[Image from the official Wimbledon website]
*Yes, there is still croquet, played on three dedicated lawns, but they are converted into practice tennis courts during the championships.
Here are a few random notes for today:
– The hottest day ever recorded at the Wimbledon tennis tournament was July 1, 2015, with a temperature of 35.7 °C (96.3°F). This record was matched today on the first day of the 2025 tournament, Monday, June 30;
– Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (21, 🇫🇷) hit a serve that clocked in at 153 mph (246 km/h), the fastest ever recorded, anywhere;
– World No 733 Oliver Tarvet (21, 🇬🇧) won his first round match as a qualifier in the main draw. He must now spend most of his £99,000 winnings to retain his amateur status on the NCAA Tennis circuit (he plays college tennis at the University of San Diego and wants to continue doing that for another year or two);
– Tarvet will play Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday in the second round.
Alcaraz needed five sets today to eliminate Fabio Fognini (38, 🇮🇹) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. Fognini is retiring after this season and asked Alcaraz for his shirt after the match to give to his son Frederico (he got it; they are good friends);
– On No. 1 Court, Jiao Fonseca (18, 🇧🇷) became the first 18-year-old to reach the second round since a certain Carlos Alcaraz did it in 2021. Fonseca needed only three sets to get past Jacob Fearnley (23, 🇬🇧);
– Line judges have been a part of Wimbledon since the very first Championships in 1877, but this year the humans have been replaced with Hawk-Eye Live (a system of up to 18 cameras equipped with AI that analyzes footage from the cameras to determine if a ball is in or out).