[1/2] Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2023 Groundstaff use leaf blowers to dry the court as the first round match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Argentina’s Pedro Cachin is suspended due to rain REUTERS/Andrew CouldridgeLONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Frustrated fans were left wondering quite what was the point of Wimbledon's 80 million-pound ($101 million) Centre Court roof on Monday when Novak Djokovic's match was delayed for over an hour as ball boys took to using leaf-blowers to dry the grass. Defending champion Djokovic had just taken the first set 6-3 against Argentina's Pedro Cachin when light rain took the players off and led to the roof being slid into place - a process that takes 10 minutes. Fans and TV viewers expecting a quick resumption, however, were to be disappointed as, accompanied by tournament referee Gerry Armstrong, Djokovic patrolled the famous square of grass he has ruled for five years, dabbing a toe and a towel at areas he considered dangerously slippery. While play resumed on Court One, it remained suspended on Centre, until, somewhat bizarrely, the roof, completed in a blaze of publicity in 2009, was re-opened and the match resumed after a 70-minute hiatus. ($1 = 0.7883 pounds)Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Argentina’s Pedro Cachin, Andrew Couldridge, Novak Djokovic's, Djokovic, Argentina's Pedro Cachin, Gerry Armstrong, Mitch Phillips, Ed Osmond Organizations: Lawn Tennis, Croquet Club, Thomson Locations: London, Britain