On day one of Wimbledon, Brits bring the heat

‘We are about to open the gates. Please do not run.”

The steward tasked with kickstarting Wimbledon was pleading somewhat forlornly over the speaker system ahead of letting the public into the All England Club. The tone of his voice made it clear he had been burned before. A peak week of British sport was on the cusp of beginning. As well as the tennis, sports fans have the second Test against India from Wednesday, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone over the weekend, the continuation of the Lions tour as well as England and Wales kicking off their Euro 2025 campaigns. It’s a good week to be working from home.

On the hottest opening day of Wimbledon on record, where temperatures reached 32.3 degrees, there were 14 Brits in action. The first one to cross the line as a winner was Sonay Kartal who beat former semi-finalist Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. Watched on by four people dressed up as strawberries, somehow not wilting in the sun, the contrast between the duo’s personalities was stark. Ostapenko is all melodrama, throwing her racket to the ground in frustration or theatrically shushing some overly chatty spectators. Kartal, meanwhile, kept her cards close to her chest throughout, refusing to give away more than a fist pump, as she fought back from 2-5 down in the first set to win 7-5. She was not fazed by losing the second either, steaming to a 3-0 lead and going on to finish the job.

Yet Kartal’s achievement was immediately outdone by Oliver Tarvet. The British No 33 came through qualifying to make the main draw of a Slam for the first time, and promptly beat fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The University of San Diego representative will be limited to the amount of prize money he can take home as an amateur, but his reward for winning is something that money can’t buy. A second round date awaits against a certain Carlos Alcaraz, who came through a monster five-set match against Fabio Fognini.

Arthur Fery also made the second round at the third time of asking, beating 20th seed Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. The 22 year old, who is the son of FC Lorient’s president Loïc Fery, is currently ranked 481st in the world.

Even beyond the Brits, Day 1 at Wimbledon is overwhelming with the sheer number of storylines taking place. Head over to Court 6 to see two Californians who first played each other at under-8 level make their Wimbledon debut against each other. In the end it was the Learner Tien who came out on top against Nishesh Basavareddy, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.

See Carson Branstine pointing to the sky in exaltation on Court 1 after winning a first game against World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at the third attempt in her first ever match at a Grand Slam. She went on to push Sabalenka all the way to the end of a second set, losing 6-1, 7-5.

There were shocks too. Former world number 1, and a semi-finalist at the past two editions of Wimbledon, Daniil Medvedev lost 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 to Benjamin Bonzi, meaning that he is yet to make it past Round Two of a Slam this year. 24th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire as was two-time finalist Ons Jabeur.

As the fans and players sweltered in the sun, any puff of breeze was met as the same kind of “oohs” that on-court challenges used to be. The absence of line judges is a shift for the tournament, with pre-recorded disembodied voices instead making the calls. But at the very least, you don’t have to feel bad watching them swelter in the extraordinary heat.

Photograph by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images