WIMBLEDON: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE PLAY BEGINS TODAY

WIMBLEDON, England

(AP) — Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a fifth consecutive title at Wimbledon and eighth overall at Centre Court today.

Djokovic also will be trying to add to his men’srecord 23 Grand Slam singles titles — he broke a tie with Rafael Nadal by winning the French Open last month — and become the first player to collect 24 in the Open era.

Oh, and then there’s this: The 36-year-old from Serbia is halfway to the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since Rod Laver won all four majors in 1969.

Djokovic faces Pedro Cachin, a 67th-ranked

Argentine making his Wimbledon debut.

The reigning women’s champion is Elena Rybakina, who won her first Slam trophy at the All England Club.

She’ll open play on Tuesday against American Shelby Rogers.

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who won her fourth major championship at the French Open, debuts today against Zhu Lin.

One significant change: Players from Russia and Belarus are back at Wimbledon.

They were banned by the All England Club a year ago because of the attack on Ukraine launched by Russia, with the help of Belarus, in February 2022, but the tournament reversed course now even though the war continues.

So No. 7 men’s seed Andrey Rublev, a Russian, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, a Belarusian, are among those on today’s schedule.

Also slated to play on Day 1: Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, who is 43 and appearing at the tournament for the 24th time.

She meets 2019 semifinalist Elina Svitolina, who recently returned after taking time off from the tour to have a baby, at Centre Court.

WHEN ARE TODAY’S MATCHES?

Play begins on most courts at 11am local time, which is 6am EDT; that’s when Rublev will play Max Purcell on No. 3 Court, and Azarenka will take on Yuan Yue at Court 15, while No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula goes up against Lauren Davis at No. 2 Court in an all-American matchup.

Action at No. 1 Court begins at 1pm local time, which is 8am EDT, and the first match there is Swiatek-Zhu.

Centre Court is the last arena to get going, at 1:30pm local time, 8:30am EDT. That is when Djokovic-Cachin is set to start.

Williams-Svitolina follows, meaning it could begin around 4pm local time, 11am EDT.

HOW TO WATCH WIMBLEDON ON TV

— In the U.S.: ESPN, Tennis Channel

— Other countries listed here.

BETTING GUIDE

Not surprisingly, Djokovic is a heavy favourite for the men’s title, listed as a minus-190 money-line pick before play begins, ahead of Alcaraz at plus-370, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

No one else is really given much of a chance, so there are big payouts offered on some other top men, such as Jannik Sinner at plus-1,900 or Daniil Medvedev at plus-2,300.

Young American Sebastian Korda is next at plus-3,600. Swiatek, who never has been past the fourth round at Wimbledon, is listed as the women’s favourite at plus-290, followed by Rybakina at plus-500 and Aryna Sabalenka at plus-500.

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova is at plus-1,000, Coco Gauff at plus-1,400 and 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur at plus-1,500.

Looking at today’s matches, Svitolina (minus220) is favoured against Williams (plus-180).