ATP
Wimbledon Men’s Day 1
Holder Novak Djokovic won his 29th match in a row at Wimbledon on Monday, with the seven-time winner helping to dry off the Centre Court grass during an opening-day rain interruption.
The second seed pitched in as weather blew in, with officials likely wondering why they did not shut the roof immediately.
Instead, they delayed and paid the price with an interruption of 90 wasted minutes, during which a fidgety Djokovic got to work with a towel in hopes of getting back on court as soon as possible for what ended as a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of Argentine Pedro Cachin.
“It was frustrating for the crowd waiting for us (to resume),” the winner said. “We both wanted to play but it was a bit too slippery.
“But once the roof was opened, we were out there.”
No. 68 Cachin saved three match points before Djokovic – bidding for his fifth consecutive trophy here – finished off the afternoon after nearly four hours on and off court to reach the second round.
He improved to 87-10 at the tournament.
Djokovic came to the major without any official tournament preparation on grass – his usual scenario.
“The opening match is always a bit tricky, especially since I had no lead-up event.
“Grass is quite different in terms of movement, style and tactics. It takes more time to adjust than on any other surface
“But there is no reason I can’t (make the transition) again.
“I’m going match by match; I hope the level of tennis will elevate.”
Clay-centric Casper Ruud, seeded fourth, duplicated his career best Wimbledon showing by winning the first round 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 over French qualifier Laurent Lokoli.
The outsider put up a fight as he won the second set but was eventually double-faulted to lose to the steady Norwegian who has played finals at three of the last five Grand Slams.
“I take every match as an underdog here, I don’t have the perfect game for grass,” Ruud said.
“Today I played quite well, but there are many more players ahead of me who are favourites.
“I’ll just try to play loose and without pressure. I want to enjoy it every time I step onto court.”
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev became the first man through to the second round with his defeat of 2022 double winner Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 93 minutes.
Rublev, who was unable to compete here in 2022 due to the ban on Russian players, is glad to be back.
“Obviously I feel really happy to be back; in general I haven;t played much Wimbledon… I was injured or it was pandemic or then they banned us.
“Of course I feel really special and really happy to be back in London to play at one of the best tournaments and to get a win today was a nice moment.”
He advanced with 27 winners and five breaks of serve as he won his 11th straight opening match this season..
Italian 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti ended a run of two straight losses in the first round here as he defeated Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, making his point with 33 winners.
Jordan Thompson will next face Djokovic after spending three and a half hours battling Brandon Nakishima of the US, with the Australian coming from two sets to love down for a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 result.
econd seed pitched in as weather blew in, with officials likely wondering why they did not shut the roof immediately.
Instead, they delayed and paid the price with an interruption of 90 wasted minutes, during which a fidgety Djokovic got to work with a towel in hopes of getting back on court as soon as possible for what ended as a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of Argentine Pedro Cashin.
“It was frustrating for the crowd waiting for us (to resume),” the winner said. “We both wanted to play but it was a bit too slippery.
“But once the roof was opened, we were out there.”
No. 68 Cachin saved three match points before Djokovic – bidding for his fifth consecutive trophy here – finished off the afternoon after nearly four hours on and off court to reach the second round.
He improved to 87-10 at the tournament.
Djokovic came to the major without any official tournament preparation on grass – his usual scenario.
“The opening match is always a bit tricky, especially since I had no lead-up event.
“Grass is quite different in terms of movement, style and tactics. It takes more time to adjust than on any other surface
“But there is no reason I can’t (make the transition) again.
“I’m going match by match; I hope the level of tennis will elevate.”
Clay-centric Casper Ruud, seeded fourth, duplicated his career best Wimbledon showing by winning the first round 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 over French qualifier Laurent Lokoli.
The outsider put up a fight as he won the second set but was eventually double-faulted to lose to the steady Norwegian who has played finals at three of the last five Grand Slams.
“I take every match as an underdog here, I don’t have the perfect game for grass,” Ruud said.
“Today I played quite well, but there are many more players ahead of me who are favourites.
“I’ll just try to play loose and without pressure. I want to enjoy it every time I step onto court.”
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev became the first man through to the second round with his defeat of 2022 double winner Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 93 minutes.
Rublev, who was unable to compete here in 2022 due to the ban on Russian players, is glad to be back.
“Obviously I feel really happy to be back; in general I haven;t played much Wimbledon… I was injured or it was pandemic or then they banned us.
“Of course I feel really special and really happy to be back in London to play at
one of the best tournaments and. To get a win today was a nice moment.”
He advanced with 27 winners and five breaks of serve as he won his 11th straight opening match this season..
Italian 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti ended a run of two straight losses in the first round here as he defeated Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, making his point with 33 winners.
Jordan Thompson will next face Djokovic after spending three and a half hours battling Brandon Nakishima of the US, with the Australian coming from two sets to love down for a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 result.
Main photo:- Novak Djokovic takes a tumble over the net during first round Wimbledon win – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
Alexander Zverev took a further step towards a defence of his 2025 title at the ATP Munich event with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 hammering of Canada’s Gabriel Diallo on Thursday.
The German who won his only title of 2025 in his home nation faced an opponent carrying an injury in the 73-minute loss.
“I think he had some issues with his back and wasn’t serving fully in the second set anymore. Very unfortunate,” the 28-year-old world No. 3 said.
“Of course I am happy with the win and getting an easier match today.”
After days of cold weather, the spring sun finally made an appearance in the Bavarian capital.
Zverev advanced the the last eight with five breaks of serve and will bid fro a return to the semi-finals against fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo, a winner over Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-0.
“I played well from the baseline. I probably didn’t serve well in the first set, but it got better in the second. I am trying to improve every day,” the winner said as he reached a second straight quarter-final here..
Zverev has won their last four meetings.
“I’ve never beaten him on clay, which is his favourite surface, but I am definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Zverev said.
“I’m very happy to be at this stage, facing a tough opponent. That’s what it’s going to be tomorrow.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev with his 2025 Munich trophy
Roland Garros will continue to buck the trend of electronic linecalling, with Grand Slam tournament boss Amelie Mauresmo laying down the law on Thursday in Paris.
Unlike the other three majors which have sent teams of line judges into early retirement, the clay major will stick with the tried and true for another edition beginning on May 24.
In addition to tradition, the skid marks left on the dirt by ball makes determining in or out subjective enough to often require a keen eye.
“They are not 100% reliable,” Mauresmo said of the electronic systems currently in use.“Our decision was to stick to our way.”
But the former WTA No. 1 suddenly flipped the script when it comes to the controversial suggestion that women should play best-of-five-sets at the four majors just like the men.
The idea has drawn scorn from top women, but that does not dissuade Mauresmo.
“You can’t change a format overnight to go from best of three to best of five. But if we think about it, would it be only the semifinal, the final, or for all matches?” the former Wimbledon champion said.
“This could be a win-win situation but we have to talk about this with the women players.”
The Wimbledon winner admitted that she had often yearned during her playing days for longer contests.
“When I did the Masters (season-ending) final ( 2005) I would have wanted to do the final in best of five. So maybe one day, you never know.”
The former player would not be drawns out on the dreaded night matches at Roland Garros, formerly a fully daytinem event.
“We will talk about scheduling when the time comes,” she said.“Nothing is closed and nothing is set in stone, it depends on the draws and the lineups.”
Also on the table are likely to be the distribution of night matches, with women barely registering in the night-tiem hours during the 2025 edition.
On the final Saturday there has been one change: The men’s doubles final will be played before the women’s singles final and not afterward.
“We will talk about scheduling when the time comes,” the TD said. “Nothing is closed and nothing is set in stone, it depends on the draws and the lineups.”
In the continuing prize money arms race among the four Grand Slams, Roland Garros announced a rise to a global USD 72 million in player payouts, a rise of USD 6.25 million.
Carlos Alcaraz quit the Barcelona Open with a wrist injury and cast serious doubt on his fitness and availability for run-up events prior to next month’s French Open.
The Spaniard who lost his No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner through Sunday’s loss to the Italian in the Monte Carlo Casters final was unable to carry on at his home event in Barcelona.
Alcaraz quit the clay event prior to his second-round match against Tomas Machac. The Spaniard injured his wrist in a first-round win over Finn Otto Virtanen and warned that he could make no solid commitment yet to furue play due to his injury.
“It’s with great sadness I have to go back home to start my recovery as soon as possible with my team, with the doctors, with the physio, and try to be as healthy as possible as soon as possible for (future) tournaments,” he said.
“Let’s hope, that you can see me back on a tennis court as soon as possible.”
Alcaraz is now touch and go for the Madrid Masters oddly starting in a week next Wednesday as the ATP stretches out the Masters events in an unpopular money-spinning exercise.
Alcarraz could face a serious hit to his ranking if he cannot front up in the Spanish capital and next month in Rome, with titles to defend in both venues.
“But I’ve seen today’s tests, and it’s a slightly more serious injury than we all expected.
“In the end I have to listen to my body, what won’t affect me later on: That’s why I have to withdraw from this tournament.
“I never like to withdraw from any tournament, but especially from this one,”
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