Wimbledon day one: Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu take centre stage

Carlos Alcaraz will have a target on his back as Wimbledon gets under way while Emma Raducanu headlines British hopes on the opening Monday.

Reigning men’s champion Alcaraz starts play on Centre Court as he looks to retain his title in what has been called the most open tournament in 20 years.

The women’s singles will be as competitive as ever, with Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka among those playing on day one who will be looking to make it eight different winners in as many Championships.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the opening day of action.

New era for the men?

Carlos Alcaraz lifts the Wimbledon championship — Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller in last year’s final (Victoria Jones/PA)

For the first time since 2003, Centre Court will open with a men’s champion not named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray.Alcaraz, who stunned Djokovic in last year’s final, is now looking to emulate the Serbian and Federer by retaining the title, but he faces a host of challengers and could meet world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev believes this summer will be “the most open Wimbledon championship that we maybe had in 20 years”.

But once again among the favourites – after a remarkable recovery from a knee injury – is Djokovic, who is one title away from matching Roger Federer’s haul of eight on the Wimbledon grass.

Injury sagas

Andy Murray with his coaching team on the practice court — Andy Murray has yet to decide if he is playing singles (John Walton/PA)

Djokovic is not the only player who has had a ‘will they, won’t they’ hanging over them heading into the fortnight.

It remains to be seen whether two-time champion Andy Murray will be fit enough to play singles on Tuesday – he is expected to make a decision on Monday evening – while fellow Britons Dan Evans and Liam Broady have had injury problems this year.

And women’s third seed Sabalenka has admitted she is not 100 per cent fit due to a shoulder injury that is affecting her serve.

Match of the day

Emma Raducanu hits a backhand on the practice courts — Emma Raducanu plays on Centre Court in the first round (John Walton/PA)

Emma Raducanu is back at Wimbledon after her injury-enforced absence 12 months ago and will grace Centre Court for the third time in her career.

She was originally meant to face 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova – a match the 2021 US Open winner admitted she would be the “complete underdog” for.

But shortly before play started on Monday morning, the Russian withdrew from the tournament and was replaced by lucky loser Renata Zarazua.

The Mexican, who won two matches in qualifying before losing in the final round, is ranked 98, 37 places above Raducanu, but has only won seven matches on grass in her career, none of them at tour level.

Brit watch

A graphic showing all the British singles players scheduled to play at Wimbledon this year — (PA graphics)

Raducanu is one of seven Britons in action on the opening day.

Heather Watson will be the first on court, taking on Greet Minnen at 11am, while Liam Broady, who reached the third round 12 months ago, takes on Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Charles Broom’s Wimbledon debut comes against three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka on Court Two.

Yuriko Miyazaki plays Tamara Korpatsch, Arthur Fery also has German opposition in Daniel Altmaier and Sonay Kartal will look for her first Wimbledon singles win at the third attempt against 29th seed Sorana Cirstea.

Order of play

Coco Gauff prepares to hit a forehand while practising at Wimbledon — Coco Gauff will have her eye on a long Wimbledon run (Walton/PA)

Centre Court from 1.30pm:
Carlos Alcaraz (3) v Mark Lajal
Emma Raducanu v Ekaterina Alexandrova
Coco Gauff (2) v Caroline DolehideCourt One from 1pm:
Daniil Medvedev (5) v Aleksandar Kovacevic
Aryna Sabalenka (3) v Emina Bektas
Jannik Sinner (1) v Yannick Hanfmann