Novak Djokovic overcame Horacio Zeballos on Wimbledon’s Court 2 on Thursday. Michael Hincks was there to watch his rare outing on away from Centre Court and Court One.

There were plenty of raised eyebrows when Thursday’s Order of Play revealed Djokovic would be out on Court 2 against Zeballos.

World No 1 Rafael Nadal and Britain’s two greatest hopes, Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta, occupied Centre Court, while there was no room on Court One for Djokovic – or even defending women’s champion Garbine Muguruza - with Alexander Zverev and Juan Martin del Potro’s among the preferred matches instead.

It was a court placing in line with his seeding as opposed to his history, following the fact that on paper this was the No 12 seed playing world No 126 – and ignoring the three Wimbledon titles he has won to date.

It would have been an unfamiliar walk for the former world No 1 as he made his way towards the most southern court on the grounds, especially as it was the best part of a decade since he has last played away from Centre or One. But he took it all in his stride.

A splattering of applause greeted Djokovic and Zeballos onto Court 2, but there was no sign of the Serb’s discontent. If anything, he looked like he meant business.

And as the crowd slowly edged towards its full capacity, Djokovic proved that he really is nearing his maximum potential once more, wrapping up the first set in just 22 minutes.

After taking an early break in the second set, Djokovic faced his first great test on serve, but from 0-40 down he fought back, first by outlasting the Argentine in an arduous rally, and then by reeling off four aces in a row.

In true ruthless style, Djokovic broke in the following game, and found himself two sets and two games to the good by the time the clock hit one hour.

The one hitch in his display was the need for a medical time-out, with a lengthy massage of the left leg ensuing. Upon resuming, it drove Djokovic towards wrapping the match up quickly, and he did so just two games later after breaking Zeballos for a sixth time.

After the match, he was inevitably asked about the injury scare.

“It was a bad move during the point,” he said. “It affected my knee a little bit. It seems like it's nothing major. Hopefully tomorrow I'll see on the practice session how it feels.

“When I say 'not major,' if it was major I'd be pulling out from the tournament.”

So after quelling fears of a potential injury, what did he make of his outing on No 2?

“It doesn't bother me,” he said. “I was enjoying it. It was interesting. I think what was different is the walk to the court. Obviously the crowd, everybody cheering you on, wishing you luck, after the match congratulating you. That was quite special, quite different. I haven't experienced that in a while in Wimbledon.”

There was also time for tge 31-year-old to joke about an ‘OldGen Tour’ after being overlooked on the show courts in favour of youngsters Zverev and Taylor Fritz, but japes aside, this was a Djokovic, both during and after the match, that had a steely determination to his walk and talk.

A third-round match against Kyle Edmund most likely awaits the 12-time Grand Slam champion, and with it the near-guarantee of a Centre Court showing. There will be no more Court 2 for Djokovic – familiar territory awaits.