Wimbledon uses leaf blowers to dry the grass on Centre Court after rain delay

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Anxious to get on with the match, Novak Djokovic literally took matters into his own hands on the wet Wimbledon grass by using his towel and some elbow grease to help dry the surface.

Djokovic, who has won the Wimbledon title seven times, was playing in the opening match of this year's tournament on Centre Court — the traditional spot for the defending men's champion at the All England Club.

But as it so often does in southwest London, it started raining just as Djokovic won the first set 6-3. That led organizers to stop play and close the roof over the stadium.

When Djokovic and Argentine opponent Pedro Cachin returned after the tarp was removed, the ground was still slick. That's when Djokovic jumped into action.

“I normally come out with rackets, not with towels,” said the 36-year-old Serb, seeded No. 2 at the tournament. "But it was fun to do something different, a little bit of a strange feeling but hopefully you guys liked it.”

Djokovic bent down with his white towel and tried to dry some areas that seemed particularly soaked. He also waved the towel over the grass like a fan.

At one point, Djokovic looked up to his box and joked: “ Yes, blow, blow. Blow the air. We need everybody’s help."

“It was definitely frustrating, of course, for all the crowd," Djokovic said later. "For us players, we both wanted to play but the conditions were not great, obviously still slippery.”

Eventually, a worker with a leaf blower emerged. The crowd cheered, and so did Djokovic. Then more workers made their way onto the hallowed lawn on Centre Court, walking up and down with the hand-held air blowers.

“It was strange,” Cachin said. “We saw in the U.S. Open with the machines, but never I saw like here.”

The delay lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours. By the time play restarted, the roof — installed over Centre Court in 2009 — had been reopened.

“In this instance, Centre Court took longer to dry than anticipated,” the All England Club said in a statement. “Furthermore, given indications that the rain was due to stop imminently, the decision was taken to resume play with the roof open.

“The players were regularly updated during this time.”

Djokovic ended up winning 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4). If he wins six more matches over the next two weeks, he will tie Roger Federer with a men's record eight Wimbledon titles and win a 24th Grand Slam singles title.

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AP Sports Writers Ken Maguire and Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.

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