Novak Djokovic’s form compared to Andy Murray as Rafael Nadal offered no hope at Wimbledon

Wimbledon: Sue Barker introduces Novak Djokovic

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Thanasi Kokkinakis believes not even Rafael Nadal will be able to stop Novak Djokovic from winning his 21st Grand Slam title at Wimbledon if he continues playing at his current level. The Serb dropped just seven games as he blasted his way past Kokkinakis on Centre Court on Wednesday.

The Aussie even compared Djokovic’s level to that of Andy Murray when he lost to the Brit in the 2015 Davis Cup final 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.

“Yeah, feels like a while [since I played an opponent at that level]. Maybe when I had Murray in Davis Cup,” Kokkinakis said. “It was tough. The court felt slow. Again, obviously he has a big part to do with that, but I felt if I wasn’t landing my first within sort of an inch of the line, it was tough. He was middling it and putting it back on my toes.

“Yeah, he was too good today, wasn’t letting me play my game and free up. Then, yeah, just makes you work for a lot of things and just moves so well on it. When he got me moving, I felt like I was almost going to stack it every time I was wide. It was tough.”

Kokkinakis was asked if anyone could stop Djokovic and he replied: “Hopefully not if he plays like that, because if someone beats him when he’s playing like that it means I’m even further off than I thought. I hope not. Hope not if he plays like that anyway.”

He added: “As I said, he played great today. He returned unbelievable, just did everything well. I mean, I had that many rallies where I felt like he was at net as well, and he was just guessing the right way. Every passing shot I had I just didn’t really see a way forward. Yes, I could have played better.

“The crowd was great. Playing on that Centre Court was unreal. It was a great opportunity for me. Came out a little nervy. Again, he kind of got early breaks in most of the sets, and then when he opens up and frees up, it made it really tough for me.”

“He’s a wall. It’s playing a wall,” Kokkinakis explained. “That’s what it felt like. It felt like he just did everything right. He had a high first-serve percentage, he returned great. He volleyed well. He just made things uncomfortable. Tactically he was on point against me. He was rushing me quick.

“This is probably my least-favourite surface and I’m not super comfortable moving, especially after stacking it pretty bad sort of a month ago. I’m not super comfortable on this stuff. He definitely made me feel uncomfortable out there.”

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