Novak Djokovic passed his first real test at this year's Wimbledon in impressive fashion on Saturday, coming from a set down to beat Kyle Edmund and reach the fourth round.

A three-time champion at SW19, Djokovic is seeded 12th on this occasion, with the Serbian still seeking a return to his very best form after significant injury troubles.

However, he certainly looked capable of reaching the latter stages once again - and potentially a semi-final against world number one Rafael Nadal - as he recovered from a shaky start to beat 21st seed Edmund 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.

After struggling throughout the opening set, Djokovic responded to falling behind by adopting a more aggressive approach that soon paid dividends.

He will now face Karen Khachanov on Monday, while Great Britain are without a representative for the second week of the men's singles following Edmund's exit.

If there was a feel-good factor on Centre Court in the immediate aftermath of England reaching the World Cup semi-finals in Russia, it was soon enhanced as the home favourite claimed the first set despite landing less than half of his first serves.

Djokovic saw chances go begging in the opener, but stepped things up in set two and deservedly levelled after repeatedly putting pressure on the Edmund serve.

The former world number one was certainly fired up, perhaps as a result of the support for his opponent from a partisan crowd, but looked firmly in control as he powered through the third set.

A controversial incident at 3-3 in the fourth left Djokovic understandably frustrated, with the ball appearing to bounce for a second time before Edmund got his racquet to it and saved a break point on his way to a valuable hold. The umpire and line judges also missed the fact the ball had drifted wide.

Edmund could not avoid being broken in his next service game, though, and Djokovic served out the match with minimal fuss.

 

 

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN 
Djokovic [12] bt Edmund [21] 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS 
Djokovic - 18/2
Edmund - 11/4

BREAK POINTS WON 
Djokovic - 4/17 
Edmund - 1/5

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE 
Djokovic - 74
Edmund - 60

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE 
Djokovic - 82/56
Edmund - 65/50

TOTAL POINTS 
Djokovic - 133
Edmund - 106