by Carlos Alcaraz starts its offer for a third Wimbledon crown in a row on Monday, while Aryna Sabalenka wants to banish a season of the Grand Slam final when the temperatures on the opening day of the championships climbed.
When London is in a summer heat wave in London, Alcaraz will maintain his glowing form in the opening game at the Center Court against the 38-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini.
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After the seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, Alcaraz wants to join an elite group in the All England Club.
The 22-year-old won 29 of his 32 tour level games on Gras, and his last defeat at Wimbledon against Jannik Sünder of the world in 2022 came against Jannik Sünd.
Alcaraz is to become the fifth man in the Open era, who wins at least three consecutive Wimbledon titles according to Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic.
“I really want to raise the trophy. I don’t think about how many players did and won three Wimbledons in a row,” said the Spaniard, who defeated sinners in an epic French Open final at the beginning of this month.
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“I just think that I want to prepare myself in the best possible way. Obviously I feel a lot of confidence.”
Former English captain David Beckham will see the Royal Box campaign in front of the Center Court alongside ex-English manager Gareth Southgate.
– mercury increases – – –
The temperatures on Monday are expected to rise to at least 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to the Met Office, it is the hottest start to Wimbledon for the time being, which is recorded near 29.7 Celsius.
The tournament has a heat sail that it is willing to protect the health of the players.
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The rule enables a 10-minute break between the second and third sets for women’s games and between the third and fourth set for men’s games when the heat-stocking index is at or over 30.1 degrees Celsius.
“The obvious point is that the athletes compete all year round like this on the tour, so it is very hot for us British at the championships,” said Wimbledon Managing Director Sally Bolton.
“We have the heat sails available, which is used well again on the tour so that we will take heating measurement values.”
Sabalenka will be determined to keep her cool when the top seeds of women start her campaign against the Canadian qualification Carson Bransine on Court One.
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The 27-year-old Belarus is a three-time Grand Slam champion, but has suffered three losses with three sets in this year’s Australian Open and French Open Finals.
Sabalenka was beaten by Madison Keys in Melbourne and Coco Gais in Paris, the latter defeat triggered a frustrated outbreak of the loser.
She was strongly criticized that the loss of Roland Garros was attributed to her own mistakes than to Gauff’s performance.
“I didn’t really want to insult her (Gauff). I was just completely upset about myself and the feelings overcome me. I just lost it completely,” said Sabalenka.
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“It was a difficult time for me. The lesson has been learned. I could sit back and be open to myself, not only to ignore some things.
“I really hope it will never happen again.”
Elsewhere on Monday, the third seed Alexander Zverev, the French Arthur Rinderknech, during the fourth seed of the Italian women, Jasmine Paolini, who was beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in the final of last year, opened against Anastasija Sevastova in Latvia.
There are 23 British players in men’s and women -singles, most since 1984, with the former US Open Champion Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter on Monday.
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A significant change this year will be the lack of line judges after a change to electronic line calls.
“It will be a little different and I think it will take us a little time to get used to it, but we felt very much that it was time to continue,” said Bolton.
With thousands of people in the queue for tickets on Monday, the All England Club advises not to travel.
SMG/JW/PI
