Novak Djokovic has opened his 2016 Wimbledon campaign with a straight-sets victory over Great Britain's James Ward.
The defending champion had to work hard to see off the world number 177 but he sealed his place in the second round with a 6-0 7-6 6-4 win.
Djokovic did not play a warm-up event before the third Grand Slam of the year but he capitalised on Ward making his Centre Court debut to take the opening nine games.
However, an inspired run of games from Ward saw him not only break Djokovic's serve, but save break points on his own delivery to reach a second-set tie-break.
Djokovic used his greater experience to come through the breaker 7-3 and an early break of serve in the third enabled the world number one to remain in control.
Ward continued to fight against the three-time winner at SW19 but he was unable to break back as Djokovic set up a clash with Adrian Mannarino, who had defeated Kyle Edmund earlier on Monday.
Darren Plant
