Wimbledon, Jul 3 (AP) Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a fifth consecutive title at Wimbledon and eighth overall at Centre Court on Monday.

Djokovic also will be trying to add to his men's-record 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.

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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.

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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who won her fourth major championship at the French Open, debuts on Monday 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 Monday'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 MONDAY'S MATCHES?

Play begins on most courts at 11 a.m. local time, which is 6 a.m. 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 1 p.m. local time, which is 8 a.m. EDT, and the first match there is Swiatek-Zhu. Centre Court is the last arena to get going, at 1:30 p.m. local time, 8:30 a.m. EDT. That is when Djokovic-Cachin is set to start. Williams-Svitolina follows, meaning it could begin around 4 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. EDT.

2022 RUNNER-UP NICK KYRGIOS IS OUT

Nick Kyrgios pulled out of Wimbledon the night before the tournament's start, citing a wrist injury, a year after he reached his first Grand Slam final at the All England Club. His withdrawal was announced by Wimbledon on Sunday night and Kyrgios wrote about it on social media.

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What you need to know about Wimbledon, the year's third Grand Slam tennis tournament:

— Novak Djokovic is pursuing more history, and his self-belief is a big part of his success

— Iga Swiatek succeeds everywhere else. Can she win Wimbledon?

— Aryna Sabalenka no longer wants to talk about the war in Ukraine

— Women's tennis is working toward equal pay at more tournaments

— Frances Tiafoe is the first African-American man in the Top 10 in nearly 15 years

— Facts and figures about Wimbledon, including a look back at 2022 (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)