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The players were off court for nearly 80 minutes with Novak Djokovic helping to dry the court| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
| Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
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.
When play resumed, the Serb broke Cachin's serve twice in the second set and won the tie-break in the third.
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.
More to follow.
- Follow live coverage of the first day of Wimbledon
- Live scores, results and order of play
- Coverage times for BBC TV, iPlayer, online & radio
- Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone
- What's behind Gary Neville's success?: In an emotional interview he opens up about what motivated him despite his very humble origins
- How has Wimbledon changed tennis legends' careers?: Sue Barker travels the globe to find out
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