Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek ease into Wimbledon second round

Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek both eased into second round of Wimbledon after straight-set victories on Monday.

Reigning champion Djokovic defeated Argentine Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 while world No 1 Swiatek brushed aside Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3.

Djokovic saw his match halted by rain for more than an hour, resulting in a mopping up process that saw leaf-blowers brought out on to the court and the Serbian chipping in by dropping a towel over spots that seemed to be particularly soaked.

Had it not been for the delay, this would have been pretty much the ideal start to Djokovic’s campaign for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam singles title and eighth Wimbledon crown.

Cachin only played his first tour-level match on grass in Majorca last week and was never likely to prove too much of a test.

There was some early rust from Djokovic, who double-faulted to give Cachin a break for 2-1, but he hit straight back and took a 5-3 lead.

Djokovic is on a 28-match winning streak on grass having not lost on the surface since a final defeat at Queen’s Club back in 2018.

Up and running.@DjokerNole records his 29th consecutive match win at #Wimbledon, beating Pedro Cachin 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) pic.twitter.com/W78EBnwtzi

He convincingly won the second set but Cachin earned applause from his opponent for his efforts in the third, which he pushed to a tie-break.

Djokovic had won all his tie-breaks at the French Open without making a single unforced error. That streak ended with a double fault here, and he netted a backhand on his first match point, but he took his third chance, winning it 7-4.

He was taken two hours and 15 minutes by the world No 68 in what was a good workout for the second seed.

“For me, the opening match is a little bit