Wimbledon: Carlos Alcaraz survives but upsets plenty on Day 1 – from Holger Rune to Paula Badosa, all the big names knocked out

Indian Express

12 hours ago

One the hottest-ever opening day at Wimbledon, plenty of top players faced the heat on the grass as a total of three seeds on the men's side and three seeds on the women's part of the draw were knocked out. The biggest of potential upsets was avoided as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered just in time to win a five-set marathon against veteran Fabio Fognini but the likes Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev, Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas couldn't escape.
Seeds knocked out on day 1: Women's singles – Paula Badosa [9], Jelena Ostapenko [20], McCartney Kessler [32]. Men's singles – Daniil Medvedev [9], Holger Rune [8], Francisco Cerúndolo [16], Alexei Popyrin [20], Stefanos Tsitsipas [24], Tallon Griekspoor [31], Matteo Berrettini [32]
No arena at Wimbledon gets as hot as bowl-like Court Two and the conditions were clearly not to the liking of ex-world number one Medvedev as the ninth seed saw his hopes scorched by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who won 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2. Eighth seed Rune of Denmark, yet to really make his mark at a Grand Slam, won the opening two sets against Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry but succumbed 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4. Tsitsipas, twice a Grand Slam runner-up was left despondent after retiring with a back injury having fallen two sets behind against French qualifier Valentin Royer.
American fifth seed Taylor Fritz looked to be on his way out before battling back to force a fifth set against big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard before their match was suspended with the Grand Slam's 11 p.m. curfew looming.
There are 23 British players in the singles draw, the most since 1984 and the biggest results for the home contingent came via Sonay Kartal, who upset 20th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 2-6 6-2, and Arthur Fery, who beat the 20th seed Australian Alexei Popyrin, in a four set thriller. Fery, ranked 461st in the world, won 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Later in the day, when Katie Boulter later knocked out Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2 3-6 6-4 on Centre Court, seven British players had enjoyed victories, the most in a single day for the home nation in the professional era.
Medvedev arrived at Wimbledon after a good performance in Halle on grass. He exited from the first round itself, comprehensively dismantled by French World No. 64 Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2. After losing early in Melbourne and Paris too, the 2021 US Open champion may be looking a bit too one-dimensional, his defence-first playing style now feeling out of date. 'I felt like I didn't play too bad. I don't see much I could do better,' the former world No 1 said. 'I was surprised by his level. I know that he can play well. I would be surprised if you find a match of him playing like this any other time this year. I'm surprised he did today. But it can happen. That's when sensations happen.'
Apart from seeded players, a Wimbledon fan-favourite also fell by the wayside. Ons Jabeur's big dream of winning Wimbledon came to a grinding halt on Monday afternoon. The 2022 and 2023 finalist, now outside the world's top 50, retired from illness against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova as the scoreline reflected 7-6 (5), 2-0. An ice towel around her neck, and with tears streaming down her eyes as the on-court physio checked her blood pressure, the picture looked grim.
The Greek star has gone through plenty of changes in his burgeoning career, the most recent being the hiring of Goran Ivanisevic as his coach. Nothing seems to be stopping his slide down the rankings though, as he also retired, down 3-6, 2-6 to French qualifier Valentin Royer. The two-time Major finalist will be as low as World No. 28 next week. 'I'm battling many wars these days. It's really painful to see myself in a situation like this,' he said after the match. 'I've tried everything. I've done an incredible job with my fitness. I've done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I've maximised on everything that I possibly can do. 'Right now, I'm just absolutely left with no answers.'
was considered a promising talent on the level of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner a couple of years ago, but despite flashes of brilliance, he is simply unable to get himself to emulate their consistency. On Monday, the World No. 8 slumped to a five-set defeat to Chile's Nicolas Jarry despite leading by two sets, with those lofty expectations continuing to look unrealistic a few years since they were born. Rune later said he was bothered by a knee injury, otherwise this is the sort of match he'd have won 9 times out of 10.
(With Reuters inputs)