The BBC were forced to apologise for technical issues interrupting their coverage of Novak Djokovic’s win over Dan Evans on Thursday. Djokovic was one set to the good and cruising at 5-1 up in the second when the camera shot of Centre Court cut out abruptly.

Viewers could still hear Sam Smith and Tim Henman commentating, but all they could see was a studio featuring an empty chair with fans walking around in the background. After 30 seconds, it changed to a shot of a packed-out Henman Hill, which remained on screen for a full two and a half minutes.

It wasn’t until the end of the match, which Djokovic won 6-3 6-2 6-0, that the BBC addressed the technical fault. Following Djokovic’s on-court interview, lead host Clare Balding said: “Apologies for the technical issues we had earlier which meant that we lost pictures for a few moments.

“It was beyond our control. But we’re trying to fix it and it does at least mean we can continue to show you live tennis and we will certainly do that.”

Djokovic and Evans were first up on Centre Court, and there was an added layer of intrigue to the match-up due to their only previous meeting, at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2021, going the way of the Brit.

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There was no such joy for Evans on this occasion. The 35-year-old went in as a massive underdog and only managed to win 31 per cent of the points on his second serve as Djokovic capitalised with ruthless efficiency.

Evans didn’t even see a break point until the third set, and he let both slip through his fingers. Despite the one-sided scoreline, Djokovic was adamant that he had to be at his best in order to dominate him in the way he did.

“A Brit in Britain is never easy to face,” said the Serb. “He is… ‘tricky’ is not a great word but he is a good quality player that possesses a lot of talent, a great touch. He can cause you trouble if you are not on top of your game, which I think I was from the very beginning. I knew I was preparing well. I knew what I needed to do and executed perfectly.”

As the crowd laughed at Djokovic’s self-confident comment, he added: “That was not for me, it was for my coach! I was just sending him a message in case he didn’t see it well.”