“Novak Djokovic, is it good to find the Center Court?
Yes, it’s a good feeling. It’s also very good to finish the game today (Monday). In somewhat strange circumstances, with a closed roof and a match, despite that, delayed by almost 1h30 ‘. But for sure it’s a feeling like no other tournament in the world, to walk onto Center Court, onto that fresh grass, being the defending champion. It’s amazing to be back in this dream tournament.
Do you think they were a little late in covering the field at the end of the first set and that is what could have caused this problem?
We talked about this with the supervisor, the referee, the president of the club. At the same time, I think it was a good decision by the referee (to want to finish the game in the first set). I would say it was still playable. But they were a bit apologetic because it was something that hadn’t happened since the roof was put up on Center Court. It normally takes 10-20 minutes with the roof closed for the air conditioning to do its job and the grass to dry.
Pedro Cachin in discussion with Novak Djokovic on Monday. (P. Lahalle/The Team)
This is what happened on court n°1. We saw that the players came back after 15 minutes on Court 1 and resumed play. But we couldn’t do that. We wanted to come back and play. We did it several times to show the public that we wanted to play. But there were too many places on the pitch that were slippery and very wet. You were touching the grass and your palm was completely wet. It is very strange that for more than an hour, the situation has not evolved in the right direction at all. I think they are monitoring the situation.
You had fun with this situation, you seem very relaxed at the start of the tournament. Is it the fact of being alone at 23 Grand Slams now?
I wouldn’t say it’s a unique feeling for me just because I won my 23rd Grand Slam tournament. I’ve always tried to have fun in special circumstances, where I guess you can’t control things. Like today, when we were waiting. I had funny delays due to rain also in Paris or New York, where I was making jokes. When we got back on the pitch, I tried to do something with the towel, just to make the crowd laugh and entertain. »
