Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Venus Williams and Coco Gauff Get Wimbledon Started on Day 1 

Novak Djokovic of Serbia takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships at Wimbledon, in London, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The Wimbledon Tennis championships start on July 3. (AP)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships at Wimbledon, in London, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The Wimbledon Tennis championships start on July 3. (AP)
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Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Venus Williams and Coco Gauff Get Wimbledon Started on Day 1 

Novak Djokovic of Serbia takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships at Wimbledon, in London, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The Wimbledon Tennis championships start on July 3. (AP)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships at Wimbledon, in London, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The Wimbledon Tennis championships start on July 3. (AP)

Wimbledon gets started on Monday with some of the biggest names in tennis in action, including Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Venus Williams and Coco Gauff.

It is the year's third major tournament — and Djokovic won the first two: the Australian Open in January and the French Open in June. That puts him halfway to the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's tennis since 1969. He came close to the feat in 2021, falling just one victory short when he lost in the final of the US Open.

He seeks a fifth consecutive title at the All England Club and eighth overall, which both would tie records for men.

Djokovic's title at Roland Garros was his 23rd at a Slam event, breaking a tie with Rafael Nadal for the men's mark in that category.

As the reigning men's champion at Wimbledon, Djokovic is scheduled to play the opening match at Centre Court on Day 1, facing Pedro Cachin of Argentina.

They'll be followed in the main stadium by Williams, a 43-year-old participating in the sport's oldest major tournament for the 24th time and taking on Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Williams — whose younger sister, Serena, retired after last season — won five of her seven Grand Slam singles trophies at Wimbledon.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek, who owns four major titles but hasn't been past the fourth round at the All England Club, gets things started at No. 1 Court against Zhu Lin of China. Up next in that arena will be three-time Grand Slam runner-up Casper Ruud against Laurent Lokoli, and then Gauff — a 19-year-old American who was a French Open finalist last year — against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.



Erdogan Says Won't Let Terror 'Drag Syria Back to Instability'

Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Won't Let Terror 'Drag Syria Back to Instability'

Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)

Türkiye will not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after a suicide attack killed 22 at a Damascus church.

"We will never allow our neighbor and brother Syria... be dragged into a new environment of instability through proxy terrorist organizations," he said, vowing to support the new government's fight against such groups.

He did not explain what he meant by "proxy" groups but vowed that Türkiye would "continue to support the Syrian government’s fight against terrorism", AFP reported.

The Damascus government blamed Sunday night's shooting and suicide attack -- the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad six months ago -- on ISIS militants.

It cast the attack as a bid to "undermine national coexistence and to destabilize the country", which only began emerging from the post-civil war chaos after Assad's ouster six months ago.

Türkiye was a key backer of the HTS who ousted Assad under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the interim president, and has repeatedly offered its operational and military to fight ISIS and other militant threats.