Sabalenka cruises on Wimbledon's hottest opening day as Alcaraz launches title bid
The BBC said temperatures at the All England Club had reached 31.4 degrees Celsius (88.5 degrees Fahrenheit) by 1500 GMT, surpassing the previous record for the start of the tournament of 29.3 Celsius set in 2001.
Top seed Sabalenka used ice packs to beat the heat during her 6-1, 7-5 victory over Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine on sweltering Court One.
The 27-year-old Belarusian is a three-time Grand Slam champion but suffered agonising three-set defeats in this year's Australian Open and French Open finals.
Sabalenka has never been beyond the Wimbledon semi-finals and missed last year's tournament with a shoulder injury.
"I felt really great. Super grateful to be healthy and ready to compete and to be through the first round," said the world number one, who next faces New Zealand's Lulu Sun or Czech player Marie Bouzkova.
"It was really good for me to have this little fight in the second set just to see where my level is at."
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