There is always a buzz in the air on the first day of Wimbledon. There is nothing like it as ticket holders (the regular punters, at least) debate whether to try and catch some early outside court action or brave the Food Village before the starting act in Centre Court.

On first Monday, of course, the main act is the defending men’s champion. When Novak Djokovic was in action at The Boodles, enjoying a bit of banter with the Pimm’s soaked ladies in the crowd, he was shaking out his arm occasionally in his first match against Richard Gasquet before losing to Alexander Zverev.

When the draw came out, there were a few murmurs of ‘oh I say’ at the name of Philipp Kohlschreiber as Djokovic’s first-round opponent. While the German has just one win against the Serb, he is one of the trickier players on the tour, capable of being a thorn in the side of the best.

Kohlschreiber certainly proved it by having the temerity to break the defending champion right back after Djokovic was unable to consolidate his early lead. Still, the world No. 1 bided his time, just needing the single break and set point to get off the mark for his title defence.

It was a more competitive affair for the gentlemen with just an impeccably timed single break to seal the second set. We had another round of tit-for-tat in the third frame as Kohlschreiber fought back from an early deficit once more. But again a killer break at the end of the set brought up the single match point that Djokovic needed.

Off the court, there have been rumblings after comments by Djokovic’s coach Boris Becker’s claims that he and the backroom team have ways of signalling the Serb while he is playing. In truth, doesn’t everyone? There is the quiet, determined fist-pump of Amelie Mauresmo to urge her charge Andy Murray on, or Toni Nadal, who is no stranger to being the target of a code violation for coaching.

Still, having fielded questions already in his pre-tournament press conference, Djokovic was less than amused to have it come up again after commencing the start of his defense so handily.

He commented, “I got this question already two times in the last couple days. I don't understand what I can say, what I haven't said already before. I'm going to repeat myself. I'm going to say that there are certain ways of communication which is encouragement, which is support, which is understanding the moment when to clap or say something that can lift my energy up, that can motivate me to play a certain point.  But it's all within the rules.

“If I am breaking any rules or my team does, I would be fined for that, right? The chair umpire would say, Coaching penalty, and that's it. Or the supervisor, or whoever. I just don't understand why this same story is repeating over and over for days.”

Then again, Djokovic also had the blessing of a small bird, who seemed to take an inordinate interest in the proceedings, taking its life in its little beak.

“At one point when Kohlschreiber was serving at the advantage side, between the first and second serve, the bird landed literally very close to the side-line.  She stayed there until I won that point.  So I said, ‘Be my guest, stay around, if you want.’ But, yeah, it was funny. We had birds and different animals come in and out from the court.  But the sparrow bird from Belgrade really stayed for the entire match (smiling).”

Meanwhile, our pick of the other match to highlight could not have been any more different. Two of the most enduring characters on the tour were both departing its itinerant life. Lleyton Hewitt, a former beloved champion on the hallowed old lawns, was going for one last hurrah against Jarkko Nieminen. Talk about the long farewell. A five-setter well into a summer’s evening must have had the organizers dreading another Isner/Mahut type scenario as the match crept to 11-9 at the fifth set, but sadly not in Hewitt’s favor. Still he took his chance to take to the court for a rousing cheer as he waved goodbye to SW19 for the very last time. The Finn will face Djokovic in the next round.

Round one continues on Tuesday, with Roger Federer and Andy Murray on Centre Court, and Rafael Nadal on Court One.