Wimbledon 2025 Day 1: Medvedev Crashes Out, Fognini Battles Alcaraz, British Players Impress

Wimbledon 2025 began with high drama and major upsets on Monday as several big names struggled on the opening day of the Championships.In one of the biggest surprises, ninth seed Daniil Medvedev suffered an early exit. He was beaten by France’s Benjamin Bonzi in four sets, 7–6(2), 3–6, 7–6(3), 6–2. Medvedev grew visibly frustrated as unforced errors mounted, and at one point he smashed his racket against his chair in anger. Bonzi played with confidence and seized the crucial points to clinch the biggest victory of his career.On Centre Court, there was a tense showdown between defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and veteran Italian Fabio Fognini. Alcaraz took the first set but Fognini, who is 38 years old, produced some brilliant shot-making to capture the second set in a tiebreak. Their battle drew loud cheers from the crowd, and although Alcaraz eventually regained control, Fognini’s performance reminded everyone why he remains such a dangerous opponent even late in his career.World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka advanced without much trouble. She defeated Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine 6–1, 7–5. Sabalenka hit more than 25 winners and showed the powerful baseline game that has made her the top seed this year.

British players also had a strong start to their campaigns. Cameron Norrie came through a tricky four-set match against Roberto Bautista Agut. Wildcards Arthur Fery and Sonay Kartal both pulled off upsets—Kartal beat 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko, while Fery defeated Australia’s Alexei Popyrin. Another home player, Oliver Tarvet, won in straight sets on his Wimbledon debut, making it a memorable day for the home crowd.However, there were some disappointing exits. Two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur was forced to retire from her opening match due to injury. Stefanos Tsitsipas also retired during his match, citing back pain.This year, Wimbledon introduced fully automated linecalling technology, replacing human line judges. The system worked smoothly on Day 1, though some players admitted it will take time to adjust to the lack of line calls from the sidelines.The first day of play was marked by blazing sunshine and temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, testing the players’ endurance on the grass courts.

With several seeds already out and others pushed to the limit, Wimbledon 2025 has started with plenty of drama. Fans can look forward to more big matches in the coming days, including Emma Raducanu and Alexander Zverev making their debuts in this year’s draw.

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