WIMBLEDON, England — There's a curfew at Wimbledon. It's 11 p.m. and third-seeded Novak Djokovic beat it by a minute in defeating little Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to end an eventful first day at Wimbledon.

Djokovic finished his three-hour, 51-minute match with the roof over Centre Court. And it didn't even rain Monday.

But the tennis on the most famous court in the world took a while because top-seeded Roger Federer dawdled through five sets before beating back the unexpected challenge of Alejandro Falla 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0.

Over on Court 1, Venus Williams modeled an all-white dress so demure she could have sold it as a First Communion garment and then said it was inspired by raunchy rocker Tina Turner. Williams' tennis was inspired by something powerful, too.

She cracked a serve measured at 120 mph and was hardly challenged by Rossana De Los Rios in her 6-3, 6-2 win.

But it was the late-night tennis that made most of the news. Wimbledon has only had a roof on Centre Court since 2009, and it hadn't been used for reasons other than rain until Monday.

The 5-foot-6 Rochus called his five-set loss "the most exciting match I've ever in." The atmosphere on the roofed court was raucous and both players reacted by yelling at themselves and at their rackets.

"We were having fun on the court," Rochus said. "I think it showed."

"You don't see many late-night matches at Wimbledon," Djokovic said. "It was OK to make some history."

The roof came up after the third set. It took about 35 minutes, and Djokovic said the break offered a chance to refocus.

"I was able to set my mind again," Djkovic said. "I have a big desire to go far here, but I'll take one match at a time. It was a tough match."

Unlike Rochus, Federer didn't have as much fun. He was often left flat-footed on the baseline, definitely in trouble after he lost the first set, then the second and fell behind in the third and fourth.

"I've been unlucky enough already this season," Federer said. "I needed one lucky match. I'm happy today I gave myself a chance. Maybe some think I should have never put myself in that position. But he played well. He's unconventional. He doesn't look like much, but he plays very solid."

dpucin@tribune.com