Day 1 at Wimbledon is one of the most special days of the tennis year, with play commencing on the nearly-pristine green grass at the sport’s most historic tournament.

Novak Djokovic is the four-time defending champion, and as tradition dictates, he will open Day 1’s play on Centre Court.  The man he faced in last year’s final, Nick Kyrgios, will play only his second match of the year on Monday, against a quarterfinalist from a year ago, David Goffin.  And three-time Major champion Stan Wawrinka faces one of the ATP’s most promising young players, Emil Ruusuvuori.

But it’s the WTA schedule on Monday that boats both of Day 1’s most blockbuster matchups.  Five-time Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion Venus Williams takes on former semifinalist and new mom Elina Svitolina.  And Coco Gauff, who four years ago made a name for herself as a 15-year-old when she upset Venus, squares off against fellow American and 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin.  Other WTA action features World No.1 Iga Swiatek as well as former World No.2 Anett Kontaveit, in what may be the last match of Anett’s career.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.

Venus Williams (WC) vs. Elina Svitolina – Second on Centre Court

Venus recently turned 43-years-old, and this will be her 24^th appearance in singles at Wimbledon, since first appearing 26 years ago in 1997.  And while she’s only played 10 singles matches within the last two years, and only won two of them, she showed what she is still capable of just two weeks ago in Birmingham.  In an over three-hour affair, and despite suffering a knee injury early in the match, Venus upset Camila Giorgi in a third-set tiebreak.

A month ago in Paris, Svitolina inspired by reaching the quarterfinals in just her fifth tour-level tournament since returning from child birth, taking out two seeded players (Trevisan, Kasatkina).  And a week before that, she was the champion in Strasbourg.  Elina’s first-ever Major semifinal came at Wimbledon in 2019, yet she actually has a losing record at The Championships outside of that run.

Svitolina is 3-1 against Williams, and has taken their last three meetings in straight sets.  A grass court would assumedly be Venus’ best chance to earn a victory over Elina, especially on this specific court, where so many of the biggest moments of her storied career took place.  But Svitolina is clearly the more in-form player, and should be favored on Monday.

David Goffin (WC) vs. Nick Kyrgios (30) – Second on No.1 Court

This is only Kyrgios’ second match since October of last year.  A knee injury has prevented him from playing, and during that time, he pled guilty to a common assault charge filed by his ex-girlfriend.  And in a recently-released episode of Netflix’s “Break Point,” Nick revealed that he contemplated suicide in 2019, wearing a sleeve on his arm to cover self-inflicted scars, and checked himself into a psychiatric ward in London. 

Goffin has struggled since his quarterfinal run here a year ago, with a losing record at tour level, and missing the Australian Open due to illness.  David is just 7-12 at ATP-level tournaments in 2023, and lost his only match at a grass court warmup event.

Kyrgios leads their head-to-head 3-1, though they haven’t played in nearly six years.  While both players are currently far from their top form, and both have the pressure of defending a lot of points from their performances a year ago, Nick should be favored on this surface.

Sofia Kenin (Q) vs. Coco Gauff (7) – Last on No.1 Court

Gauff’s record of 27-11 on the year is strong, yet her results feel a bit underwhelming.  She has not reached a final since the first week of the season, and has lost her two semifinals since, including one just a few days ago to Madison Keys on grass in Eastbourne.  And Coco has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals at a Major since her Roland Garros final in June of last year.

Kenin has been on the comeback trail from injuries, illness, and a lack of confidence for some time now.  She’s shown signs of her 2020 form on a couple of occasions this year, most recently in an upset of Aryna Sabalenka in Rome.  Wimbledon easily remains Sofia’s worst Slam, where she is just 3-3 in the main draw.

They have split two previous meetings, both of which occurred in Australia.  Three years ago at the Aussie Open, Kenin prevailed in three sets, on the way to her Australian Open title.  And to begin this year in Auckland, Gauff prevailed in straights, on the way to her most recent title.  In the rubber match on Monday evening, Coco is the favorite, based on her 12-0 record in opening round matches this season.

Emil Ruuusuvuori vs. Stan Wawrinka – Not Before 4:30pm on Court 18

Wawrinka is now 13-11 this year, after competing in two epic five-setters In Paris.  He defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas in five, before losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis in five.  But grass is his weakest surface, and Stan is just 20-16 lifetime at SW19.

24-year-old Ruusuvuori of Finland is 21-19 in 2023, and reached the semifinals of a grass court event in June, where he upset Jannik Sinner in straight sets.  A year ago here at Wimbledon, Emil defeated Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round.

These players met last summer in Canada, where Ruusuvuori was victorious in three sets.  But in the best-of-five format, I give the slight edge to the three-time Slam champ.

Other Notable Matches on Monday:

Pedro Cachin vs. Novak Djokovic (3) – This will start the Djokovic campaign for his record-extending 24^th Major singles title, his record-tying eighth title at Wimbledon, and the third of four legs in the calendar-year Grand Slam.  Novak hasn’t lost a completed match at The Championships since 2016, when he was upset in the third round by Sam Querrey.  Cachin is an accomplished clay court player, but he has never won a main draw match on grass.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Lin Zhu – Swiatek is 38-6 on the year, and won her fourth Slam just three weeks ago in Paris.  However, she’s only 5-3 at SW19 thus far in her career.  Lin is a 29-year-old who reached a semifinal on grass two weeks ago in Birmingham, and won a WTA title earlier this season in Hua Hin. 

Laurent Lokoli (Q) vs. Casper Ruud (4) – Ruud has now reached three of the last five Major finals, but he’s just 3-5 lifetime on grass.  Lokoli is a 28-year-old Frenchman who survived a five-setter in the last round of qualifying to reach the main draw of a Major for the first time in over six years. 

Yannick Hanfmann (9) vs. Taylor Fritz (9) – Fritz suffered some considerable heartbreak here a year ago, losing a final-set tiebreak to Rafael Nadal in his first Major quarterfinal.  Hanfmann is a dangerous first round draw, as he’s already accumulated 35 match wins this season at all levels, and upset Stefanos Tsitsipas just a few days ago on grass in Mallorca.  And two months ago on clay in Rome, Yannick defeated Taylor 6-4, 6-1.

Anett Kontaveit vs. Lucrezia Stefanini (Q) – Kontaveit was No.2 in the world just over a year ago, and is only 27-years-of-age, but has announced she will retire after this tournament due to a degenerative back injury.  She’s just 6-8 this season, and only 7-8 lifetime at Wimbledon.  Stefanini is a 25-year-old Italian who outlasted Su-Wei Hsieh in a third-set tiebreak during the last round of qualifying. 

Monday’s full Order of Play is here.