LONDON. — 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 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 trouble as she dispatched Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine 6-1, 7-5 but last year’s runner-up, fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, was pushed hard by Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
While five-time 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 No. 1 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.
American fifth seed Taylor Fritz looked to be on his way out before battling back to force a fifth set against big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard before their match was suspended with the Grand Slam’s 11 p.m. curfew looming.
German third seed Alexander Zverev summoned up similar fighting spirit to draw level at one set apiece with Arthur Rinderknech in another match scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
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 spell binding 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.
