Novak Djokovic is through to the second round of Wimbledon but said he is always full of nerves on Center Court

Novak Djokovic began his Wimbledon title defense with a convincing win, but said he was always full of nerves when he walked onto center court.

After a break in the first set, Djokovic was seen breathing heavily into his towel during the set change. The 23-time Grand Slam winner said he was trying to get rid of the shadow in my eyes from the sun.

However, reporters questioned him further and asked if it was nerves.

Of course, the nerves are always there because you are playing in front of a packed stadium on one of the most important tennis courts in the world. “Despite having so much experience, so many matches on that court, I still feel the nerves,” he said.

I can’t remember the last time I played an official tennis match anywhere, especially a Grand Slam, where I didn’t feel nerves. It’s normal to feel nervous. It’s just a matter of how you adapt and obviously focus on being productive for yourself.

Djokovic recovered from an early hiccup to win the first set 6–3, but play was then delayed for 80 minutes due to rain at Wimbledon.

Despite the closed roof, there was still moisture on the surface, which the staff tried to clean with leaf blowers.

Both of us players wanted to come out. We did several times to show the crowd that we want to play, we want to be there. But there were far too many places on the field that were too slippery and really wet. Touch the grass and the palm is completely wet, he said.

It was very strange that in more than an hour the situation did not change at all for the better. I think they are following right now. I think they’ll probably give you a better answer to that question, whether it’s the air conditioning system, it was pretty humid so that didn’t help. Grass is such a sensitive surface for maintenance. It’s definitely very challenging if you have, say, a minute or two more rain than you need.

We had fun with it. We got the good news that they are opening the roof, then the wind apparently did its job and dried out the field. We came in and I tried to do something with the towel, just bring a little laughter and entertainment to the audience, he said.

When play resumed, Djokovic dispatched Cachin 6-3 6-3 7-6(5) and will face Jordan Thompson in the next round.

Speaking about his love for the Grand Slam tournament, Djokovic said: It feels like no other tournament in the world to walk onto Center Court at Wimbledon as the defending champion on fresh grass. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable to come back to the dream tournament and get the first match out of the way. It was a tough performance.

I know I can always play better, but at the same time, after a long clay court season, coming into Wimbledon without a warm-up tournament, preliminary event or official match on grass, it was expected that I still probably wouldn’t be at 100% of my tennis level.

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