Sports Mole recaps Monday’s first day of Wimbledon action, in which Emma Raducanu headlined a trio of British victors in the women’s singles.
The ever-volatile British weather mostly blessed the Wimbledon courts with playable conditions on Monday, as the third Grand Slam of the 2024 season got underway in SW19, where plenty of home favourites kicked off their bids for Grand Slam glory.
Some fared far better than others on the opening day of action, which was marred by the two high-profile withdrawals of Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka, opening up an already unpredictable women’s draw even further.
A trio of British women’s hopefuls capitalised, and here, Sports Mole recaps the first day of action at the Championships, highlighting the big winners and the lowly losers.
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There were no prizes for guessing which player triggered the loudest cheers of the day, as 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu made her eagerly-anticipated return to SW19 soil on the back of an impressive warm-up period on the grass.
The 21-year-old was due to take on Ekaterina Alexandrova before the 22nd seed withdrew through illness, and her lucky loser replacement – Renata Zarazua of Mexico – gave Raducanu a good run for her money in the early exchanges.
However, the former national number one dominated the first-set tie-breaker and roared to a 7-6[0] 6-3 triumph to set up a second-round affair with Belgium’s Elise Mertens, and she was one of three British women to prevail on Monday.
While Raducanu’s success was praiseworthy, it was not a touch on Sonay Kartal’s astounding win over 29th seed and former French Open quarter-finalist Sorana Cirstea, whom she inflicted a remarkable bagel against in a 3-6 6-2 6-0 win.
Kartal – the current world number 295 – came through qualifying to make it to the Wimbledon main draw and now has her first-ever Grand Slam victory under her belt, while wild card Lily Miyazaki earned her inaugural SW19 success with a 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Tamara Korpatsch.
Wimbledon veteran Heather Watson could not join her compatriots in round two, though, going down 5-7 4-6 to Belgian doubles partner Greet Minnen in one of the opening matches of the day.
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As four British women took to the turf on Monday and emerged with a 75% success rate, a trio of British men went zero for three, as wild cards Liam Broady, Arthur Fery and Charles Broom were all eliminated early.
Broady – who memorably sunk Casper Ruud at the 2023 edition – was beaten 2-6 6-4 3-6 2-6 by Botic van de Zandschulp, while Fery fought valiantly against Daniel Altmaier but was bested 6-4 6-7[8] 6-1 3-6 1-6.
Meanwhile, Broom’s run came to a swift end against 39-year-old Stan Wawrinka in a 3-6 5-7 4-6 loss, but two of the three top seeds – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – made it through safely.
Top seed Sinner suffered a brief scare versus Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann but ultimately prevailed 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3, while Alcaraz defeated plucky Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6[3] 7-5 6-2.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff was the only one of the top five seeds to play on the opening day but ran into few obstacles against compatriot Caroline Dolehide, whom she bested 6-1 6-2.
Grand Slam finalist among notable early exits
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However, another woman to have reached a Grand Slam final in the past 12 months – Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng – was the highest-ranked player to fall, suffering a humbling 6-4 2-6 4-6 loss to New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun.
As Zheng’s run came to an immediate end, so did 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva‘s, as the French Open semi-finalist was disappointingly beaten 6-1 3-6 2-6 by the Czech Republic’s Brenda Fruhvirtova, who is just 27 days older than her.
A total of four seeds fell in the men’s draw, including number 18 Sebastian Baez – beaten in straight sets by Brandon Nakashima – and number 19 Nicolas Jarry, who was also overcome in three by Denis Shapovalov.
With one half of first-round matches now taken care of, Tuesday sees the other batch of contenders begin their Wimbledon campaigns, and two-time winner Andy Murray is set to take on Tomas Machac in the afternoon session, injury permitting.
Centre Court king Novak Djokovic returns to his beloved soil to face Vit Kopriva first up, while Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Daniel Evans and Alexander Zverev are also in action.
In the women’s draw, world number one Iga Swiatek begins against Sofia Kenin, while Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones – who could face Swiatek in round two – also play their first-round ties.