Novak Djokovic launched his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title on Monday with a fortieth successive win on Centre Court whereas American stars Coco Gauff and Venus Williams have been knocked out. The 36-year-old Djokovic, who has received the previous 4 titles on the All England Club, defeated 68th-ranked Pedro Cachin of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on the match’s showpiece courtroom, the place he has not misplaced since 2013. Djokovic even discovered time to assist floor employees dry out the world’s most well-known garden after the floor grew to become too slippery following a downpour.

The roof was closed however play didn’t resume for about 90 minutes, a lot to the frustration of the followers.

“When I come out, I usually come out with racquets, not towels,” mentioned Djokovic, who described the courtroom as “the holy grail, the temple of tennis”.

He added: “The conditions were not great under the roof, it was still slippery. I think it was definitely frustrating for the crowd waiting for us.”

Grand Slam

The Serbian, bidding to match Roger Federer’s males’s document of eight Wimbledon titles, goes on to face Australia’s Jordan Thompson for a spot within the third spherical.

World quantity two Djokovic has already pocketed the Australian Open and French Open this 12 months.

Winning a males’s-record twenty third main in Paris put him only one behind Margaret Court’s all-time singles mark of 24.

He can also be half method to pulling off the primary calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

In the day’s greatest shock, seventh-ranked Gauff slumped to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 defeat to fellow American Sofia Kenin, who got here via qualifyng.

Kenin, now ranked 128th on this planet, was Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up in 2020 earlier than harm and lack of kind noticed her profession slip right into a downward spiral.

“This means a lot — I had to go through qualies (qualification),” she mentioned. “I battled out there. I am super proud of myself.

An emotional Gauff admitted she “had loads to work on”.

There was no fairytale for five-time champion Venus Williams, the 43-year-old American who made her debut at the tournament in 1997.

Williams, playing the singles event for the 24th time, was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by fellow wild card Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, a semi-finalist in 2019.

Williams took a nasty tumble early in the first set on Centre Court, hurting her right knee, which was already heavily strapped.

She required two visits by the trainer before her challenge fizzled out under the weight of 33 unforced errors.

‘Killed by the grass’

“I used to be actually killing it, then I bought killed by the grass,” said Williams.

Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia was the first men’s winner of the day, beating Australia’s Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Twelve months ago, all Russian and Belarusian players were banned by Wimbledon in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

“I believe clearly there have been higher choices — not simply to ban,” said Rublev, who next faces compatriot Aslan Karatsev.

“Because ultimately, there was no distinction. They did solely worse to themselves.”

Fellow Russians Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova, as well as two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, were also first day winners.

World number one Iga Swiatek racked up the first five games on her way to sweeping past China’s Zhu Lin.

Reigning US Open and French Open champion Swiatek came through 6-1, 6-3 against her 34th-ranked opponent.

“I really feel assured and did job of adjusting to grass,” said the 22-year-old Pole, who has yet to get past the last 16 at Wimbledon.

Security tight

Also making the next round were men’s fourth seed Casper Ruud and eighth-seeded Jannik Sinner.

This year’s tournament is being played under tightened security over fears that climate activists could disrupt matches following high-profile protests at other sporting events.

Three protesters from Just Stop Oil ran onto the ground during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last week, sprinkling the group’s trademark orange powder.

“Of course we have taken account of what we have seen elsewhere so safety has been uplifted in varied locations across the grounds,” said All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton.

The extra security measures dampened the spirits of cold and wet fans lining up in Wimbledon’s famous queue.

One fan tweeted he had been waiting for five hours, blasting the delay as “shambolic”.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)