Novak Djokovic started the 2023 Wimbledon with a dominant win over Pedro Cachin. This is the first time Djokovic is encountering Cachin on the ATP Tour.
The 2023 Wimbledon open match between Djokovic and the World No. 68 from Argentina on Monday took longer than probably expected because of the rain, starting at 1:30 PM local time. The players played for only around two hours, and the match ended nearly four hours after it started.
Amazingly, Novak Djokovic, the second seed and seven-time Wimbledon champion, helped to dry the Centre Court’s grass with his own towel until the grass was sufficiently dry.
A Grand Slam tournament’s first match is demanding and burdensome, hence players don’t want to spend a lot of time on the court, saving energy for the subsequent rounds.
Notably, Djokovic is as motivated as ever while fighting for the World No. 1 spot on the ATP Tour at this year’s competition, and it was obvious in his first-round match, and the Serb didn’t want to wait a long time before displaying his talents to his rival.
But it was Cachin who had his say first. The Argentinian broke the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s serve to lead 2-1 in the opening set, but Djokovic, immediately responded with a break back, tennis-infinity.com reports.
Adding another break, the 36-year-old won the opening set 6-3, but the rain already started falling down as the roof had to be closed after the opening set and the court had to be covered.
Once the players returned to the court, it was too slippery to continue and even Djokovic helped to dry it.
Players had to wait over 70 minutes before finally continuing, but the break didn’t stop Djokovic. He started the second set with a break, and once again, he added one more break to win the second set 6-3, and head into the third set with a 2-0 lead.
The third set proved to be the most challenging for the Serb. Cachin had more break points than his opponent, but after both players failed to use their chances, the set had to be decided in a tie-break.
Using his experience, Djokovic showed why he’s the best player in the world when it comes to tie-breaks, and won it 7-4 to win the match 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) and set up a second-round meeting with Jordan Thompson, who defeated Brandon Nakashima in five sets.
In his post-match press interview, Djokovic said, “It was definitely frustrating for the crowd, waiting for us to come on the court. And for us players, we both wanted to play but the conditions were still slippery. But this is the holy grail, the temple of tennis, this court, it’s really something special.
“And every time I come out, I usually come out with racquets, not with towels, but it was fun to do something different, but hopefully, you guys liked it.”
