London, (Samajweekly) World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic got off to a shaky start but advanced to the second round at the Wimbledon championships, braving his way through a rain interruption to win his first-round match in straight sets.
The defending champion eased to a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) first-round triumph against Pedro Cachin to launch his bid for a fifth consecutive crown at the grass-court major in style. Djokovic dropped serve in the third game of the match but barely looked back from then on as he wrapped up a two-hour, 11-minute victory.
The seven-time champion fell behind in a first-round match against a player ranked No.64 in the world, trailing 1-2 in the opening set before coming back strongly after a rain delay to win his first-round match in two hours and 12 minutes.
The initial struggle was understandable as Djokovic was playing his first match, 22 days after winning the French Open title in Paris. He took time to settle down and once he did that, breezed through the first and second sets.
After claiming the opening set, a one-hour, 29-minute rain delay, during which Djokovic helped ground staff dry Centre Court with a towel, only appeared to galvanise the Serbian further. He broke the No. 68-ranked Cachin in the first game after the resumption and frequently had the Argentine scrambling with some trademark pinpoint returning.
It was Djokovic’s 29th consecutive tour-level win on grass. The 36-year-old seeks to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles this year in London, where he can also displace Carlos Alcaraz as No. 1 in the ATP Rankings by lifting the trophy. Djokovic, who has now won 22 matches in a row at majors dating back to Wimbledon last year, became the first man to win 23 Grand Slam titles by triumphing at Roland Garros in May.
His second-round challenge at the All-England Club will be a maiden meeting with Jordan Thompson. The Australian earlier pulled off a stunning turnaround to down Brandon Nakashima 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3.
Earlier, Andrey Rublev advanced to the second round on the opening day with a straight-sets defeat of Australian Max Purcell.
Rublev moved past Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the Gentlemen’s Singles clash played on Court No.3. Aslan Karatsev came back from a set deficit to beat #NextGenATP star Luca Van Assche of France 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in 3 hours and 20 minutes on Court 7 while 14th seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy cruised to a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory against Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru in early first round encounters. The 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland too advanced to the second round, beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes.
