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In his 21st Wimbledon and 116th match at the All England Club, the 39-year-old Novak Djokovic fought like a lion as he kicked off his quest for a men’s record-equalling eighth title with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win against China’s Wu Yibing.

The scoreline tells only half the story. Djokovic looked comfortable in the first set but Wu, a huge talent whose career has been badly affected by injury, began to cut loose, slapping winners from the baseline, especially on his forehand. The third set was crucial as Djokovic snatched the vital break and then won a long deuce game to seal it. In the fourth, he withstood huge pressure from Wu before breaking in the ninth game and serving out to love to maintain his record of never having lost in the first round at Wimbledon.

“It felt really challenging for me today,” said Djokovic. “Wu deserves a huge round of applause for his performance. It didn’t feel like the first round to be honest.”

The match began with the roof open but it was closed after Wu won the second set. “Felt like we played two different matches, without roof and closed roof,” Djokovic said. “You kind of have to try to adjust to that and adapt to that but it’s not easy. He put me under a lot of pressure. He definitely surprised me with every shot he had in his game. I was lucky he missed the overhead on break point [at 4-4 in the fourth set]. I probably should have lost that fourth set, he had a few break points. These kind of matches are decided in a few points.

“Thankfully I have experience of playing on this court that can help me a little bit. It would be nice to combine experience with a new, young, fresh body.”

Djokovic is the last man standing of the old big three, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal long retired. When Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz stepped into the vacant space, it seemed as if they would go on to dominate for years. They may still do, but with Alcaraz missing from Wimbledon this year and Sinner losing early at the French Open and struggling here on day one, there is room for others to step up.

The two most likely seem to be João Fonseca and Rafael Jódar, a Brazilian and a Spaniard with huge games, no fear and the belief that they belong at the very top. Both men eased through their openers on Monday; Fonseca took care of the Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3 while Jódar eased past Britain’s Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

It was Jódar’s first Tour level match on grass. “This surface is a bit different from the other two,” Jódar said. “You have to pay more attention to every detail, because everything goes very fast, and if you don’t serve very well one game, then getting that break back is difficult. I think I handled very well the situations in the match today.”