Carlos Alcaraz won the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2023 and 2024, beating Novak Djokovic on both occasions in the final. But the back-to-back winner is not currently world number one, as that title is currently held by Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz started his defence of the singles title against 38-year-old Fabio Fognini. Although on paper, it should have been a routine win for the Spaniard, it certainly was not. Centre Court was treated to a match that lasted four and a half hours, with temperatures reached 32C. Five sets were played, but no upset was produced. Despite a scare for Alcaraz, he was victorious in the first-round match, winning by three sets to two.
His next opponent is 21-year-old Oliver Tarvet. The world number 733, the lowest-ranked player in the tournament, will feature on the Centre Court against the defending champion. Tarvet, who is studying at the University of San Diego, is only allowed to claim $10,000 (£7,290) in winnings. This is because of the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules for student athletes. This means the Brit is set to miss out on over £100,000 for his performances at the competition.
On his Grand Slam debut, the lowest-ranked seeded player faced Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi, who is ranked 503rd in the world. Despite the 230-spot difference in rankings between the two, the underdog was the winner. Three 6-4 set wins send the British player through to the Centre Court to face world number two Carlos Alcaraz.
It is a dream scenario for both Tarvet and Alcaraz. Tarvet will face against one of the best, if not the best tennis player in the world right now, while Alcaraz has a hugely favourable fixture in his bid to defend his Wimbledon title.
World number one Jannik Sinner faced fellow Italian, Luca Nardi, in his opening match at the competition. Sinner secured a 3-0 win against the 21-year-old to book his spot against Aleksandar Vukic, who is ranked 93rd in the world.
Novak Djokovic looks to reach his third final in a row at Wimbledon, as his journey started against France’s Alexandre Muller on Centre Court. The seven-time Wimbledon winner made sure that he reached the second round of the tournament, as he won 3-1 against Muller. Ranked sixth in the world, Djokovic will face world number 154 in the next round. 35-year-old Daniel Evans is his next opponent, who beat fellow Brit Jay Clarke 3-0 in his opening clash.
A 3-2 win for Arthur Rinderknech from France saw world number three Alexander Zverev knocked out at the first match, which was one of the biggest surprises in the men’s singles matches.
In the women’s singles, Emma Raducanu who is ranked 40th in the world, won her first match against Britain’s Mingge Xu. Raducanu beat the 17-year-old, 2-0 to set up a match against Marketa Vondrousova in the next stage.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka won 2-0, with set one finishing 6-1 and the second set ending 7-5.
One shock saw world number three, Jessica Pegula from the USA, suffer defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The Italian won both sets played, causing one of the shocks of the opening fixtures.
Another surprise was Coco Gauff, ranked second, was also defeated 2-0, with her loss coming against Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
