Novak Djokovic dried the court with his towel and urged the crowd to “blow” in a farcical rain delay as his Wimbledon title defence began with a win.
Djokovic beat Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4) on Centre Court.
But after the first set there was no play for 80 minutes, despite the closed roof, with Djokovic dabbing the grass before ground staff used leaf blowers.
“Every time I come out I normally have racquets, not towels – it was fun to do something different,” Djokovic said.
“It was a little bit [of] a strange feeling but hopefully you guys liked it.
“It was definitely frustrating for all the crowd waiting for us to come out on court. We both wanted to play but the conditions were not great and still slippery.
“Once the roof was open it was a different story and after five or 10 minutes we were able to play.”
Djokovic, aiming to secure his eighth Wimbledon title and match Roger Federer’s record for a male player, will now play American Brandon Nakashima, 55th in the world, following his five-set win over Australia’s Jordan Thompson, ranked 70th.
