Day 1 at The Championships is one of the most special days on the tennis calendar, with play commencing at the sport’s most historic tournament, on the nearly-pristine green grass of The All-England Club.
As tradition dictates, the defending gentlemen’s singles champion opens Centre Court play on Day 1 of the fortnight. And for the second year in a row, that man is Carlos Alcaraz, who is coming off his fifth Major title just three weeks ago in Paris, where he saved championship points to defeat Jannik Sinner in one of the best finals of all-time. Alcaraz and Sinner are favorites to reunite on Championship Sunday at the end of this fortnight, though Jannik has landed in the same half of the draw as seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, who has advanced to the final of this event six consecutive times.
In women’s singles, the past eight years, have seen eight different women win this tournament, including some surprising names like Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova, and Barbora Krejcikova, all of whom are in this year’s draw. Are we in for a ninth different winner, and perhaps another surprise, in 2025? The top seed in women’s singles is Aryna Sabalenka, who plays her opening match on Monday, and has already suffered two heartbreaking losses in Major finals this season, at the hands of Madison Keys and Coco Gauff.
In addition to Alcaraz and Sabalenka, Monday’s schedule features last year’s runner-up, Jasmine Paolini, and the reigning Olympic gold medalist, Qinwen Zheng. Plus, US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz takes on big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. And in a battle between two of the sport’s fastest-rising stars, British No.2 Jacob Fearnley faces teenage phenom Joao Fonseca.
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.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Carson Branstine (Q) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court
The last two times Sabalenka has played this event, she’s reached the semifinals, though she’s yet to advance further. A year ago, she withdrew from this tournament due to a shoulder injury. But despite her two losses in Major finals this season, she’s clearly become the best player in the world. Her 2025 record is 42-8, and Aryna has achieved seven finals within the first six months of the year.
Branstine turned some heads during the qualifying event this past week, with victories over recent Roland Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson, as well as fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu. And earlier this month, she came through qualifying at s’Hertogenbosch to eventually upset the top seed Liudmila Samsonva, who is quite an accomplished grass court player. Carson is a 24-year-old making her Major debut – she’s battled injuries the last few years following a standout junior career.
And Branstine is bursting with confidence: after winning her last round of qualifying this past week, she was quoted by Bounces’ Ben Rothenberg as saying, “There’s never been one match that I played in my life—not one—where I felt like I was genuinely outplayed.” Similarly to Aryna, Carson possesses a powerful serve, and plays aggressively from the back of the court.
In their first career meeting, Sabalenka is of course the favorite. However, this is far from a comfortable first round draw for the World No.1, and I’m most curious to see how Branstine performs on such a big stage. Aryna can ill afford to have an emotional letdown just a few weeks after her bitter loss in Paris.
Jacob Fearnley vs. Joao Fonseca – Second on No.1 Court
This will be the Wimbledon debut of Joao Fonseca, who has quickly become one of the sport’s most popular and exciting players. But after a notable start to the year, Fonseca’s results have cooled off, with a tour-level record of just 4-5 since April. And it would be an understatement to say the 18-year-old is inexperienced on grass, as he’s only played nine matches at all levels during his young career, and has lost six of those nine contests.
Fearnley is a 23-year-old Brit who was ranked outside the top 600 just 18 months ago, as he was new to the tour after completing his college career in the United States. Yet he recently debuted inside the world’s top 50, after winning five lower-level titles last season, and advancing to the third round of the first two Majors of 2025. Jacob is now 13-8 lifetime on this surface, as one his Challenger titles from last year came on grass in his home country.
Fonseca has already beaten Fearnley twice this season: once back in early-January in a Challenger event, then again this past March at Indian Wells. However, Jacob’s success on this surface may prove crucial on Monday, and his game is a bit better suited for this surface, especially his superior net play. So I give Fearnley the slight edge to advance, as long as he can handle the pressure of playing on Great Britain’s second biggest court.
Taylor Fritz (5) vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – Last on No.2 Court
There will likely be at least a few tiebreaks between these two excellent servers on this surface. With neither of these players enjoying a good first half to the season, both will be keen to earn a tough first round victory on Monday.
Prior to the grass court season, Fritz was just 17-10 on the year, as he struggled to follow-up on achieving his first Major final last September. But Taylor has excelled these last three weeks on grass, with a record of 8-1, and a pair of titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne. Fritz is now 18-3 on this surface since last June, and has become one of the ATP’s best grass court performers.
Mpetshi Perricard made a big impression on tour a year ago, winning his first title in just his fourth ATP tournament. And the Frenchman did so in his home country right before Roland Garros. Just a month later, he reached the second week of this event, a run which included a five-set upset of 20th-seeded Sebastian Korda, in a match that featured four tiebreaks. But the 21-year-old has suffered from the dreaded sophomore slump this season, with a record of just 9-13. The opposition has learned how to better combat his big serving, and Giovanni’s return continues to be a liability.
In another first career meeting on Monday, Fritz should be favored. Last year, the American was just a set away from reaching the semis here, and could be a threat to make an even deeper run if he can escape a tricky section of the draw, which also includes another big-serving youngster in Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.
Marketa Vondrousova vs. McCartney Kessler (24) – Last No.12 Court
This is a tough draw for both players, as they are the two WTA title winners from a week ago. Vondrousova was the champion in Berlin, where she upset both Keys and Sabalenka, while Kessler was the champion in Nottingham.
That was a third WTA title for 25-year-old McCartney, all of which have come within the past 12 months. However, all those titles have come at 250-level, and the American only owns one match win in the main draw of a Major. Much like Fearnley, Kessler is a player who joined the professional tour within the last two years, after completing a successful college career in the States. She’s a player better known for her defense than her offense, and provides plenty of variety.
Vondrousova was the surprise champion here two years ago, but injures have plagued her career of late, and she was ranked 164th in the world before her title run in Berlin. Marketa is only 11-5 across the past 52 weeks, as she’s battled both hand and shoulder injuries. A year ago, she suffered a first-round loss here as the defending champion, though again she was far from 100% at the time.
In yet another first-time encounter on the day, a seemingly-healthy 2023 champion is the favorite, especially considering Kessler’s lack of success at Slams.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Fabio Fognini vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – The first match of the tournament on Centre Court is always required viewing, but the outcome here does not feel in doubt. Alcaraz is the two-time defending champion, and is currently on the longest winning streak of his career (18). By contrast, Fognini is 4-14 this season at all levels, though he did reach the third round here a year ago. Carlitos is 2-0 against Fabio.
Jasmine Paolini (4) vs. Anastasija Sevastova – Paolini narrowly lost the final here last year to Krejcikova, and reached a grass court semifinal just a few days ago in Bad Homburg. Sevastova, a 2018 US Open semifinalist, only recently returned to competition after a long layoff, and is currently ranked 402nd in the world.
Arthur Rinderknech vs. Alexander Zverev (3) – Zverev is 6-2 this month on grass, but this remains the only Major where he has failed to advance beyond the fourth round. Rinderknech is only 8-17 during 2025 at tour level, yet he did earn three grass court wins across the past two weeks.
Katerina Siniakova vs. Qinwen Zheng (5) – Qinwen is just 2-3 lifetime at The Championships, though she did reach the semifinals two weeks ago at Queen’s Club. Siniakova is the two-time defending champion in women’s doubles, and she’s won six grass court singles matches this month (including qualifying). She’s also 2-1 against Zheng, with a victory over her on this surface a year ago in Berlin.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
