Crowds arrived to watch Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Venus Williams play at Wimbledon 2023
Venus Williams went out fighting as the 43-year-old played on through injury during her defeat to Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon. Williams went down clutching her right knee, already heavily bandaged, with a devastating scream shocking spectators on Centre Court as she fell to the ground. But despite calling the trainer, Williams refused to quit and Svitolina needed to be at her best to close out a 6-4 6-3 win.
Earlier, Novak Djokovic opened his Wimbledon defence with a straight-sets win over Pedro Cachin after the match was suspended for over an hour due to a rain delay. The roof was closed following a light spot of rain, but the grass took longer to dry than expected and led to the farcical sight of Djokovic attempting to dry the surface with a towel before play resumed and the defending champion could wrap up victory.
Elsewhere, world No 1 Iga Swiatek safely advanced to the second round with an impressive opening win against Zhu Lin. Jodie Burrage and Liam Broady were the British winners on the opening day, but Harriet Dart and Katie Swan were knocked out.
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