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| - Novak Djokovic began his bid for a sixth Wimbledon title and 20th Grand Slam at a soggy All England Club on Monday as the grass court showpiece returned following its cancellation in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Having already captured the Australian and French Open titles this year, world number one Djokovic is halfway to becoming just the third man in history to complete a calendar Grand Slam. It's a feat so rare that Rod Laver was the last man to achieve the sweep back in 1969. In what could be a record-breaking year for Djokovic, there is also the chance of an Olympic title, paving the way for a Golden Slam of all four majors and Tokyo gold. "Wimbledon, Olympics, and US Open, that will be fun to watch Novak play because he's going to put everything on himself to try to make it," said world number two Daniil Medvedev. "That's when he's strongest but at the same time that's a lot of pressure." First up for Djokovic under the roof on Centre Court was Britain's world number 253 Jack Draper, who grew up just six miles (9.5 kilometres) down the road from the All England Club. It was the 34-year-old Djokovic's first match on the court since his epic five-set win over Roger Federer in the 2019 final, the longest title match in tournament history and where he saved two championship points. His match on Monday was preceded by a standing ovation for developers of one of the Covid-19 vaccines who were sitting in the Royal Box. The opening day of the tournament, however, saw rain delay play on the outside courts. Instead of a scheduled 1100 (1000GMT) start, action was not getting underway until 1430 (1300GMT) at the earliest. Due to rain outside, second seed Aryna Sabalenka and Monica Niculescu of Romania had the honour of being the first players in action at Wimbledon for two years with their tie taking place under the Court One roof. Elsewhere on Monday, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, promoted to third seed in the absence of Rafael Nadal, has a tough opener against 57th-ranked Frances Tiafoe of the United States. Tiafoe won a second-tier grass court Challenger event in Nottingham this month before making the quarter-finals at Queen's Club. Tsitsipas, who lost a five-set final to Djokovic at the French Open two weeks ago, made the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2018. However, he was a first-round loser two years ago and comes into Wimbledon with just 15 matches on grass in his career. Two-time champion Andy Murray is on Centre Court against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili, a semi-finalist in Halle. Murray, now ranked at 118, is playing his first singles match at Wimbledon since 2017 after a lengthy battle with hip and groin injuries. Venus Williams, a five-time champion at the All England Club who played the tournament for the first time in 1997, begins against Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania. Williams, 41 and down at 111 in the world, hasn't won a match on tour since the Australian Open in February. Petra Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 champion, starts against former US Open winner Sloane Stephens. The rain may be familiar, but Wimbledon looks very different in 2021 with only 50-percent capacity until the finals' weekend when there will be a 15,000 capacity crowd. Players are also confined to a hotel 'bubble' in central London. However, there have already been two virus-related withdrawals. Britain's Johanna Konta was identified as a close contact of a positive coronavirus case and will have to self-isolate. The world number 31, a semi-finalist at the tournament in 2017, had been drawn to face Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. The 30-year-old's place will be taken by 123rd-ranked lucky loser Wang Yafan of China. On Saturday, former men's doubles champion Frederik Nielsen was forced to withdraw after also being identified as a close contact. "This is not unexpected," said All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton. "It's terribly sad for the players but it's something we plan for. We have protocols in place." dj/pi
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