Novak Djokovic wins in Wimbledon return, shakes off injury doubts ...

The seven-time champion won his first match since undergoing surgery for a torn medial meniscus, an injury that forced him to pull out of Roland Garros ahead of the quarterfinals.

A seven-deuce fourth game effectively decided the first set, with Djokovic, donning a prominent grey-colored sleeve on his knee, converting his sixth break point of the mini-marathon. Running away with the next three games, the Serb nabbed two more breaks in the second set to earn a two-set lead and shook off some frustration to put himself in a winning position after breaking the Czech in the fifth game of the third.

Djokovic, who only trails Roger Federer in Wimbledon main-draw match wins (105), was fleet of foot throughout the contest, proving his knee could withstand the pressure of a best-of-five match as he turned around a 40-30 deficit on Kopriva's serve to put himself a game away from the second round.

Surging to match point in just under two hours, Djokovic struck a trio of aces to ease over the finish line with minimal wear and tear to keep his hopes of an eighth Wimbledon victory alive.

In the bottom half of the draw alongside projected quarterfinal and semifinal opponents Hubert Hurkacz and Alexander Zverev, Djokovic will next face either Jacob Fearnley, a British wild card, or Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Cañas.