As his Wimbledon championship defense got underway with a victory, Novak Djokovic urged the crowd to “blow” during a ridiculous rain delay and used his towel to dry the court.
On Centre Court, Djokovic defeated Pedro Cachin of Argentina 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
Despite the closed roof, there was no play for 80 minutes following the opening set. Djokovic raked the grass before the grounds crew utilized 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 Australia’s Jordan Thompson, ranked 70th in the world, following his five-set win over American Brandon Nakashima, 55th in the world.
Djokovic, who has not lost on Centre Court since Andy Murray defeated him in the 2013 final, was up a break in the opening set but claimed the court was becoming slick from the rain.
At 14:20 BST, he finished the performance just in time for a downpour. The roof was completely closed 15 minutes later.However, before the covers were put on, enough water had gotten onto the court by that point to cause a significant delay.
