Jannik Sinner, the defending men’s champion, and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka arrived at Wimbledon carrying doubts but quickly answered them Monday with sharply different opening-round victories.
Sinner, playing his first match since a surprise second-round exit at the French Open, was pushed to the limit by Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic on a scorching day in Paris before digging deep to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3.
Sabalenka, still shaken after a heavy quarterfinal loss to Diana Shnaider in Paris, where she dropped the final 10 games, responded with a far more controlled performance on Centre Court, easing past Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic 6-2, 6-3.
In the evening feature, Novak Djokovic opened his bid for an eighth Wimbledon crown, which would match Roger Federer’s record, and a 25th Grand Slam title to move clear of Margaret Court, grinding out a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over China’s Wu Yibing.
While world No. 1 Sinner, the overwhelming favorite in the absence of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, lived to fight another day, there were early seeded casualties.
Norway’s 11th seed Casper Ruud was handed a tough draw in the shape of big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz and lost 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7), while 12th seed Andrey Rublev was edged out in a five-set battle against fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, falling 14-12 in a deciding-set tiebreak after missing two match points.
There was heartbreak for surprise French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska, who lost 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew after the Pole fell and hurt herself while holding match point.
Several women’s seeds moved through on a day mercifully cooler than the heat wave that gripped London last week.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka once again dressed to impress, walking on court in a Kill Bill-inspired white kimono, and her tennis matched the look as the 14th seed beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5.
American fourth seed Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5, 6-3, and seventh seed Coco Gauff defeated Tamara Korpatsch 6-2, 6-1, while French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, the fifth seed, beat Magda Linette 7-5, 6-4.
Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic had far too much experience for young wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic, whose defeat was one of many on a difficult day for home players.
It was a grim opening day for the home nation, which failed to celebrate a single victory.
Twenty-one players, including 12 wildcards, were in the first-round draw, but after Emma Raducanu withdrew with an injury on the eve of the tournament, she was followed Monday by Jack Draper, who also pulled out with an arm injury.
Ten British players lost, including British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, the 26th seed, who was beaten in five sets by American qualifier Michael Zheng.
Sinner’s struggles in the Roland Garros heat against Juan Manuel Cerundolo raised questions about his durability, but he answered them, albeit in cooler conditions, against Kecmanovic.
Sinner recorded his 94th Grand Slam match win, equaling the Italian record held by Nicola Pietrangeli, but shed plenty of sweat and a little blood in reaching that mark, his white shoe stained red after injuring a toenail in a fall.
“It was a little tight in the beginning. I didn’t play at my best, but I tried to get into it,” he said. “I’m happy I turned it around because the third set was very tough to swallow.”
Sinner had a chance to go two sets to one up but lost it, and Kecmanovic pounced. He was in danger of becoming only the third defending Wimbledon men’s champion to lose in the first round but dominated the rest of his three-hour, 30-minute match.
“I’m actually surprised they let me keep playing because my all-white outfit turned into a little red,” he added.
Djokovic was also made to work by Wu in his first grass-court match of the season, but the Serb capitalized on a sloppy overhead from his opponent to secure the decisive break in the fourth set.
“Playing on this surface, these kinds of matches are decided on a few points,” he said. “Thankfully, I have the experience of the last 20-plus years of playing on this court, which helps me manage the situation. It would be nice to combine the experience with a young, fresh body.”
Court One fans expecting Raducanu were left disappointed as the replacement match saw home hope Harriet Dart beaten by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko.
Next up was a clash between two former US Open champions, Daniil Medvedev and Marin Cilic, but Cilic, 37, was overmatched as eighth seed Medvedev eased to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Two of the sport’s new generation also made early statements.
Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, backed by a large contingent of fans in yellow football shirts, beat Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-3 before heading off to watch Brazil reach the World Cup last 16.
Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, 19, also impressed on debut, beating British wildcard Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
