Raducanu, Alcaraz, Boulter and heat – Monday's Wimbledon preview

Emma Raducanu carrying a bag on each shoulder as she arrives for a practice session at Wimbledon
Emma Raducanu has a prime Court One slot for her all-British Wimbledon opener [Getty Images]

Wimbledon 2025

Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England Club

Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app.

Wimbledon starts on Monday as the first contingent of the 23 British players in men’s and women’s singles compete on the All England Club grass courts.

British involvement in the singles is at its highest since 1984, with 14 home players involved on day one of the 138th Championships. Among them will be Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, handed prime show-court slots.

Two-time defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz begins his campaign on Monday, as does women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

Prepare for a sunny sizzler of a day. The weather forecast points to temperatures climbing as high as 33C in south-west London, so the heat presents a challenge in itself for the players.

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[BBC]

As Wimbledon tradition dictates, men’s champion Alcaraz opens play on Centre Court. The second seed launches his campaign at 13:30 BST as he faces 38-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini.

That is followed by Briton Boulter’s match against Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa before German third seed Alexander Zverev faces France’s Arthur Rinderknech.

On Court One, Belarusian top seed Sabalenka gets play under way against Canadian Carson Branstine at 13:00 BST. Branstine, 24, got past French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson and former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu in qualifying and will be making her main draw debut in a Grand Slam.

Briton Jacob Fearnley takes on exciting Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca in the second match on that court, before the intriguing all-British tie between Emma Raducanu and Mimi Xu, a 17-year-old from Swansea.

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[BBC]

While Boulter, Fearnley, Raducanu and Xu start their tournaments on the main show courts, there will be 10 other Britons in action around the grounds, with play beginning at 11:00 BST.

Cameron Norrie, a semi-finalist three years ago, plays second on court 18 as he faces a tricky opponent in Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.

Sonay Kartal features in the court three opener against Latvian 20th seed and former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko.

The final two matches on court 17 feature British interest as Harriet Dart takes on Hungarian Dalma Galfi before world number 796 Mika Stojsavljevic faces American 31st seed Ashlyn Krueger.

Stojsavljevic, 16, is a wildcard entry and won last year’s US Open girls’ title.

Her fellow British 16-year-old Hannah Klugman is third on court 12 against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez – the player Raducanu beat in the 2021 US Open final. Klugman, who was brought up in Wimbledon Village, reached the girls’ final at the French Open in June.

British world number 719 Oliver Tarvet makes his Wimbledon debut against Swiss Leandro Riedi in the opening match on court four. Having come through qualifying, Tarvet is in the unfortunate position of not being able to claim all the prize money he would be due because of rules implemented in the US collegiate system.

The fourth match on court four features Henry Searle – Britain’s 2023 boys’ Wimbledon champion – playing American Ethan Quinn.

British world number 465 Arthur Fery takes on Australian 20th seed Alexei Popyrin, on Court 15 – followed by Billy Harris’ match with Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Oliver Crawford, who was born in the US to British parents, makes his Grand Slam debut at the age of 26 against Italian Mattia Bellucci on court 16.

A banner with the words 'around the grounds' on it
[BBC]

As ever on the opening days of Wimbledon, it is not just the two main courts that get the star names.

Four top-10 players feature on court two, starting with Russian former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev taking on France’s Benjamin Bonzi.

Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys plays second on the court as the American faces Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.

Jasmine Paolini of Italy became a crowd favourite on her run to last year’s final. She begins her campaign this time against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, while last on the same court is American Taylor Fritz, fresh from his run to a fourth Eastbourne title, as he plays France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

It could be late in the day when the Czech Republic’s 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova starts her quest on court 12 against American McCartney Kessler, winner of the Nottingham Open.

Tunisia’s two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur gets play under way on court 14, taking on Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, while four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan is last on court 18 against Australian Talia Gibson.

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[BBC]

10:30-19:00 – Live coverage – BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

11:00-21:30 – Live coverage of outside courts – BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

12:30-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds app and BBC Sport website

14:00-18:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 – Live coverage – BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

23:55-00:55 – Today at Wimbledon – BBC Two

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