Preview: Wimbledon: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Novak Djokovic - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Fresh off a surprisingly hard-fought first-round win, Novak Djokovic returns to action on Wednesday when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Wimbledon second round.

The Serb needed three hours and 12 minutes to take down Wu Yibing, and he now faces Tsitsipas, who avoided consecutive first-round losses at the Championships by beating Hugo Gaston in straight sets.

Match preview

Djokovic has never lost a first-round match at the Championships in his career spanning over two decades, and it stayed that way on Monday, even though he had to battle hard against his Chinese opponent.

No player has more first-round wins in the Open Era than the Serbian's 81, even if he needed to respond and refocus after losing the second set to claim the third and fourth en route to a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 success.

With his last first-round loss at a Slam coming exactly two decades ago at the 2006 Australian Open, the 24-time victor at this level's consistency needs lauding.

Having not played any tennis since his dramatic five-set loss to Joao Fonseca at the French Open, the seven-time Wimbledon champion's level heading into the third Major of 2026 was unknown.

In truth, his baseline level remains superior to the majority of the field, but question marks will remain for the 39-year-old, who had understandably played four tournaments this year prior to Monday's victory.

Nevertheless, he heads into the midweek round-two meeting against Tsitsipas as a huge favourite, even though the Greek superstar comfortably dispatched Gaston in straight sets.

The triumph over the Frenchman means the former world No. 3 has avoided consecutive tournament-opening exits at SW19, after last year's retirement following a loss of the first two sets to Valentin Royer.

By defeating Gaston, Tsitsipas has now earned 10 career wins at the Championships in his ninth appearance, underlining his disappointing results in previous years.

Indeed, Tsitsipas's four first-round exits at this stage validate that notion, with a 50% win rate in tournament openers slightly improving to 55% after his 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Gaston.

Having reached the Wimbledon third round only three times, the former world No. 3 - whose ranking has slipped to No. 87 - undeniably faces an uphill battle even against a Djokovic no longer in his prime.

Tournament so far

Stefanos Tsitsipas:

First round: vs. Hugo Gaston 6-1 6-4 6-2

Novak Djokovic:

First round: vs. Wu Yibing 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4

Head To Head

Paris Olympics (2024) - Quarter-final: Djokovic 6-3 7-6(3)

Australian Open (2023) - Final: Djokovic 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5)

ATP Finals (2022) - Round Robin: Djokovic 6-4 7-6(4)

Paris Masters (2022) - Semi-final: Djokovic 6-2 3-6 7-6(4)

Astana Open (2022) - Final: Djokovic 6-3 6-4

Italian Open (2022) - Final: Djokovic 6-0 7-6(5)

French Open (2021) - Final: Djokovic 6-7(2) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4

Italian Open (2021) - Quarter-final: Djokovic 4-6 7-5 7-5

French Open (2020) - Semi-final: Djokovic 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 6-1

Dubai (2020) - Final: Djokovic 6-3 6-4

Paris Masters (2019) - Quarter-final: Djokovic 6-1 6-2

Shanghai Masters (2019) - Quarter-final: Tsitsipas 3-6 7-5 6-3

Madrid Open (2019) - Final: Djokovic 6-3 6-4

Canadian Open (2018) - Round of 16: Tsitsipas 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3

Although Tsitsipas and Djokovic have not met on the ATP Tour since the Serbian star's successful run to Olympic gold in Paris two years ago, the 24-time Slam champion remains the favourite, even at 39.

Having won two of their first three, Tsitsipas has since lost 11 consecutive meetings with the GOAT, including a chastening Roland Garros final defeat in 2021 after winning the first two sets.

Their earlier meetings often came in the later stages, but the former Greek No. 1's significant slide in the rankings makes Wednesday's encounter the earliest in their lopsided rivalry.

While Tsitsipas has a 100% record against top-10 players this year, facing Djokovic presents a different challenge entirely, especially at Wimbledon, where he has seldom pulled up trees.

We say: Djokovic to win in four sets

It is hard to make a case for Tsitsipas in this rivalry, given his 11-match losing run against Djokovic and his below-par historical record at the Championships.

Djokovic last suffered a second-round defeat at Wimbledon in 2008, and not even the Serbian superstar's competitive rustiness should cause a repeat on Wednesday.