Wimbledon 2026 Day One Recap

The opening day of Wimbledon 2026 didn’t quite have the buzz that grass court tennis seemed to offer from yesteryear, but there was plenty of drama, with defending champion Jannik Sinner surviving a huge scare on Centre Court before eventually battling past Miomir Kecmanovic in five sets.

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic looked ropey in his opener against Yibing Wu before winning in four sets, while Andrey Rublev became the highest seed to fall after a five-set defeat to Roman Safiullin, who saved two match points in a dramatic deciding-set tie-break.

It was also a miserable start for the home contingent. British hopes had already taken a major hit before a ball was struck following Jack Draper’s withdrawal from the Championships, and matters only worsened on court as Cameron Norrie suffered a shock five-set defeat to qualifier Michael Zheng. Felix Gill, Max Basing and Oliver Tarvet also exited.

In total, 10 British players across the men’s and women’s singles draws exited on Monday (while taking home a combined £800,000 before tax), leaving the home challenge already, but somewhat expectedly, looking considerably thinner.

Play was eventually brought to a close with two first-round matches still unfinished. Brandon Nakashima’s clash with British wildcard Jack Pinnington Jones and the meeting between Jesper de Jong and Rinky Hijikata were both suspended because of fading light and will resume on Tuesday.

Day One Wimbledon 2026 Round of 128 Results

Winner	Loser	Score
Jannik Sinner [1]	Miomir Kecmanovic	4-6 6-3 6-7(6) 6-2 6-3
Nuno Borges	Tristan Boyer (Q)	6-3 7-5 7-5
Jenson Brooksby	Aleksandar Vukic	7-6(7) 6-1 6-1
Ignacio Buse [31]	Emilio Nava	7-6(3) 3-6 7-5 6-0
Rafael Jodar [23]	Felix Gill (WC)	6-3 6-3 7-5
Pablo Carreno Busta	Denis Shapovalov	6-3 7-6(7) Ret.
Shintaro Mochizuki (Q)	Max Basing (Q)	6-3 6-0 6-0
Ethan Quinn	Luciano Darderi [14]	7-6(7) 7-5 6-2
Hubert Hurkacz	Casper Ruud [11]	6-4 6-2 7-6(7)
Sebastian Ofner	Hamad Medjedovic	1-6 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-4
Soonwoo Kwon (Q)	Martin Landaluce	6-4 6-3 6-3
Tommy Paul [21]	Alexandre Muller	6-1 6-2 6-1
Brandon Nakashima [28] /Jack Pinnington Jones (WC)	Brandon Nakashima [28] /Jack Pinnington Jones (WC)	TBF
Jan-Lennard Struff	Sebastian Baez	6-1 7-6(4) 4-6 2-6 7-5
Daniel Merida	Camilo Ugo Carabelli	4-6 3-6 6-2 3-0 Ret.
Daniil Medvedev [8]	Marin Cilic	6-1 6-2 6-4
Felix Auger-Aliassime [3]	Aleksandr Shevchenko	6-3 6-1 6-4
Adam Walton	Dino Prizmic	4-6 7-6(3) 6-4 6-2
Nicolás Mejía (Q)	Daniel Vallejo	4-6 6-4 7-5 7-6(2)
Michael Zheng (Q)	Cameron Norrie [26]	6-7(7) 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(4)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [22]	Juan Manuel Cerundolo	6-4 6-4 7-6(2)
Fabian Marozsan	Thiago Tirante	7-5 6-3 6-4
Marton Fucsovics	Luca Van Assche	6-3 4-0 Ret.
Learner Tien [16]	Dalibor Svrcina	6-1 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3
Roman Safiullin (Q)	Andrey Rublev [12]	6-4 6-7(6) 3-6 6-3 7-6(12)
Botic van de Zandschulp	Aleksandar Kovacevic	6-3 6-7(2) 6-4 6-0
Jesper de Jong / Rinky Hijikata	Jesper de Jong / Rinky Hijikata	TBF
Joao Fonseca [24]	Roberto Bautista Agut	7-6(4) 6-4 6-3
Arthur Rinderknech [25]	Oliver Tarvet (Q)	7-6(4) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-5
Martin Damm	Marco Trungelliti	7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-6(2) 7-6(5)
Stefanos Tsitsipas	Hugo Gaston (Q)	6-1 6-4 6-2
Novak Djokovic [7]	Yibing Wu	6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4

Key Match Recap

Jannik Sinner def. Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3 (3h 29m)

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner needed five sets to get past a fired-up Miomir Kecmanovic in a tense Centre Court opener.

The Serbian took the first set and pushed Sinner hard, especially after Sinner had a worrying slip and fall at 2-2 in the third set but avoided any serious injury.

Sinner admitted he felt tight in his first official grass match of the year after a long break post-Roland Garros. He hit 52 unforced errors but found his rhythm in the later sets to close it out.

Is it just a rusty start, or is the Italian now looking beatable after looking invincible for the first half of the season? Modern-day grass courts might not be like the ones of old, but during the first week they’re still pretty slick and a lot of these robot-type players struggle to move on them.

Next up: Portugal’s Nuno Borges. It was a gritty escape rather than a statement, but the champion is through.

I had my chances in the third set. I couldn’t use them… I tried to stay there mentally, trying also to enjoy the moment because it has been an amazing day for me and my team… Coming here, opening match on Centre Court, it’s a huge privilege. One fall is a tough one because you can get injured… Grass courts are like this. Especially in the first couple of matches, when the grass is very new, you slip a little more. I got lucky there… I’m very glad nothing happened Sinner on his First Round Win.

Roman Safiullin def. Andrey Rublev (12) 6-4, 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(12) (3h 58m)

Roman Safiullin saved two match points in a marathon final-set tie-break to knock out 12th seed Andrey Rublev. 

I had Rublev going quite far at SW19, but Safiullin has played well at Wimbledon before, so while it’s an upset, we know Andrey can stumble early when he runs into the wrong type of opponent.

Novak Djokovic def. Wu Yibing 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 (3h 11m)

Djokovic’s 21st Wimbledon began in the sunshine but ended under the Centre Court roof in an entertaining evening match that looked like it was going to five sets.

Wu played fearlessly, hammering forehands and delighting the Pimms-fueled crowd who responded with plenty of “Wuuuuuu” chants.

Djokovic showed his trademark resilience, saving multiple break points in the fourth set and improving to 21-0 in Wimbledon first rounds.

However, he didn’t look in great nick, stretching his entire body between points, and it didn’t look like his legs were in sync with his mind.

If it wasn’t for Wu gifting the last game with two catastrophic errors, including a fairly routine overhead on match point, it could have been a Tuesday finish for Djokovic as the 11 pm curfew would likely have come into play had the Chinese forced a deciding set.

Anyway, he’s through and will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Michael Zheng (Q) def. Cameron Norrie [26] 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(10-4) (4h+)

Qualifier Michael Zheng produced the performance of his career to beat British No. 1 Cameron Norrie on No. 2 Court. The 22-year-old American fired 21 aces, stayed mentally strong through multiple tie-breaks, and sealed it in a match tie-break. Norrie’s Wimbledon run ends early again.

Other Matches of Note

Daniil Medvedev [8] def. Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-2, 6-4: Clinical and controlled from Medvedev on No. 1 Court. He barely put a foot wrong in what most people assumed could be a tricky opener against the former Wimbledon finalist.

Hubert Hurkacz def. Casper Ruud (11) 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7): The former semi-finalist looked dangerous on grass, dispatching the Norwegian in straight sets. Ruud shows zero interest in grass, which is rather lame considering it’s the purest surface out there.

Joao Fonseca def. Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-3: The 19-year-old Brazilian talent (fresh off a Roland Garros quarter-final) impressed in straight sets against the Spaniard who’s got grass pedigree. This was likely Bautista Agut’s final Wimbledon appearance before retirement.

Rafael Jodar def. Felix Gill (WC) 6-3, 6-3, 7-5: The 19-year-old Spaniard (23rd seed) made a confident tour-level grass debut, winning in straight sets against the British wild card. One to watch.

Tommy Paul (21) def. Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-2, 6-1: Dominant and efficient from the American who should fancy a deep run.

Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Hugo Gaston 6-1, 6-4, 6-2: Comfortable straight-sets win for the Greek who has split with his father as coach. Probably required if he has any ambitions of returning to the top.

Nuno Borges def. Tristan Boyer 6-3, 7-5, 7-5: Sets up an intriguing second-round clash with Sinner.

Highlights

Wimbledon 2026 Day 2 Round of 128 Matches