Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek advance; Venus Williams, Coco Gauff crash out

Novak Djokovic launched his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title, and fifth in a row, on Monday with a 40th successive win on Centre Court. Iga Swiatek, the top seed in the women's singles event, also progressed in straight sets on the opening day at the All England Club. Elsewhere, American stars Coco Gauff and Venus Williams were knocked out.Djokovic, 36, who has won four titles in a row at the All England Club, defeated 68th-ranked Pedro Cachin, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on the tournament's showpiece court, where he has not lost since 2013.Djokovic even found time to help the ground staff dry out the world's most famous lawn after the surface became too slippery following a downpour.Watch: Djokovic uses towel to dry Centre Court surfaceDjokovic, who has won the first two majors in the year at the Australian and French Opens, is bidding to  also match Roger Federer's record of eight Wimbledon titles. His surge towards it was delayed by about 90 minutes during the first round.The roof was closed immediately but play didn't resume soon after, much to the frustration of the fans."When I come out, I usually come out with racquets, not towels," said Djokovic, who described the court as "the holy grail, the temple of tennis".He added: "The conditions were not great under the roof, it was still slippery. I think it was definitely frustrating for the crowd waiting for us."Djokovic, who has Jordan Thompson of Australia next, won his 23rd major in Paris which put him just one behind Margaret Court's all-time singles mark of 24.He is also half way to pulling off the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and other men’s title favouritesSwiatek, who owns four major titles but hasn’t gone past the fourth round at the All England Club, beat Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 1 Court, winning the final two games after the roof was closed following a rain delay.Swiatek said she feels better prepared for the grass-court major this year following her title at the French Open.“After Roland Garros,” she said on court, “I really took some time to just appreciate what happened. Last year, when I won Roland Garros, it was my second Grand Slam so it still felt, like, overwhelming, but this time I really could just focus on celebrating and actually getting back to work with more peace in my head and I try to be open minded for the grass season and I think it’s working. Hopefully I’m going to be able keep that mindset.”In the biggest shock of the day, seventh-ranked Gauff slumped to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 defeat to fellow American Sofia Kenin, who came through qualifyng.Kenin, now ranked 128th in the world, was Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up in 2020 before injury and loss of form saw her career take a downward spiral."This means a lot -- I had to go through qualies (qualification)," she said. "I battled out there. I am super proud of myself.An emotional Gauff admitted she "had a lot to work on".Wimbledon 2023: Biggest talking points of the tournamentThere was no fairytale for five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, the 43-year-old American who made her debut at the tournament in 1997.Williams, playing in the singles event for the 24th time, was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by fellow wildcard Elina Svitolina, a semi-finalist in 2019.Williams endured a nasty fall early in the first set on Centre Court, hurting her right knee, which was already heavily strapped.She required two visits by the trainer before her challenge fizzled out under the weight of 33 unforced errors."I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass," said Williams.Barbora Strycova, a semifinalist in 2019, became the first winner of this year's tournament by beating Maryna Zanevska 6-1, 7-5.Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia was the first men's winner of the day, beating Australia's Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.Twelve months ago, all players from Russia and Belarus were banned by Wimbledon in response to the invasion of Ukraine."I think obviously there were better options -- not just to ban," said Rublev, who next faces compatriot Aslan Karatsev."Because in the end, there was no difference. They did only worse to themselves."Fellow Russians Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova, as well as two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, were also first day winners.Security tightenedAlso making the next round were men's fourth seed Casper Ruud and eighth-seeded Jannik Sinner.This year's tournament is being played under tightened security over fears that climate activists could disrupt matches following high-profile protests at other sporting events.Three protesters from Just Stop Oil ran onto the ground during the second Ashes Test at Lord's, sprinkling the group's trademark orange powder."Of course we've taken account of what we've seen elsewhere so security has been uplifted in various places around the grounds," said All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton.The extra security measures severely affected the traditional and famous Wimbledon queue.One fan tweeted he had been waiting for five hours, blasting the delay as "shambolic".Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. 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