Novak Djokovic, the four-time defending champion and favorite, started his bid for a record-breaking 24th Grand Slam title with a straight-set victory over Argentine Pedro Cachin on Centre Court at Wimbledon today. The Serbian, looking to match Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg’s record of five consecutive men’s singles crowns, only seemed to be troubled when complaining about the wet court after a shower caused a 70-minute delay.

On the first day of the tournament, Victoria Azarenka advanced to the second round with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 win over China’s Yuan Yue, while Andrey Rublev moved on with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over Max Purcell of Australia. Veronika Kudermetova followed suit by beating Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (4) 6-4. Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud progressed with a 6-1 5-7 6-4 6-3 win over France’s Laurent Lokoli.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek made an impressive start to her quest for a first Grand Slam title on grass, mauling China’s Zhu Lin 6-1 6-3. The former junior Wimbledon champion showed no signs of the illness that had kept her out of her Bad Homburg semifinal on Friday. She expressed her confidence in her performance. Venus Williams, however, fell to