Alcaraz, Sabalenka in action on day one at sizzling Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz launches his bid for a third straight Wimbledon crown on Monday while Aryna Sabalenka seeks to banish a season of Grand Slam final misery as temperatures soared on the opening day of the championships.
With London sweltering in a summer heatwave, Alcaraz will aim to maintain his red-hot form in the opening match on Centre Court against 38-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini.
Advertisement
Having vanquished seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals, Alcaraz is looking to join an elite group at the All England Club.
The 22-year-old has won 29 of his 32 Tour-level matches on grass, with his last defeat at Wimbledon coming against world number one Jannik Sinner in the last 16 in 2022.
Alcaraz is bidding to become the fifth man in the Open Era to win at least three consecutive Wimbledon titles after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic.
"I really want to lift the trophy. I'm not thinking about how many players have done it, winning three Wimbledons in a row," said the Spaniard, who beat Sinner in an epic French Open final earlier this month.
Advertisement
"I'm just thinking that I want to prepare myself in the best way possible. Obviously, I feel a lot of confidence right now."
Former England captain David Beckham will watch the action from the royal box on Centre Court, alongside ex-England manager Gareth Southgate.
- Mercury soars -
Temperatures on Monday are expected to climb to at least 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to the Met Office, it is provisionally the hottest start to Wimbledon on record, with 29.7 Celsius being recorded nearby.
The tournament has a heat rule that it is ready to activate to safeguard the health of the players.
Advertisement
The rule allows a 10-minute break to be taken between the second and third sets for women's matches and between the third and fourth sets for men's matches, when the heat stress index is at or above 30.1 degrees Celsius.
"The obvious point to make is that the athletes compete in temperatures like this all year on the Tour so for us Brits here at the championships it feels very hot," said Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton.
"We do have the heat rule available to us which again is well used on the tour so we will be taking heat stress monitor readings."
Sabalenka will be determined to keep her cool when the women's top seed starts her campaign against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine on Court One.
Advertisement
The 27-year-old Belarusian is a three-time Grand Slam champion but has suffered agonising three-set defeats in this year's Australian Open and French Open finals.
Sabalenka was beaten by Madison Keys in Melbourne and Coco Gauff in Paris, with the latter defeat triggering a frustrated outburst from the loser.
She was heavily criticised for claiming the Roland Garros loss was due to her own mistakes rather than Gauff's performance.
"I didn't really want to offend her (Gauff). I was just completely upset with myself, and emotions overcame me. I just completely lost it," Sabalenka said.
Advertisement
"It was a tough time for me. The lesson is learned. I was able to sit back and be open to myself, not just to ignore some things.
"I really hope it will never happen again."
Elsewhere on Monday, German third seed Alexander Zverev faces France's Arthur Rinderknech, while Italian women's fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in last year's final, opens against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
There are 23 British players in the men's and women's singles, the most since 1984, with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter among those in action on Monday.
Advertisement
A significant change this year will be the absence of line judges after a switch to electronic line calling.
"It will be a little bit different and I think it'll take us a little bit of time to get used to that but we felt very much that it was time to move on," said Bolton.
With thousands of people in the queue for tickets on Monday the All England Club is advising people not to travel.
smg/jw/pi
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
4 minutes ago
Wimbledon: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoids the kind of upset that has happened a lot this year
LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka was just two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home. Four of the top 10 women's seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. 'Of course you're going to know the overall picture. ... I hope it's no upsets anymore in this tournament,' the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka said afterward with a chuckle. "If you know what I mean.' She is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month — drawing criticism from some over her post-match comments, a flap she and Gauff set aside via social media videos last week — but hasn't been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club. A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder. On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) to below 68 F (20 C). At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match's initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce. But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout. 'That was a tough moment," said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova next. 'Until that point, (my) return wasn't great enough to break her serve. I'm really glad ... everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better.' That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that. Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours. Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who is seeded sixth, joined Sabalenka in the third round, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. Other players in action later included 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini among the women and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe among the men. Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 major championships at Wimbledon will lead off the Centre Court schedule on Day 4 against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by Iga Swiatek vs. Caty McNally, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Aleksandar Vukic.
NBC Sports
16 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoids the kind of upset that has happened a lot this year
Aryna Sabalenka was just two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home. Four of the top 10 women's seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. 'Of course you're going to know the overall picture. ... I hope it's no upsets anymore in this tournament,' the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka said afterward with a chuckle. 'If you know what I mean.' She is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month — drawing criticism from some over her post-match comments, a flap she and Gauff set aside via social media videos last week — but hasn't been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club. A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder. On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) to below 68 F (20 C). At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match's initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce. But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout. 'That was a tough moment,' said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova next. 'Until that point, (my) return wasn't great enough to break her serve. I'm really glad ... everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better.' That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that. Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours. What else happened Wednesday at Wimbledon? Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who is seeded sixth, joined Sabalenka in the third round, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. Other players in action later included 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini among the women and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe among the men. Who plays Thursday at the All England Club? Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 major championships at Wimbledon will lead off the Centre Court schedule on Day 4 against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by Iga Swiatek vs. Caty McNally, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Aleksandar Vukic.
San Francisco Chronicle
17 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Wimbledon: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoids the kind of upset that has happened a lot this year
LONDON (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka was just two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home. Four of the top 10 women's seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. 'Of course you're going to know the overall picture. ... I hope it's no upsets anymore in this tournament,' the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka said afterward with a chuckle. "If you know what I mean.' She is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month — drawing criticism from some over her post-match comments, a flap she and Gauff set aside via social media videos last week — but hasn't been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club. A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder. On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) to below 68 F (20 C). At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match's initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce. But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout. 'That was a tough moment," said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova next. 'Until that point, (my) return wasn't great enough to break her serve. I'm really glad ... everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better.' That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that. Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours. What else happened Wednesday at Wimbledon? Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who is seeded sixth, joined Sabalenka in the third round, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. Other players in action later included 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini among the women and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe among the men. Who plays Thursday at the All England Club? Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 major championships at Wimbledon will lead off the Centre Court schedule on Day 4 against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by Iga Swiatek vs. Caty McNally, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Aleksandar Vukic. ___
