Carlos Alcaraz gave an unsparing assessment of his own performance during his rollercoaster five-set win opening round Wimbledon win against Fabio Fognini.

The five-time Grand Slam champion survived a scare to prevail 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 after four hours and 27 minutes in a contest that was far closer than anyone would have predicted.

The first three sets were highly competitive as an off-colour Alcaraz was pushed hard by a Fognini who produced his best display in recent years.

As Alcaraz’s struggles continued, Fognini stormed to take the fourth set without facing a break point as he forced a decider.

The jeopardy of a fifth set focused Alcaraz as he surged to a 3-0 lead that became 5-0 after a delay for a medical emergency in the crowd, before sealing the win.

During the second set tiebreak he lost, Alcaraz was heard saying: “I can’t serve and I can’t return. Shameful.”

Alcaraz’s victory preserved his unbeaten record in the opening round of Grand Slams and improved his five-set match record to an incredible 14-1.

Fognini, who was making his final Wimbledon appearance in what is his last year on tour, received a standing ovation from the crowd and was applauded by Alcaraz.

The 38-year-old Italian, a former world No 9, was playing Wimbledon for the 15th time.

Alcaraz, who is the two-time defending Wimbledon champion, has now won 19 consecutive matches in a run that features titles in Rome, at the French Open, and at the Queen’s Club Championships.

This was just the third time in the Open Era where a defending men’s singles champion at Wimbledon played a five-setter in the opening match of their title defence.

In the other two, Bjorn Borg beat Victor Amaya in 1978, while Roger Federer overcame Alejandro Falla in 2010.

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In his on-court interview, Alcaraz paid tribute to Fognini: “Well, first of all, to be honest I don’t know why it’s his last Wimbledon because the level he has shown, he can still play three, four more years (laughs). Unbelievable.

“I just have to give him the credit of such a great match. Fabio is a great player, he has shown during his whole career the level and the talent he has. Once again he has shown today.

“I’m just a little bit sad it’s his last Wimbledon, but just happy to have lived and shared the court many times with him, the locker room with him, and we’re gonna enjoy the last of him.”

Asked how he would assess his own performance, Alcaraz said: “Well, playing the first match of the Centre Court, the first match of every tournament is never easy.

“I’ve been practising well, I’ve been playing on grass really well, but at Wimbledon it’s special, it’s different and I could feel the difference between Wimbledon and the other tournaments.

“I just tried to play my best, to deal with the nerves the best that I could, but I would say I can be better. I have to improve in the next round, I just want to be better. But in general, I think it was a great match.”

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Joao Fonseca’s 2025 has been full of career firsts, and a stunning display in his maiden Wimbledon campaign suggests that he is not quite done breaking new ground.

The youngest man in the men’s singles draw this year, 18-year-old Fonseca delivered a statement performance against home favourite Jacob Fearnley, defeating the Brit 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(5).

Conditions in SW19 on Monday felt more Brazilian than British, with sweltering conditions circling inside Court One, and Fonseca certainly gave his opponent little room to breathe.

World No 51 Fearnley is three places above the 18-year-old in the rankings, but a gulf in class between the two was apparent – not least with Fonseca’s forehand, which fizzled and dominated in the searing heat.

Perhaps Fonseca’s most remarkable quality, though, is not his forehand or his booming serve, which was close to impenetrable out on Court One.

His biggest quality is arguably his mentality and maturity, an 18-year-old playing with the clarity of a competitor well beyond his years.

At 4-4 in the opening set, the Brazilian found himself 0-40 down on serve, with the thousands inside Wimbledon’s second-largest court all but completely behind his opponent, the British No 2.

A lesser player would have caved under pressure, but there is nothing ‘lesser’ about Fonseca.

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The Brazilian turned the tide to hold serve and was rampant for a good half hour after that, winning eight of nine games to storm into a two-sets-to-love lead.

That composure again came to the fore late on, saving a set point to force a tiebreak in the third set, before rallying from 2-5 down in the breaker to seal a straight-sets win.

Fonseca looked cool, calm, and collected from the outside on Court One, but, perhaps naturally, there were some nerves for him to deal with.

“The moment of the tiebreak, I just felt like: ‘Honestly, okay, it’s going to the fourth set, he played well. He’s playing well, he’s getting his serves well.’ Yeah, I didn’t play very good in the beginning of the tiebreak,” said Fonseca.

“When he was serving 5-2, he made a double-fault. I said to me, That’s my chance. I made a good return and he lost the first forehand. Also, a little bit more nerves from both sides.

“I served really well in the important points. 4-5 I was serving ace, and 5-All ace again. 6-5 could go to both sides.

“I’m very happy with the way I could manage the important points doing good serves and increasing the level.”

So often in his young career, Fonseca has found the crowd to be on his side, with a strong Brazilian following and a growing international following ever since his Australian Open breakthrough.

This was the second straight major where the tables were turned, with the teen facing Pierre-Hugues Herbert at Roland Garros last month, though it doesn’t seem to be a hindrance to him.

Fonseca breezed past Herbert in Paris and was largely in control against Fearnley on Monday, inside one of the largest courts he’s ever played inside.

He added: “Normall,y I play with the crowd. The crowd is normally on my side.

“But today, I also thanked after the match, the British crowd, they respected the match. If it was in Brazil, probably it’s going to be disturbing for Jacob.

“But yeah, they [the crowd] really respected. It means a lot. I saw some voices in Portuguese, I felt really well during the match. Didn’t disturb me at all.”

Victory was symbolic for Fonseca regarding a first win at the All England Club, but it could also provide another milestone in the weeks to come.

The Brazilian is currently at a career-high ranking of world No 54 but, in the ATP Live Rankings, is up to world No 47 – making a top 50 debut more than likely once the tournament is over.

Fonseca is not one to dwell on big rankings milestones, but he does admit there is one goal in mind.

“I’m just taking match by match, not thinking very much about the ranking. Of course, there is a goal for me to be a seeded player in the next Grand Slams. It’s a goal for me.

“It’s going to be week after week, focusing on the match, not in the results. If I’m going to play good, well. If I’m going to play good and lose the match…

“Yeah, I’m just focusing on the next match and not about the ranking.”

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Former world No 1 Andy Roddick has described Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon numbers as “absurd” as he predicted how for the tennis great will progress at the 2025 Championships.

Djokovic has won seven Wimbledon titles, which puts him joint-second on the all time men’s singles title list with his idol Pete Sampras, while Roger Federer holds the record with eight.

The 38-year-old has reached the last six Wimbledon finals and 10 of the previous 13 since he secured his first title in 2011. He was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in each of the last two championship matches.

The world No 6 is seeking a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, where he will begin his campaign against Alexandre Muller.

Speaking on his Served podcast, Roddick broke down Djokovic’s section of the draw and picked the Serbian to beat Jack Draper in the quarter-finals and Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

“I will not be choosing against Novak, I have Novak in the semis. I think this is Novak’s last best chance at a major,” said the 2003 US Open champion.

“I think — I don’t know when the end is coming — but I think his best chance is on grass. I think his game as it stands currently — not Novak from five years ago — but as it stands currently, I think he gets the most benefit for surface on grass now. And he knows what to do with it.

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“He’s gonna get balls to hit in the first couple of rounds. [Dan] Evans is gonna chip, that’s not gonna… [Alex] Michelsen serves well, but Novak’s gonna be in his service games, [Alex] de Minaur, he’s gonna be able to distribute him and hit through the court.

“Draper, he can actually return the lefty serve, that’s not gonna bother him too much. And I’m gonna take it one further, I have Novak in the finals. I know, it’s been like crazy, it’s been like a whole year since he’s been in the Wimbledon final (smiles).”

On Djokovic’s record at Wimbledon, Roddick added: “It’s crazy, I mean it’s absurd. We don’t talk about it enough.

“We get to the point where we’re spoiled and we get used to numbers and they become normal when they should never be normal.”

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Andy Roddick has weighed in on Jannik Sinner’s shock decision to part ways with two of his team members on the eve of Wimbledon.

It was revealed this week that Sinner had fired both his fitness trainer Marco Panichi and his physiotherapist Ulises Badio just days before the start of the season’s third Grand Slam.

Both Panichi and Badio spent lengthy spells working with tennis legend Novak Djokovic before they joined Sinner’s team in September 2024.

The duo replaced Umberto Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi — who were axed by Sinner due to their roles in the Italian failing two doping tests in March last year.

Sinner, the world No 1, will aim to win his maiden Wimbledon title and fourth Grand Slam in total.

The 23-year-old will face fellow countryman and world No 94 Luca Nardi in his opening match at the grass-court major.

Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, journalist Jon Wertheim asked Roddick about Sinner’s decision: “What do we make of Sinner firing his trainer and physio on the eve of Wimbledon?

“Especially given sort of greater context there, strikes me as an interesting personnel move as you try to win your first Wimbledon.”

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Roddick replied: “That’s a really weird thing to do, yeah. On the eve of Wimbledon, you wouldn’t… had to be something,”

“I don’t know anything, but my guess would be that it has to be something off court, whether it’s financial, whether it’s an argument. This doesn’t feel like what you would do when you’re trying to win your first Wimbledon.

“This also sounds like it could be something that we will never know the answer to, at least publicly.”

Djokovic gave his reaction to Sinner’s move in his pre-Wimbledon press conference.

“I did work with Marco and Uli, and I think they are phenomenal professionals that both have contributed also a lot to me, to my team, to my success,” said the 24-time major winner.

“I don’t know what the reasons are for the split with Jannik. It came as a surprise to me as well because I think Jannik’s game and body really has improved so much in the last year, year and a half. They’ve been an integral part of that team. I don’t know, to be honest. But changes happen.

Sinner was upset by Alexander Bublik in the second round of the Halle Open — where he was the defending champion — in his last match.

This is the only event Sinner has played since his devastating loss to Carlos Alcaraz in a marathon five-set French Open final on June 8.

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Jannik Sinner dropped a bombshell on the eve of Wimbledon, and the world No 1 has given his first public explanation for the major decision.

Just nine months after hiring physiotherapist Marco Panichi and fitness trainer Ulises Badio, Sinner has parted company with the pair as he insisted the move won’t have a negative impact at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Panichi and Badio joined the Italian’s team in September last year as they replaced Umberto Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi, who left following the failed doping test saga in March 2024.

Both came with impressive CVs as Panichi and Badio had previously worked with all-time great Novak Djokovic while they were also in the Sinner camp when he successfully defended his Australian Open title at the start of the year.

Sinner, who lost the French Open final against Carlos Alcaraz in five sets with the match lasting five hours and 29 minutes, also worked with the pair at the Halle Open after Roland Garros before the shock move came just days before the start of Wimbledon.

When asked about the decision ahead of the third major of the year, the three-time Grand Slam winner replied: “No, nothing major happened. Nothing big happened. I parted ways not long ago, but it’s not affecting me. I feel ready to compete. I feel free. I feel me and my team, we are ready to do the best we can.

“So I’m here to play good tennis. I think that’s my main goal, the main reason why I’m here. We’ve reached incredible results in the past with them, so obviously huge thanks to them. We made some great job, but I decided to do something different.”

When asked about the reason for the split, he again didn’t go into much detail, simply stating: “As I said, there’s not one specific thing. Nothing crazy happened. That’s for sure not.

“We made some great work. For me the final in Roland Garros was an amazing achievement. That’s it. Look, in this sport things can happen. There is nothing incredible, no, because sometimes a player feels something different, and that’s my case.

“But again, I’m here to play tennis. I’m here to show that I can play some good tennis also on grass.”

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After losing the Roland Garros final against Alcaraz at the beginning of June, the 23-year-old played only one grass-court tournament and that was Halle, winning one match before losing in the round of 16.

But there is no dwelling on his French Open heartbreak.

“Honestly, I feel ready to play. I feel ready. We are practicing very well. What happened in the past is in the past already,” he said.

“I feel good. I feel especially mentally I feel in a very good spot. Halle was a little bit different, because before I haven’t had so much time to cut that off. Now it’s gone, and I see also the reactions of other players and people, they talked the level is very, very high. Just privileged to be in this position.

“We are working very hard. I feel like that I’m playing great, great tennis on grass. Hopefully I can show this also in the match court.”

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Emma Raducanu is back in the top 50 of the WTA Rankings after a year of progress, but the 2021 US Open champion could face a slide after she was handed a challenging Wimbledon draw.

Raducanu reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, with the 240 points she collected from that run set to drop off her ranking heading into this year’s tournament at the All England Club.

If she fails to match her performance from last year at Wimbledon, the 22-year-old will slide backwards in the rankings and she may lose her status as British No 1 to Katie Boulter.

Raducanu will be a strong favourite to beat British teenager Mimi Xu in her opening match at Wimbledon, but she could then be in line to face 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in round two.

Vondrousova confirmed she is in red-hot form heading into Wimbledon after winning a WTA 500 tournament on grass in Berlin last week.

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If Raducanu got through those two matches, she would be in line to face world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and that would be a match she would be a big outsider to win.

The draw means Raducanu is likely to slide outside of the top 50 once again after Wimbledon and she is downplaying her hopes heading into the tournament with a back injury.

“Truthfully I don’t expect much from myself this year,” said Raducanu. “I know I’ve just been dealing with certain things.

“I just want to go out there and embrace the moment. I want to embrace the occasion. I know there’s not many opportunities to be playing at Wimbledon. You get it once a year and for a finite amount of time. I’m just looking forward to going out there and feeling the surroundings and the atmosphere.

“I just feel like the way that I’m going to do that is putting more time on the court.

“Maybe in the short term I feel a little bit more tired, but I know I’m going to improve in the long run doing it. Even if I don’t see the results straightaway, they will come.

“For me, I love working, and I think that’s the stage I’m at right now is just to work, put the hours in, and get better.”

Raducanu also commented on her status as British No 1, as she insisted the rivalry with Katie Boulter for that domestic itle is all friendly.

“It’s a great honor to be British No. 1. It’s been a long time, but Katie is hot on my heels, a couple places behind me. I know she’s such a great grass court player, such a great player in general,” she added.

“It’s going to be a really difficult battle in the next few months, the rest of the season. For us, we have a really healthy, good relationship. I think it’s nice to have, but it isn’t everything to me.”

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