical, dropping just five games en route to the 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Djokovic, who is bidding to break Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles, was not even sure of playing at the All England Club this year until a week ago.

Djokovic had sustained a knee injury that forced him out of the French Open and he had been in recovery ever since. After his win, the top seed said in his on-court interview that he would not have played had it been any other tournament, before talking about the love he had for Wimbledon.

The Serbian spoke about his three-week recuperation period and expressed his happiness at finally being able to compete. He claimed to have done everything in his power to earn himself a chance to play.

“I tried to really focus on the game and not really think too much about the knee,” Novak Djokovic said. “Everything I could possibly do, I have done, along with my team, in the past three and a half weeks in order to give myself a chance to be able to play."

"I think if it was for any other tournament, I probably wouldn’t risk it or rush it as much, but I just love Wimbledon,” he added.

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"I was very pleased with the way I moved on the court" - Novak Djokovic on his opening opening round win

Novak Djokovic during his first-round match Wimbledon.

During his interview, Novak Djokovic also discussed how he felt about his performance in the first round match against Vit Kopriva, calling it "very good." The top seed said he was pretty pleased with his movements on the court. He added that the team had very little idea how he would perform in a competitive setting given his injury concerns, but was happy with how things unfolded.

“It was very good. I was very pleased with the way I moved on the court today. Obviously coming into Wimbledon this year, it was a little bit of a different circumstance for me because of the knee," Djokovic said.

"I didn’t know how everything was going to unfold on the court really. Practice sessions are quite different to official match play, so I’m just extremely glad about the way I played and the way I felt today," he added.

Djokovic will take on local wildcard Jacob Fearnley in the second round. The Briton got the better of Alejandro Moro Canas in his opener.