Day 1 at The Championships is one of the most special days of the tennis year, with play commencing at the sport’s most historic tournament, on the nearly-pristine green grass of The All-England Club.

As tradition dictates, the defending gentlemen’s singles champion opens Centre Court play on Day 1 of the fortnight.  And for the first time, that man is Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic a year ago in five sets, and is coming off his third Major title just three weeks ago in Paris.

Monday’s schedule also includes 2024’s other Major winner in men’s singles, Jannik Sinner, as the top seed finds himself in the same half of the draw as third-seeded Alcaraz.  In addition, Daniil Medvedev, a semifinalist here a year ago, also plays his first round match on Day 1, as will 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini.

WTA play on Monday is headlined by two other reigning Major champions: Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.  Another pair of Slam champs, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens, will square off in the opening round on Day 1.  Plus, the 2021 US Open champion, Britain’s Emma Raducanu, takes on Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is one of only four players to defeat World No.1 Iga Swiatek during the first six months of 2024.  And four-time Major champ Naomi Osaka will play her first match at Wimbledon since 2019.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.

Matteo Arnaldi vs. Frances Tiafoe (29) – 11:00am on Court 15

This is the most intriguing first-on match of the day.  Tiafoe was a US Open quarterfinalist less than two years ago, and reached the quarters of that same event last summer.  But since leaving New York, where he was upset by fellow American Ben Shelton, Frances has not been the same player.  He is just 13-15 on the year, and arrives at SW19 having not won consecutive matches in three months.

Arnaldi is a 23-year-old Italian who recently achieved a career-high ranking of No.34, and in Paris advanced to the second week of a Major for the second time out of the last three Slams  He upset Andrey Rublev in the third round of Roland Garros, the third top 10 win of his young career.  However, Matteo is only 1-2 lifetime on grass at tour level.

Though In their first career meeting, an upset would be far from shocking.  Arnaldi’s complete lack of experience on this surface is rivaled by Tiafoe’s complete lack of confidence.  And Matteo possesses a formidable forehand with a short backswing, an asset on the fast-playing lawns of Wimbledon.

Matteo Berrettini vs. Marton Fucsovics – Second on Court 12

Another Italian Matteo headlines another of Monday’s most interesting contests, and this Matteo went all the way to the championship match of this tournament just three years ago.  Berrettini loves playing on grass: four of his eight career ATP titles have come on this surface.  But the perpetual issue in the 28-year-old’s career is staying healthy.  The big man’s body has failed him multiple times in recent years, and he’s played only 14 tour-level matches since suffering a gruesome ankle injury at last year’s US Open.

The best Slam result of Fucsovics’ career came at this same event in the same year Berrettini reached the final.  Marton was a quarterfinalist in 2021, thanks to upsets over three top 20 seeds (Sinner, Schwartzman, Rublev).  But the Hungarian veteran is just 11-9 at ATP level this season, and did not play a grass court warmup event.

By contrast, Berrettini played two, highlighted by a run to the final of Stuttgart.  And even though Fucsovics claimed their only prior ATP encounter, that came over five years ago, prior to the Italian discovering his best tennis.  This is another case where I favor the Italian player named Matteo to advance.

Ekaterina Alexandrova (22) vs. Emma Raducanu (WC) – Second on Centre Court

Centre Court’s closest match of the day will likely be this one.  Just within the past week in Eastbourne, Raducanu has played perhaps her best tennis since winning the US Open in 2021.  She clobbered Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-0, before earning the first top 10 victory of her career over another American, Jessica Pegula.  Emma even saved a match point before prevailing over Jess.

A year ago at this tournament, Alexandrova advanced to the second week of a Major for the first time.  She also won back-to-back grass court titles in 2022 and 2023, both in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.  And earlier this season in Miami, which plays at a similar court speed to that of Wimbledon, Ekaterina reached the semifinals, with wins over both Swiatek and Pegula.

Raducanu and Alexandrova have never played before, and Emma will certainly benefit from an overwhelming amount of crowd support.  However, that also comes with a lot of pressure and expectation, especially after such strong wins just a few days prior.  I give Alexandrova the slight edge on Monday.

Victoria Azarenka (16) vs. Sloane Stephens – Last on No.2 Court

These are two hard court Major champions who have not advanced to the quarterfinals of this event in about a decade.  Azarenka is a two-time semifinalist here, but hasn’t gone that far in 12 years.  Stephens’ sole quarterfinal appearance occurred in 2015.

During 2024, Vika has been the better player.  She is 24-11, and recently reached the semifinals of Berlin on this surface.  Stephens is just 18-16, and went just 1-2 on grass in June. 

Their rivalry dates back to a contentious semifinal at the 2013 Australian Open, when Azarenka took a nearly 10-minute medical timeout late in the match, and was subsequently accused of doing so for the purpose of disrupting Stephens’s momentum.  Overall Vika is 5-4 against Sloane, and while they have never played on grass, recent form dictates Azarenka be considered the favorite.

Other Notable Matches on Monday:

Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs. Mark Lajal (Q) – After winning his third Major in Paris, Alcaraz spent some time partying in Ibiza, then lost his second match at Queens Club in straight sets to Great Britain’s Jack Draper.  Lajal is a 21-year-old Estonian qualifier making his Major debut, and took to Instagram on Friday to boldly proclaim that Carlitos would be losing in the first round of Wimbledon.

Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Daniil Medvedev (3) – Medvedev is 28-9 in 2024, but is yet to reach a semifinal this year on clay or grass.  Kovacevic is a 25-year-old American who is just 1-3 in the main draw of Slams. 

Gael Monfils vs. Adrian Mannarino (22) – This past week in Mallorca, Monfils advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Alejandro Tabilo in a third-set tiebreak.  Mannarino is a meager 8-17 on the season, and arrives on a three-match losing streak on grass.  In this battle of veteran Frenchmen, Gael leads their head-to-head 5-2, though they are 1-1 at SW19.

Emina Bektas vs. Aryna Sabalenka (3) – Sabalenka comes into this fortnight at less than 100%, as she pulled out of Berlin last week with a shoulder injury, which she told the media this week is still bothering her.  Bektas is a 31-year-old American looking for her first victory at a Major.

Naomi Osaka (WC) vs. Diane Parry – Osaka is only 4-3 lifetime at The Championships, and is 15-12 on the year, after going 2-2 on grass between ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Berlin.  Parry is a 21-year-old from France who debuted inside the top 50 earlier this season, and is coming off a semifinal run on grass in Nottingham. 

Caroline Dolehide vs. Coco Gauff (2) – Gauff is now 32-10 this year, and was a grass court semifinalist in Berlin.  It was a first-round loss at this tournament a year ago to fellow American Sofia Kenin that prompted Coco to make changes to her team, which helped propel her to her first Major title just two months later in New York.  Dolehide is another fellow American who was a surprise finalist at last fall’s WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara, where she herself defeated Kenin in the semifinals.  Coco has taken both of their prior matches in straight sets.

Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Yannick Hanfmann – Sinner is a superb 38-3 on the season, and just won his first grass court title last week in Halle.  Unlike the last Major, Jannik arrives at this one fully healthy, which means trouble for the field.  In the first round of the 2023 US Open, he comfortably defeated Hanfmann in straights.

Paula Badosa vs. Karolina Muchova – This is only Muchova’s second tournament since last year’s US Open due to a wrist injury, and she withdrew midway through her first event back this past week in Eastbourne.  Badosa is another player whose career has been derailed by injury, as she missed the last half of last season, and is just 13-12 since returning.  They have split their two previous matchups, though Muchova’s victory came three years ago at this event.

Monday’s full Order of Play is here.

Jannik Sinner has been given a tough draw at Wimbledon as he is set to play defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

The world number one enters Wimbledon having won the ATP 500 event in Halle, defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the final.

However Sinner’s chances of winning a maiden Wimbledon crown have a few obstacles as the Italian will likely have to play Matteo Berrettini, Tallon Griekspoor, and Grigor Dimitrov on his way to the quarter-finals.

Should Sinner get through that tough draw, the world number one will then play defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

However, Novak Djokovic has a much easier draw as he continues to get stronger after his meniscus surgery in Paris.

The Serb’s most dangerous opponent on his way to the final is Halle finalist Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.

A match which Djokovic edged to victory in four sets at last year’s Wimbledon.

Ubitennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta looks back on the men’s draw and compares Sinner and Djokovic’s potential routes to the final.

Britain’s Paul Jubb amazing week ended in the semi finals after a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Sebastian Ofner – but he leaves with his head held high after seeing his ranking rocket up 88 places to provisionally #201, just a few spots shy of his career high achieved two years ago.

Austrian Ofner put in a solid match winning an astonishing 90% behind first serves, as well as an impressive 15 aces. But the headline statistic of 33 winners told the story as he consistently came out on top in baseline rallies with some fabulously constructed points mixing depth with short angles. He converted two of his three breakpoints and served out with an ace to reach his first ATP Final.

“I have always played well on grass, so for my first final to come on grass is something special,” Ofner said on court after his victory. “It’s also the surface on which I qualified for my first Grand Slam at Wimbledon. I just wanted to go with power on my first serve [at the end] because that’s the best chance to have no rally. But I played great the last games and happy that I got the win.”

Jubb should take heart from a great week where he came through qualifying to win three rounds of main draw as well as taking out top seed Ben Shelton yesterday in an epic encounter lasting two hours and 45 minutes, while Ofner contemplates a first tour title at the age of 28.

In the final, the Austrain faces Alejandro Tabilo who defeated Gael Monfils 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). The French veteran had recaptured his grass court form this week having not played on the surface for three years, but ran into a red-hot Tabilo who is having a career-best season by reaching his third final of the year.

Monfils closed the first set in just 28 minutes with an ace and looked convincing but Tabilo struck back by breaking twice in the second to square things up. Both men upped their game in the decider with no breaks of serve and the tie-break began with a superb 27-shot rally where Monfils – who had looked passive throughout the point – attempting a drop shot which Tabilo chased down for a backhand winner. He clenched his fist to the crowd and rode the momentum to take the match when Monfils double faulted on the last point.

“I think I started a little nervous, not really intense. I couldn’t find the court,” said Tabilo afterwards. “As the first set went on, I started getting a little looser, started hitting the ball [better]. Second set, I knew it was a new match and I had to start all over.”

Monfils now heads to Wimbledon where he will face countryman Adrian Mannarino in the first round before a possible encounter with Stan Wawrinka, while Tabilo will look to sleep well and recover for tomorrow’s title match – after which he will also contest the doubles final with partner Diego Hidalgo against Robert Galloway and Britain’s Julian Cash.