Anxious to get on with the match, Novak Djokovic literally took matters into his own hands on the wet Wimbledon grass by using his towel and some elbow grease to help dry the surface.
Djokovic, who has won the Wimbledon title seven times, was
playing in the opening match of this year’s tournament on Centre Court — the
traditional spot for the defending men’s champion at the All England Club.
But as it so often does in southwest London, it started
raining just as Djokovic won the first set 6-3. That led organizers to stop
play and close the roof over the stadium.
When Djokovic and Argentine opponent Pedro Cachin returned
after the tarp was removed, the ground was still slick. That’s when Djokovic
jumped into action.
“I normally come out with rackets, not with towels,” said
the 36-year-old Serb, seeded No. 2 at the tournament. “But it was fun to do
something different, a little bit of a strange feeling but hopefully you guys
liked it.”
Djokovic bent down with his white towel and tried to dry
some areas that seemed particularly soaked. He also waved the towel over the
grass like a fan.
At one point, Djokovic looked up to his box and joked: “
Yes, blow, blow. Blow the air. We need everybody’s help.”
“It was definitely frustrating, of course, for all the
crowd,” Djokovic said later. “For us players, we both wanted to play but the
conditions were not great, obviously still slippery.”
Eventually, a worker with a leaf blower emerged. The crowd
cheered, and so did Djokovic. Then more workers made their way onto the
hallowed lawn on Centre Court, walking up and down with the hand-held air
blowers.
“It was strange,” Cachin said. “We saw in the U.S. Open with
the machines, but never I saw like here.”
The delay lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours. By the time play
restarted, the roof — installed over Centre Court in 2009 — had been reopened.
“In this instance, Centre Court took longer to dry than
anticipated,” the All England Club said in a statement. “Furthermore, given
indications that the rain was due to stop imminently, the decision was taken to
resume play with the roof open.
“The players were regularly updated during this time.”
Djokovic ended up winning 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4). If he wins six
more matches over the next two weeks, he will tie Roger Federer with a men’s
record eight Wimbledon titles and win a 24th Grand Slam singles title. -AP