Wimbledon 2026: Sinner, Sabalenka, Djokovic and more in action on day one – live
Key events
Pegula* 4-2 Vidmanova (* denotes server): A bit more competitive from Vidmanova who makes it 40-40 with a stunning punchy forehand down the line. She gets the advantage and sees out the game with a bit of luck after the ball clips the net.
Jodar* 3-2 Gill (* denotes server): Big ace from Jodar as I switch to this game to make it 40-0 before a beautiful serve-volley move – incredibly sharp to close down the net like that.
Pegula 3-0 Vidmanova* (* denotes server): No aggression at all from Vidmanova and Pegula is taking control of every point. The American breaks again without a single rally yet to be seen.
Pegula* 2-0 Vidmanova (* denotes server): The American fourth seed has found her range and tempo right away here, breaking in the first game and then holding to love in the second. She is being dictating and dominating from the middle of the court, forcing Vidmanova into covering so much ground.
Jodar* 2-1 Gill (* denotes server): The Spaniard is playing his first pro-level game on grass but it does not really look like it. A few more good serves and then a final smash down the centre seals his hold.
Jodar 1-1 Gill* (* denotes server): Gill speeds to a 40-0 lead with some big serves and a powerful forehand down the line. Jodar gets back into it to make it 40-15 but the Spaniard’s wild return at game point is well out and Gill gets on the board.
Jodar* 1-0 Gill (* denotes server): What a great story we have on Court 3 here with both Jodar and Gill are making their Wimbledon singles debuts. Jodar was ranked No 677 a year ago. He turned professional at the end of last year and has since enjoyed a meteoric rise up the rankings. A first ATP title in April was followed by cracking the world’s top 50 and reaching the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros.
The British wildcard Gill is the world No 220, attended Wimbledon with his father, Matthew, before he died from myeloid melanoma, a blood cancer, in 2022, so this tournament means a lot to him.
Jodar wins the first game after some good serving in front of a packed Court 3.
Play is about to begin across most of the grounds. I will be bringing you updates from Rafael Jodar v Felix Gill on Court 3 and Jessica Pegula v Darja Vidmanova on Court 2 plus score updates from across the courts as and when they come.
Women’s singles: Aryna Sabalenka has been at the top of the WTA rankings since late 2024, but the Belarusian has only won one grand slam title in the past 18 months, despite reaching four finals. She also suffered a collapse against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarter-finals last month, losing the last 10 games in a row. She said after that she wanted to “quit tennis” but has since worked with a psychologist and said she was not affected as much by losing to Jessica Pegula in this month’s Berlin Open semi-finals.
“I felt really good throughout the tournament there. I struggled a little bit here and there, (but) overall I feel like things are clicking back together,” she said ahead of her opening match against the Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic. The four-times major champion has never won Wimbledon, but she has reached the semi-finals in her last three appearances.
The world No 5 Mirra Andreeva reached the quarter-finals last year in her third Wimbledon main-draw appearance, but is tempering expectations after a whirlwind few weeks since winning her maiden slam in Paris.
“The feelings I experienced after winning for the first day and the next few days were incredible. I really want to try and experience them again,” the Russian said. “So that’s kind of a little addiction. I’m not going to set any expectations on myself because when I do that, sometimes it can go downhill. I’ll just focus on how I play every match here.“
No woman has completed the French Open-Wimbledon double since Serena Williams in 2015, with Andreeva opening her today campaign against Poland’s Magda Linette.
Men’s singles: Jannik Sinner starts his bid for a second successive Wimbledon title today, while Novak Djokovic also takes centre stage on day one.
Twelve months after Sinner Wimbledon with his triumph, the All England Club storylines are richer and more varied than ever. From Serena Williams’ astonishing return after four years in retirement to Djokovic’s relentless pursuit of grand slam history, not forgetting Sabalenka’s challenge for her first Wimbledon crown, the stars will be firmly in the spotlight over the next fortnight.
Sinner ended Carlos Alcaraz’s two-year reign as champion with a dynamic display of power hitting in the 2025 final. That dramatic showdown, coming so soon after their epic French Open final, was expected to set the stage for a sustained period of dominance by the pair at Wimbledon.
But with Alcaraz still sidelined by a wrist injury sustained in Barcelona in April, Sinner is the clear favourite to become the 10th man in the Open era to retain the Wimbledon trophy.
The world No 1 is bidding for his fifth grand slam title and his first since his maiden victory at the All England Club last year. But the 24-year-old Italian arrives in south-west London with a few concerns to banish. He has not reached a grand slam final this year and crashed out of the French Open in the second round, blowing a two-set lead against Juan Manuel Cerundolo as he wilted in the stifling Paris heat.
Meanwhile the seventh seed Novak Djokovic has spent the past 18 months trying to capture a 25th major crown that would see him overtake Margaret Court. Wimbledon could be his best bet for achieving that. The 39-year-old reached the semi-finals of all four grand slams in 2025 and started this year with a remarkable run to the Australian Open final, defeating Sinner en route. Such is his luck, the one time a draw fell apart at the French Open, his injury-ravaged preparation meant he was in no shape to take advantage.
As ever, the seven-time Wimbledon champion is most confident on grass, a far less physical challenge. “Playing on grass, compared with clay, you don’t need to exert as much physical effort. So that’s better for me. I always loved playing on grass. I have a very good score here, history, in Wimbledon. That gives me a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament.”
Sean Ingle
Wimbledon’s chief executive Sally Bolton says that the queue is even busier than usual this year, with 10,000 people waiting in line by 8.30am. The reason? Well, partly Bolton says it is down to Lime Bikes.
“The queue is really busy this morning,” said Bolton. “We were at 10,000 by about 8.30am so we are advising people, if they haven’t already set off, not to travel, because the queue is effectively full.
“I think back to that period post Covid, where we were somewhat nervous that the queue might die, and, ironically, the queue has become increasingly popular over that period of time,” she said.“But the way people travel and engage with things has also changed. It used to be arriving on the first tube into Southfields, but now with the availability of Lime and other available branded bikes, people can get to the queue much more easily from slightly further away rather than waiting for the first tube.”
Players reach truce in prize money dispute after talks with Wimbledon
Leading players at Wimbledon have called off their media protest after talks with the All England Club (AELTC).
The group of players, which includes world No 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, had said they would limit their media activity to 15 minutes pre-tournament and after their matches in the first week.
The world’s leading players have been in dispute with the four grand slams since March 2025, when they first issued demands for more prize money linked to tournament revenues, contributions to player welfare funds and the formation of a grand slam player committee.
Read more from Matt Hughes below.
Order of play
Centre Court – 1.30pm start (all times BST)
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Jannik Sinner (ITA) [1] v Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
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Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Teodora Kostovic (SRB)
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Yibing Wu (CHN) v Novak Djokovic (SRB) [7]
No 1 Court – 1pm start
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Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) v Harriet Dart (GBR)
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Marin Cilic (CRO) v Daniil Medvedev [8]
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Magda Linette (POL) v Mirra Andreeva [5]
No 2 Court – 11am start
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Jessica Pegula (USA) [4] v Darja Vidmanova (CZE)
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Michael Zheng (USA) v Cameron Norrie (GBR) [26]
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Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) [3] v Aleksandr Shevchenko (KAZ)
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Tamara Korpatsch (GER) v Coco Gauff (USA) [7]
No 3 Court – 11am start
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Rafael Jodar (ESP) [23] v Felix Gill (GBR)
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Casper Ruud (NOR) [11] v Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
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Elsa Jacquemot (FRA) v Naomi Osaka (JPN) [14]
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Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) v Hannah Klugman (GBR)
Court 12 – 11am start
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Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) v Maja Chwalinska (POL) [20]
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Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) [25] v Oliver Tarvet (GBR)
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Karolina Muchova (CZE) [10] v Anastasia Zakharova
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Brandon Nakashima (USA) [28] v Jack Pinnington Jones (GBR)
Court 18 – 11am start
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Belinda Bencic (SUI) [11] v Mika Stojsavljevic (GBR)
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Alexandre Muller (FRA) v Tommy Paul (USA) [21]
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Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) v Joao Fonseca (BRA) [24]
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Leylah Fernandez (CAN) [22] v Janice Tjen (INA)
Court 4 – 11am start
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Emilio Nava (USA) v Ignacio Buse (PER) [31]
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Alycia Parks (USA) v Alicia Dudeney (GBR)
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Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG) v Fabian Marozsan (HUN)
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Solana Sierra (ARG) v Anna Bondar (HUN)
Court 5 – 11am start
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Marco Trungelliti (ARG) v Martin Damm (USA)
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Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) v Martin Landaluce (ESP)
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Oleksandra Oliynykova (UKR) v McCartney Kessler (USA)
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Dayana Yastremska (UKR) v Aoi Ito (JPN)
Court 6 – 11am start
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Denis Shapovalov (CAN) v Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
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Bianca Andreescu (CAN) v Shuai Zhang (CHN)
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Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (PAR) v Nicolas Mejia (COL)
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Anastasia Gasanova v Emiliana Arango (COL)
Court 7 – 11am start
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Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) v Botic van de Zandschulp (NED)
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Nuno Borges (POR) v Tristan Boyer (USA)
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Peyton Stearns (USA) v Nikola Bartunkova (CZE)
Court 8 – 11am start
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Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Jenson Brooksby (USA)
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Hamad Medjedovic (SRB) v Sebastian Ofner (AUT)
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Lanlana Tararudee (THA) v Lilli Tagger (AUT)
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Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP) v Anastasia Potapova (AUT) [27]
Court 9 – 11am start
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Luca Van Assche (FRA) v Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
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Camilo Ugo Carabelli (ARG) v Daniel Merida (ESP)
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Claire Liu (USA) v Hanne Vandewinkel (BEL)
Court 10 – 11am start
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Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) v Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (AND)
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Xinyu Wang (CHN) v Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA)
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Adam Walton (AUS) v Dino Prizmic (CRO)
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Jesper de Jong (NED) v Rinky Hijikata (AUS)
Court 14 – 11am start
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Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN) v Max Basing (GBR)
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Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) v Tatjana Maria (GER)
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Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) v Sebastian Baez (ARG)
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Katerina Siniakova (CZE) [32] v Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
Court 15 – 11am start
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Jaqueline Cristian (ROU) v Iva Jovic (USA) [16]
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Ann Li (USA) [28] v Zeynep Sonmez (TUR)
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Ethan Quinn (USA) v Luciano Darderi (ITA) [14]
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Magdalena Frech (POL) v Anna Kalinskaya [19]
Court 16 – 11am start
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Andrey Rublev [12] v Roman Safiullin
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Hugo Gaston (FRA) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
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Mimi Xu (GBR) v Daria Kasatkina (AUS)
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Ekaterina Alexandrova [18] v Panna Udvardy (HUN)
Court 17 – 11am start
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Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) v Learner Tien (USA) [16]
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Antonia Ruzic (CRO) v TBC (Emma Raducanu [30] of GBR withdrew)
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) [22] v Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG)
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Francesca Jones (GBR) v Diane Parry (FRA)
Preamble
England may be playing in the last 32 of the men’s football World Cup this week, but a very different cornerstone of British sport begins today – the first day of Wimbledon is here. Here we go!
The sun is out in SW19 (and thankfully not as strong as it was last week), the grass is bright green (how long will that last?), the players’ white uniforms have been steamed and the live action starts at 11am BST.
So much to look forward to, so much to discuss. If you have any thoughts, predictions or questions then get in touch via the email at the top of the page. Order of play to be posted next!
