Also in action, Jodie Burrage, of Kingston-upon-Thames, who has taken the first game of the match off Kyiv’s Lesia Tsurenko on Court 18.
First up at a still only cloudy and actually rather empty Wimbledon, is Cameron Norrie, the Brit No 1, ninth seed overall, who is taking on Pablo Andújar, the Spanish veteran.
Tumaini Carayol is our main man on the scene at the All-England, and here’s his big picture piece.
The last time that none of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray occupied either of the top two ranking spots, its current inhabitants were seven and six years old respectively.
It would have been reasonable to assume that such a scenario would suggest a significant change at the top of the sport but Djokovic and Nadal are the main protagonists at Wimbledon for another year. Despite where they sit in the rankings, they are somehow also the top two seeds in the absence of a banned Daniil Medvedev, the world No 1, and an injured Alexander Zverev.
Preamble
It is here. Let fly the strawberries and cream, Pimm’s and Cliff Richard singalongs. All eyes on SW19, and it’s an opening day full of stars to kick off the fortnight. And by the looks of it, rain, even if “mostly cloudy” is the forecast on the official website. Oh well. So thank the lord for the closed roof on Centre Court and Court No 1, and discussions of the temperature and ball-flight therein. Novak Djokovic, defending champion and back on the chase of Rafa Nadal in the hunt for slams, gets us underway on Centre, followed by some plucky Brit psychodrama in Emma Raducanu and Sir Andrew Murray for the mid-late afternoon crowd. Look out also for Ons Jabeur on No 1, and later on Carlos Alcaraz, perhaps the next big thing, but someone playing down his chances on grass. Plenty more besides, and we’re here all two weeks with updates, news and quotes throughout.
