At 40 minutes, Novak Djokovic had already scored the first set (6-3), and then the rain appeared and everything stopped for just over an hour at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
All the public ran to take cover where they could (on Henman Hill, where there is no possible shelter, umbrellas flourished) and the employees spread the canvas on the adjoining tracks and those responsible for Wimbledon stretched the retractable roof on the Center Court and track 1 .
On track 1, Casper Ruud suffered (the Norwegian had overwhelmed the Frenchman Lokoli in the first set, 6-1, but then he was making life difficult by giving up the second, 5-7, before recovering in the third and the fourth: 6-4 and 6-3) and on the Center Court, Djokovic continued to accelerate against Pedro Cachín, a somewhat autumnal member of the new Argentine school, that of Cerúndolo, Etcheverry and Báez.
Then the rain made its way into the sky.
And then, finally under cover, Djokovic went ahead with his bullying plan and knocking down the Argentine.
"Having to stop for the rain has been frustrating, but the tempo of tennis is like that. Under the retractable roof, I have had to try different things," Djokovic later confessed. "But I feel blessed to have the opportunity to go out on court and connect with the Serbian boy who dreamed of winning this tournament".
In reality, on the ground it was a matter of overcoming Cachín.
It is about dismounting Carlos Alcaraz, the Murcian who has dared to wrest world leadership from him after winning his first title on grass at Queen's (this Tuesday, the Murcian debuts against Jeremy Chardy, the experienced 36-year-old Frenchman who could play the last match of his professional career).
It is about catching up with Roger Federer, the Swiss who has eight titles at Wimbledon, one more than Djokovic wears.
It is about appropriating his 24th Grand Slam, the impossible that would place him at the level of Margaret Court, the tennis player (man or woman) with the greatest on the resume.
Cachín is one point behind those, de Cerúndolo, Etcheverry Báez.
Cachín is the 68th in the world, and that is why it seemed in the hands of the Serbian, the man who has chained 29 consecutive victories at the All England Club and has not lost a match at Wimbledon since he fell in the quarterfinals of 2017 (injured in right elbow, he had to retire against Tomas Berdych) and that he was going to save the best for the tie break in the third set, a sober exercise, very well resolved, the demonstration that Djokovic is still an extremely efficient tennis player when the match he gets stuck: after all, he has won 87 of his 97 matches on the grass of Wimbledon.
Now Jordan Thompson awaits him.
