Wimbledon recap: Hottest opening day brings upset fever as Alcaraz escapes defeat

New York Times

2 days ago

By Charlie Eccleshare, Matthew Futterman and Caoimhe O'Neill
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On a day of upsets and extreme temperatures, one tennis star found himself at the center of both.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was in a very unexpected fifth set against the unseeded Italian showman Fabio Fognini, when a spectator was taken ill in the crowd. Alcaraz was one of the first to realize, and ran over to give his water bottle to a steward.
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After a delay of 16 minutes, the spectator was helped off the court. As of 7 p.m. local time, she was in stable condition chatting to medics.
Alcaraz then got over the line for a five-set win in which he at times looked helpless in the face of Fognini's supreme skill and his own erratic play.
Shortly before, Elena-Gabriela Ruse had been sick on court in the closing stages of her three-set defeat to Australian Open champion Madison Keys of the U.S.
It was one of those days. Players wore ice towels, umbrellas were everywhere and Wimbledon announced its heat rule, which allows for extended breaks mid-match. It is yet to enforce it, though.
Tuesday is set to be even hotter, before things cool down Wednesday. More on the blistering heat later. Let's get to some other results from Day 1:
The top women's players did their jobs. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka won in straight sets against Carson Branstine, a Canadian qualifier, while last year's finalist Jasmine Paolini came back from a set down against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
No. 9 seed Paula Badosa and No. 32 seed McCartney Kessler went down — and Badosa lost to a Brit in Katie Boulter, while Kessler fell to 2023 champion Markéta Vondroušová.
For the men's seeds, it was a bloody Monday.
The biggest downer was Stefanos Tsitsipas, who retired with a back injury while two sets down to French qualifier Valentin Royer. Like Mevedev, Tsitsipas, seeded 24th, once seemed likely to win multiple Grand Slam titles. He's still just 26, but is headed in the wrong direction and has been for a while.
Whew. If you had trouble following all the upset action, you're not alone. As of August, Wimbledon will be the only major to start on a Monday, and the only one to play 64 of its 128 first-round matches on its opening day.
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Wimbledon may be losing ground in some areas of the Grand Slam arms race, but it's got the right idea when it comes to a manic Monday over a soporific Sunday.
Other notable results on Day 1:
⏱️ Carlos Alcaraz is a walking tennis highlight reel. But on grass, he does his most devastating work when he isn't hitting the ball at all.
🕊️ Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka ended their French Open beef with a TikTok, but then Wimbledon promoted their peace offering and things got weird.
🌱 Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam played on grass — but what if the best way to adapt to the surface is not playing on it at all?
This section is theoretically reserved for the best shot of the day, but today's shot of the day was … not quite brilliant. Madison Keys shanked a serve off the frame that rocketed straight upward before somehow almost dropping in? Keys couldn't help but laugh:
The Wimbledon queue for ground passes is a quintessential part of its tennis lore. Fans get up in the small hours to buy the cheapest tickets, which don't cover the three biggest courts, but do provide access to big names in the early rounds.
Pat and Neil Buie from Toronto, Canada, arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Monday. That's kind of late. Six hours later, they were close to making it to the front. Seeing Wimbledon is a bucket list item, but they had to stand for almost seven hours in the heat, with just one umbrella for protection.
'Yeah, it's hot but we're not too bad,' Pat, 71, says.
'The wind has kept us cool,' Neil, her husband of 43 years, adds.
Further back in the queue, Cathy Danache, Lisa Morton and Debbie Penderghast were jet-lagged. The three flight attendants landed in London at 8 a.m. and headed straight for southwest London. Danache is on a mission to secure a Wimbledon ground pass after two previous failed attempts. The heat today feels different to where they live, in Orange County, but will all be worth it if they finally make it in.
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'It is unbearably hot, you can't stand in it,' Melanie Aidoo, sheltering in the shade with her mother who traveled in from South Africa, said.
'Even if they had just some umbrellas set along the path lines that would be good,' Ethel Bergmann from Miami, Florida, and No. 7,800 in the queue, said.
There were stewards dotted around the park and medics on hand for anyone feeling the heat. The All England Club advised fans in and out of the ground to wear caps, stay topped up with sun cream and keep hydrated.
Watching Grand Slam tennis is thirsty work.
🎾 Men's singles: Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Luca Nardi
8 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Sinner is coming off his first loss to a player not named Carlos Alcaraz in 49 matches. His first-round opponent? A fellow Italian with a history of taking down Goliath.
🎾 Women's singles: Coco Gauff (2) vs. Dayana Yastremska
12 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Gauff begins her pursuit of a second straight Grand Slam title to close out the women's action tomorrow. Yastremska has given Gauff challenges.
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