Wimbledon round 1 matches to watch out for: Future stars on show, and upsets on the cards with early banana-peel matches

only if threesome weeks on from the iconic go under of finals at the daniel chester french open up, and grand slam tennis makes its return with new fans and old all in tow. We return to the famous lawns of Wimbledon, the most historic and famous of tennis tournaments, where every result means that little bit more. With so many eyes on these matches, there is always an added pressure early on in the tournament, as the top players try to minimise hiccups and get through to the latter rounds.

Nevertheless, the one certainty about grand slam tennis is that upsets will happen, new heroes will be crowned, and memorable moments will come to the fore through the fortnight — particularly on the lush green grass at Wimbledon. With that in mind, here are five matches that fans should make a note of in the very first round beginning today.

The top seeds in the men’s draw would have been sweating at the prospect of running into hulking Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard, standing at 203 cm tall and possessing the most brutal serve on the men’s tour. Ranked just outside the cut for the seedings, he will be an extremely early challenge for world number five Taylor Fritz, trying to improve on his two quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon.

This is certainly the one first round match to watch, with huge serving promised from both sides on the slick fresh grass of Court 2. Bookmark this for today evening.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova has a real banana peel to start her defense at Wimbledon, facing the WTA’s breakout player of the year thus far, Philippines’ Alexandra Eala. The 20-year-old has been making waves with some big results, and in her first taste of the Wimbledon grass, will be hungry to add another huge scalp to a growing list. Krejcikova has struggled with injuries since her triumph in 2024, and is certainly vulnerable.

No rest for world number two Coco Gauff: after lifting the French Open title, she would have liked to ease into her work at Wimbledon. Instead, she receives a dangerous grass court player up first in Yastremska, who just reached the final of the Nottingham Open and possesses the power to cause upsets here. Gauff will need to adapt to the demands of grass good and early.

Petra Kvitova, champion at SW19 in 2011 and 2014, announced that she intends to retire from tennis in 2025 — which means this is her last Wimbledon, a tournament she has lit up with her powerful lefty play for so many years. She will want at least one good result before she bids farewell to this iconic tournament, and it could come early on against American number 10 seed Emma Navarro, who reached the quarters here last year.

Brazil’s Joao Fonseca has been followed by ravenous support wherever he has gone in his young career so far — but the teenager might finally be on the wrong end of a partisan crowd on his Wimbledon debut, as he runs into British number two Jacob Fearnley on Court 1. Fearnley showed flashes on Centre Court against Novak Djokovic last year, and already has some big names in his notebook in 2025 grand slams, with Nick Kyrgios and Stanislas Wawrinka in Melbourne and Paris respectively: can he dial it up to knock the electric 18-year-old down a peg, or is Fonseca ready to announce himself to the wider public with a fairytale run, starting with a statement win against a local favourite?

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