ATP Eastbourne: Novak Djokovic records easy win in Aegon International opener

The Serbian won his first match at the Aegon International at Eastbourne on Wednesday, defeating Canada's Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes amid his preparation for the grand slam that starts on Monday.

Inconsistent form over the past 12 months has resulted in Djokovic losing his grip on all four of the sport's majors and the appointment of Andre Agassi as his coach, as well as a change from his pre-Wimbledon routine.

His presence for the first time at Eastbourne represents his first participation in an official grass-court competition between the French Open and Wimbledon since 2010.

It is also an obvious attempt by the three-time Wimbledon champion to strengthen his chances a year after he failed to retain his All England Club title, and he said: "It is liberating a bit.

"I was very fortunate and privileged to have so much success in the last eight, nine years, and kind of entered most of the tournaments as one of the biggest favourites. So for a change it's good to not be one of the top favourites.

"It releases a bit of the pressure. It's always there. You still feel it. It's part of what I do. And what I have achieved so far has added to those expectations.

"I try to lower those expectations myself, because I really want to as much as I can, in this stage of my life and career, be in the moment and trying to focus only on what comes up next, which doesn't mean that I don't want to win the trophies."

Djokovic, ranked fourth in the world, was seeded at number two on Wednesday by Wimbledon organisers.

"I want to thank Wimbledon for getting me two spots ahead than I'm actually ranked," he said. 

"It's probably due to also the good results I have had in the last three, four years in Wimbledon. Whether it helps or not, I can't say at the moment.

"It doesn't make too much of a difference other than I'm not going to potentially meet Andy (Murray) in semis rather than finals, but it's too far away. As I said, I don't see myself as one of the top few favourites.

"I'm glad that I'm one of the top four seeds, which is important, in a way, but whether I'm two, three, four, it's not a significant difference."

Agassi is to join the 30-year-old, the top seed at Eastbourne, ahead of the start of Wimbledon and the American is monitoring his progress from afar.

"Andre is following a lot," Djokovic said. "He's watching TV, my matches, trying to follow any of my next opponents.

"Even though when we are a distance from each other or not together, we still keep the communication on more or less a daily basis. He shares his thoughts. He obviously wants me to share what I feel and how I see things.

"It's still quite early in the relationship, so we are still getting to know each other, getting a sense of how we go about tennis, about life, and what are our perspectives and analysis of the match. But so far we have managed to connect very quickly. That's the great thing."

Pospisil, who tested Djokovic at times during their encounter, does not consider the Serbian the favourite for Wimbledon, but insists he retains his aura.

"He's a 12-time grand slam champion so that aura will be there for the rest of his career - it's just about how he's feeling about his game more than about how other people are looking at him," the Canadian said.

"He's not winning every single tournament that he plays, like at his best, but what he's accomplished can't be taken away from him. 

"I wouldn't say he was the favourite but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he turned it around at Wimbledon.

"I feel like maybe he's cleared whatever issues he had. He seemed more relaxed. You have to look at (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal, who have won Wimbledon a few times. They are the two guys who have had the best form this year."