Get out peacefully, torturers on
Djokovic sees strange Wimbledon start as greenkeeper
7/3/2023 5:49 p.m
A German defeat, the first rain – it’s a mixed start in Wimbledon. Tennis superstar Djokovic is also affected, but takes it with humor. He’ll do anything to get his game up and running quickly and keep a smile on his face at his unusual part-time job.
A quick exit for Anna-Lena Friedsam, strange scenes with Novak Djokovic: The lawn classic in Wimbledon got off to a bumpy start on Monday. Because the roof over Center Court was closed too late when the rain started, defending champion Novak Djokovic’s opening match in London was interrupted for more than an hour. The lawn in the most famous tennis stadium in the world had become too wet to continue the game quickly under the closed roof.
Djokovic lent a hand himself and wiped the lawn with a towel. The waiting spectators celebrated the Serbian world number one for the unusual action. In addition, tournament employees tried to dry the wet areas with leaf blowers. At the time of the stoppage, Djokovic was leading 6-3 against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.
Before the rain, Friedsam had botched the start of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season from a German perspective. The 29-year-old lost in the first round against the American Alycia Parks 4: 6, 3: 6 and was the first German player to be eliminated. Friedsam made too many simple mistakes against the up-and-coming American and had to admit defeat after 1:41 hours. Parks used her second match point.
Qualifier Marterer next
That means Tatjana Maria, Jule Niemeier and Tamara Korpatsch from the German women. The trio will play their first round matches this Tuesday. Then the first appearance of Olympic champion Alexander Zverev against the Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer is also planned.
With a convincing performance at times, Maximilian Marterer reached the second round of the 136th All England Championships, just like last year. In a match interrupted by rain for around an hour and a half, the 28-year-old from Nuremberg defeated the Croatian Borna Gojo, who is 58 positions above him in the world rankings, 7: 5, 6: 7 (8:10), 6: 3, 6: 4.
Marterer, ranked 170th, had fought his way through qualifying beforehand. He won the decisive match to move into the main draw in the fifth set (7:5) against the Hungarian Fabian Maroszan. His second round opponent was still undecided at the end of his 2:46 hour match, which he finished with an ace on fifth match point.
Top favorite Swiatek effortlessly
World number one Iga Swiatek made a perfect start. The 22-year-old Pole won against Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3 and easily advanced to the second round. The French Open winner converted her first match point after 80 minutes. The game on Court 1 was also briefly interrupted due to rain, but was then quickly continued under closed roof. First a tarpaulin and then the roof had protected the turf in the second largest stadium in the facility from the rain more quickly.
Swiatek had to give up last week at the WTA tournament in Bad Homburg due to being unwell before their semifinals. But at the start of Wimbledon, the number one in the tennis world made a good impression and was never in danger. “Luckily it wasn’t food poisoning. I feel good,” she said after her win.