Toni Nadal has labelled Carlos Alcaraz “the star of the year and the man to beat” at Wimbledon as he named Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic as the only players who could “possibly catch him.”

Alcaraz is seeking a third consecutive Wimbledon title at the 2025 Championships, where he started his campaign by surviving a scare to beat Fabio Fognini in five sets.

The five-time major winner holds 90.9% (30-3) win rate on grass, which is the highest of any man in the Open Era among players to win at least 20 matches on the surface.

The world No 2 is on a 19-match winning streak, having triumphed at the Queen’s Club Championships, the French Open and the Italian Open in his previous three events.

The 22-year-old Spaniard has won 28 of his last 29 matches in a sensational run that started at the beginning of the clay season in Monte Carlo.

Alcaraz’s only defeat since March came against Holger Rune in the Barcelona Open final, where he was hampered by injuries that also forced him out of the Madrid Masters.

In his El Pais column, Nadal asserted that he does not “see anyone who can seriously challenge” Alcaraz at the grass-court Grand Slam.

“The main question on the minds of fans and experts is, without a doubt, whether anyone will be able to defeat our great player,” wrote the uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal.

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“I sincerely believe that, under normal conditions, very few opponents have the ability to trouble Carlos.

“It’s true that on grass courts, the element of surprise comes into play more, but looking at the draw he’s facing and considering the fact that the surface is less damaged in the first few days and the game is very fast, I don’t see anyone who can seriously challenge him.

“Alcaraz also possesses, as he has demonstrated over the last two years, the almost perfect conditions to perform with ease on the London grass.

“As if that weren’t enough, the Murcia-born player arrived at the tournament brimming with morale and confidence following his epic comeback in the Roland Garros final and his recent triumph at Queen’s.

“Without a doubt, Carlos is the star of the year and the man to beat. The only two players who could possibly catch him along the way are the current number one, Jannik Sinner, and seven-time Wimbledon champion, Novak Djokovic.”

Alcaraz will take on 733rd-ranked British qualifier Oliver Tarvet in the second round at Wimbledon.

READ NEXT: John McEnroe makes ‘surprising’ Carlos Alcaraz admission after Fabio Fognini scare

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Iga Swiatek reached a Grand Slam milestone that highlights her consistency after an impressive opening round win at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.

The world No 4 defeated 64th-ranked Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1 in her opening round outing at the All England Club.

Swiatek was dominant on serve, saving the single break point she faced, while she broke the 22-year-old Russian three times.

The display was a continuation of Swiatek’s encouraging form on grass courts after her runner-up result at the WTA 500 event in Bad Homburg last week.

The five-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by world No 3 Jessica Pegula in a tight Bad Homburg final after wins over Victoria Azarenka, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Jasmine Paolini.

With her first round win at Wimbledon, Swiatek progressed to the second round of a Grand Slam event for the 25th time in her career.

Since Swiatek made her major debut at the 2019 Australian Open, no woman has featured in the second round of as many majors.

The 24-year-old Pole is now 25-1 in the opening round of Grand Slams, and only five female players have a better record from their first 26 first round contests at majors.

Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Monica Seles and Serena Williams all amassed a 26-0 record in Grand Slam openers.

In her on-court interview, Swiatek said: “Playing in this heat, I’m glad some clouds came. This day was pretty… I don’t know. I didn’t know how I’m gonna survive it.

“In tennis, we need to be ready for the rain, heat, everything. Especially in UK as you see (smiling).”

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The interviewer jokingly called Swiatek out over the amount of Wimbledon towels she put in her bag after the match: “How many towels have you put in your bag? I don’t know how big your closet is at home, but there’s about 6 in there.”

Swiatek replied: “Come on (laughs), it’s like a topic no one ever talks about. We love our towels.

We’ll let it slide, Iga

The No.8 seed returns to collecting wins at #Wimbledon – but turns out she also comes away from The Championships with a few items of memorabilia as well! pic.twitter.com/pMaEcEOA2j

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2025

“Every time I come back from a Slam, I think I have like 10 friends and 10 family members wanting towels. So sorry guys. Sorry Wimbledon. I don’t know if I’m supposed to do that, though, so…

“I mean, I have a lot at home. Trust me, I don’t need much more. If I’m gonna play like 15 more years on tour I can’t even imagine. I think I’m gonna have to build another room in my house just for Grand Slam towels.”

Swiatek, who is chasing a maiden Wimbledon title, will face world No 208 Caty McNally in the second round at SW19.

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Alex Eala’s Wimbledon debut may have ended in defeat, but the trailblazing star’s Centre Court suggested she will be back contending for many years to come.

The Filipina was handed a daunting draw in the form of reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova, but more than held her own against one of the leading players of this era.

Watching Eala in any match, it’s clear that she reads the game incredibly well for someone so young, and so comparatively still inexperienced.

That only becomes more obvious in person, where you can appreciate how quick her footwork is and how sharp she is when it comes to choosing where to direct her shot.

Of course, this is also a strength of Krejcikova’s, whose two Grand Slam singles titles have not come through a solid base of power, like many of her contemporaries.

It is her guile, her ability to disrupt and dislodge her opponents, and her ability to pick up her opponent’s motions of play that have been key to her success.

For a while on Tuesday, it looked as if the former world No 2 had met her match against Eala, who rallied from an early break down to claim the opener.

But it was the reigning champion who ultimately pulled through, prevailing 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to start her title defence with victory.

“This match is my dream match, my dream debut,” said Eala in press, despite her loss.

“First Wimbledon main draw in Centre Court against the defending champion. It was such a pleasure for me to share the court with her.

“I think even though the second two sets, the scores were quite far, I think I had my chances. I think I did have chances, especially later on in the end, so start of the sets and ends of the sets.

“It’s just that I think she showed her composure, she showed her skill. She stepped up when she needed to in the important moments, and in the end that’s why she got away.

“I think in the first set I was able to kind of like dominate her a little bit in certain moments. In the end I think it was just one break.

“In the next two sets, I think she really did kind of step up. She was hitting quite close to the line, which she was doing consistently, partly I guess because I wasn’t making her uncomfortable maybe or also because obviously she’s very skilful.

“Credit is due. Give credit where credit is due. And obviously I just need to look at my side and what I need to improve going on.”

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Win or lose, this was always going to be a historic day for the 20-year-old.

The Filipina is now the first woman from her nation to play a main draw match at Wimbledon, just weeks after becoming the first player from her nation to contest a Grand Slam match at Roland Garros.

Ranked at a career-high of 56th in the WTA Rankings after reaching her first WTA final in Eastbourne last week, she is also the only Filipina to ever be ranked inside the top 100 of the WTA Rankings.

Eala is already a trailblazer for her nation, and it is fitting that this was celebrated in her historic Grand Slam bow.

The 20-year-old revealed on social media before the match that she had received a replica of a sampaguita flower from Nike, and, when asked by Tennis365, Eala revealed how touching that gesture had been.

“This is so special for me,” commented Eala.

“First of all, to just have something that reminds me of where I come from, of my country, and my culture out there on court, because I feel like that’s what makes me special – where I come from.

“So the flower is the national flower of the Philippines. It’s called the sampaguita. The whole idea behind it is it’s kind of you reap what you sow, or what’s sown will be reaped.

“That was kind of the whole message was to have something, a piece of home with me on such an iconic court.”

Read Next: Meet the coaches who fired Oliver Tarvet towards a Wimbledon showdown with Carlos Alcaraz

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A devastated Stefanos Tsitsipas has spoken about the chronic injury that ended his Wimbledon 2025 campaign and admitted his tennis future is in doubt if he cannot find a solution to the issue.

Tsitsipas was forced to retire in the opening round of the Championships due to a lower back injury when trailing 113th-ranked French qualifier Valentin Royer 3-6, 2-6.

The 26-year-old has endured a significant decline in recent years and arrived at Wimbledon as the world No 26 — his lowest ranking position since 2018.

The Greek, who is a former world No 3 and two-time Grand Slam runner-up, has not won back-to-back matches since the Barcelona Open in April.

Here is everything Tsitsipas said in a candid post-match press conference at Wimbledon.

Q. Stefanos, can you just tell us what happened to you on court?

TSITSIPAS: It’s tough to describe. I mean, I’m battling many wars these days. It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this. One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I’ve never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back. Since that time, I’ve been very fragile with my body, and I’ve been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don’t know. I mean, I feel completely — I feel like I’m left without answers. I don’t know. I’ve tried everything. I’ve done an incredible job with my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I’ve maximised on everything that I possibly can do. Right now, I’m just absolutely left with no answers. I don’t know what to do.

Q. How did it go during your training with Goran [Ivanisevic]?

TSITSIPAS: Oh, he’s great. We’re having a great time. I am very disappointed that I wasn’t able to show my potential the way I deserve to play on the court. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. I feel like even if he gives me the most amount of confidence in the world, if I don’t feel comfortable, if I don’t feel good with myself and my body, then I can’t really show anything.

Q. Stefanos, how were you feeling in the beginning of the tournament? Did you ever think that things could go this way?

TSITSIPAS: I was playing good tennis. I was happy with the way I was playing. I felt like I had a good chance at Wimbledon. I really don’t know what can I say else. It’s tough to wrap my head around what happened.

Q. But physically?

TSITSIPAS: Physically, there was one day that I wasn’t well. It creates a lot of frustration, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of whys and how and when. It’s probably the most difficult situation that I’ve ever been faced with, because it’s an ongoing issue that doesn’t seem to be disappearing or fading off as much. Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I’ll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months. This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point at competing. If I’m not healthy, and I’ve talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.

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Q. Stefanos, what was the actual specific problem today, if you can explain that?

TSITSIPAS: Well, I’m pretty sure if you look at the Nitto Finals two, three years ago when I had to retire against Holger [Rune], you’ll understand that it’s one of those injuries that you can’t be taking lightly, because your whole — tennis is a rotational sport, and if you can’t rotate, then there’s no reason playing it. It’s something that I’ve been dealing with for many years now, my lower left side back. It’s exactly what Arthur Fils went through the last couple of weeks playing at the French Open. I feel like it can be a very tricky injury.

Q. Is it something that a break would help with, or is it surgery? Is that a possibility?

TSITSIPAS: No, surgery would definitely be not an option, and the damage has been done already. It’s very unfortunate, because I remember saying to myself that something bad might happen, and I had a small burnout in that particular part of the season when I played Davis Cup and had to go to China a few weeks later. I remember saying that something bad might happen if I played for so many weeks in a row. I played a lot of weeks in a row. I didn’t do well at the US Open, but I still played a lot, practised a lot. So that was the time in the period that that happened. So just to show you that the tour can be very taxing on your body.

READ NEXT: Stefanos Tsitsipas answers Novak Djokovic question as he opens up on Goran Ivanisevic partnership

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Aryna Sabalenka’s first-round win at Wimbledon will see her surpass Iga Swiatek on the list of most WTA Ranking points since 2009 and she could still beat Serena Williams’ outright record by the time the grass-court Grand Slam is over.

Three-time major champion Sabalenka has been top of the WTA Tour’s rankings since October last year as she moved ahead of Swiatek, who had spent the previous 56 weeks at No 1 to move to a total of 125 weeks in the all-time list.

During that period from November 2023 until October 2024, the Pole accumulated her biggest points tally in the rankings as reached 11,695 points in May last year, which put her second for most points since the inception of the current points structure just over a decade ago.

At the time, Swiatek was only the second player to reach 11,000 points as she overtook Maria Sharapova (10,690) and Victoria Azarenka (10,955) to move up to second place behind the great Williams.

But Sabalenka made it a three-player club in May 2025 when she hit the 11,000-point milestone and now she has overtaken Swiatek’s tally in the Live Rankings after her opening win at Wimbledon.

The reigning world No 1 started Wimbledon on 11,640 points and, with her victory over Carson Branstine, she has moved to 11,710 with Swiatek dropping to third place on the list.

Sabalenka’s Points Tally

The 27-year-old’s 11,710 total includes her 2,000 points from her US Open title run, her Grand Slam runners-up finishes at this year’s Australian Open and French Open (a combined 2,600) and a total of 4,000 points from her four WTA 1000 titles since August last year.

The Belarusian has also won one WTA 500 tournament and finished runner-up at another WTA 500 event.

Her next big points drop will come at the Cincinnati Open as she is the defending champion, although she also picked up handy points at the Citi Open and Canadian Open last year.

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Williams remains the only player to break the 12,000-point tally and the 13,000-point mark as she recorded a record of 13,615 points in June 2013.

Sabalenka could break the 12,000-point mark with a couple more wins at Wimbledon 2025 while she will edge Williams’ total of 13,615 if she wins the grass-court Grand Slam as she will move to 13,640 points.

The top seed doesn’t have any points to defend at Wimbledon as she missed the 2024 tournament due to injury and she is already assured of remaining at No 1 after the tournament with Coco Gauff too far adrift in second place.

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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.”

Read Next: The 7 youngest men in Wimbledon draw: Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik, Alex Michelsen make the list

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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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