By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz survived Wimbledon’s hottest-ever opening day although the Spaniard was far from his sizzling best as he began his quest for a hat-trick of titles with a big scare against Fabio Fognini at the All England Club on Monday.
With air temperatures soaring to 32 degrees Celsius, Alcaraz needed more than four hours to subdue veteran Fognini, winning 7-5 6-7(5) 7-5 2-6 6-1 — the last set interrupted after a spectator became unwell in the heat and required assistance.
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka, bidding to win Wimbledon for the first time, had no such trouble as she dispatched Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine 6-1 7-5.
While five-times Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who won the Queen’s Club title in the build-up, lives to fight another day, several high-profile players departed the men’s draw.
No arena at Wimbledon gets as hot as bowl-like Court Two and the conditions were clearly not to the liking of ex-world number one Daniil Medvedev as the ninth seed saw his hopes scorched by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who won 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2.
Eighth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, yet to really make his mark at a Grand Slam, won the opening two sets against Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry but succumbed 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, twice a Grand Slam runner-up was left despondent after retiring with a back injury having fallen two sets behind against French qualifier Valentin Royer.
WINNING STREAK
Only two defending men’s champions had ever lost in the first round at Wimbledon, but there were moments when Alcaraz looked in danger of joining compatriot Manuel Santana on that short list as Fognini rolled back the years.
Alcaraz arrived at Wimbledon on an 18-match winning streak, which included a spellbinding French Open final win over Jannik Sinner. But the spark was missing on Monday in front of a Centre Court crowd that included David Beckham.
Heat is second nature to Alcaraz, but it was Fognini who flourished in the sun and when he broke serve twice to level the match at two sets apiece a massive shock looked possible.
But Alcaraz, regularly using an ice towel to cool down, found an extra gear in the decider and even charmed the crowd by offering his water bottle to the distressed fan.
He then led the warm applause for former top-10 player Fognini, for whom this was his final Wimbledon.
“I don’t know why it’s his last Wimbledon because the level he has shown, you know, he can still play three or four more years. It’s unbelievable,” Alcaraz said of Fognini.
Next up for Alcaraz is British qualifier Oliver Tarvet who marked his Grand Slam main draw debut with a superb 6-4 6-4 6-4 defeat of fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi of Switzerland.
Tarvet is one of 23 British players in the singles draw, the most since 1984. The home charge was led Sonay Kartal who upset 20th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 2-6 6-2. She was joined in round two by British number one Emma Raducanu who comfortably passed a tricky test against Mingge Xu, one of three British teenaged wild cards to play on Monday.
Home hope Jacob Fearnley could not follow suit though as he was outshone 6-4 6-1 7-6(5) by Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, who showed why he is creating such a stir with some carnival tennis on a steamy Court One.
TOUGH WORKOUT
World number one Sabalenka won the opening five games against part-time model Branstine but was given a far tougher workout after that as she moved into round two.
The 27-year-old from Minsk missed last year’s event because of a shoulder injury and arrived this time with a point to prove after losing in the Australian and French Open finals this year.
Several other women’s contenders sparkled in the sunshine, none more than 13th seeded American Amanda Anisimova who served up a dreaded ‘double-bagel’ 6-0 6-0 defeat to Yulia Putintseva.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Anna Boindar in straight sets while 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova continued her return to form by knocking out American 30th seed McCartney Kessler.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded sixth, battled for two hours and 41 minutes to beat Romania’s Elena Ruse and played down the impact of the heat.
“I think it’s funny coming from the States, because this is quite literally a very typical summer day,” she said.
There was a sad end for Tunisia’s twice runner-up Ons Jabeur though as she retired from her first-round match against Viktoriya Tomova because of illness.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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