Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Almost showtime. There’s a lovely murmur bubbling on Centre Court as we await Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper.

The ball kids, decked in the traditional box-fresh purple and green gear, receive a warm round of applause, as do the line judges in the creaseless cream slacks.

Now we need two more very important people…

Image source, BBC Sport

Playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon against the world number one in your first ever Grand Slam match sounds like something from a film.

Will there be a Hollywood ending for 19-year-old Jack Draper today and the most unlikely of shocks?

The small task of one of the all-time greats in the shape of Novak Djokovic stands in the way.

Simon Reed
BBC Sport commentator at Wimbledon

Sabalenka's serve is really working well for her. Must be very comforting, because there were obvious nerves...

Cracking stuff! How did Monica Niculescu get that back? Charging off court into the tramlines, swinging into a forehand volley and managing to slice it back the other way for a winner.

It's not enough to get the Romanian on the board, but got the crowd going.

Tracy Austin
Two-time Grand Slam champion on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Serena Williams can [win the 2021 title]. There's no real standout player. Petra Kvitova has a real shot at taking the title, Ash Barty even though she didn't get a match on grass leading up to Wimbledon, but Serena just becomes 30, 40% better when she gets to the All England Club.

She's a seven-time champion, she knows how to play on this surface and she is incredibly comfortable on it.

Sabalenka is really motoring now, showing off both her power and precision with a winning forehand that's followed up by a deft slice - Niculescu can't reach it and then shuffles her feet as if to say the surface is feeling slow. The second seed storms to a double break.

Image source, Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios is ready to have some fun when he makes his competitive return at Wimbledon, with the Australian planning to "get some strawberries and chill".

The 26-year-old has left his country for the first time since the pandemic started and has not played since the Australian Open in February.

As well as playing singles, he will team up with American veteran Venus Williams in the mixed doubles.

"I'm using this as a vacation," said Kyrgios, now ranked 61st in the world. "I've been in Australia now for a year and a half. I've reached a really nice level of freedom. Nothing fazes me at all any more."

Kyrgios will play French 21st seed Ugo Humbert in the first round at the All England Club.

"I just want to go out there and have some fun," he added." I haven't been on a tennis court for a while. It's Wimbledon, it's the pinnacle of tennis. I'm going to get myself some strawberries and chill."

Quick hold for Aryna Sabalenka and any pre-Wimbledon nerves she may have had before this match look to have been quickly shaken off on Court One.

Aryna Sabalenka saunters around the slice this time and thuds down a backhand winner to earn another break point, her fourth of this game, but a Monica Niculescu serve that kisses the chalk comes off awkwardly for the second seed and we're back to deuce.

Another forehand winner, another chance to break for Sabalenka. Can she take it this time? Yes, at the fifth attempt!

Niculescu saves the first with a groundstroke that spins like a yo-yo and then fends off the second too, before Sabalenka thumps a forehand long. Deuce.

Zing, what about that for a return, Aryna Sabalenka gobbles up a slower serve and spits it back with some serious interest.

Monica Niculescu is struggling with the Belarusian's power as Sabalenka drives towards the net and thrashes away a volley. Three early break points...

That grass is in absolute pristine condition. That's how I imagine my lawn will look before butchering it with terrible mowing technique...

Aryna Sabalenka edges to a hold to get on the board for the first time at the championships.

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

I think it's going to be about discipline for Aryna Sabalenka

She's going to really have to be disciplined about not too many unforced errors.

Wimbledon 2021 is under way!

And Aryna Sabalenka will serve first against Monica Niculescu on Court One.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Image source, BBC Sport

Cocktail glass of lovely Pimms? Check.

Sandwiches stuffed with filling and cut in quarters? Check.

Plastic pint of cold Belgian lager? Check.

Oh, and a court-side selfie? Of course.

The punters are starting to fill up Centre Court nicely now. With the coronavirus restrictions and this being a test event, the old place will be 50% full today.

Image source, Getty Images

Two decades on, Roger Federer is now an eight-time champion and turns 40 in August.

Playing in his first Grand Slam for 16 months because of a knee injury that required two operations, the Swiss reached the third round of the French Open but then withdrew before his last-16 match to protect his body, having also said Wimbledon was his top priority this season.

A return at the Halle Open last week ended in a second-round defeat by 20-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, with Federer upset at the way he "derailed" in the third set.

"There are ways to lose and a standard I set for myself how I go about things," said the sixth seed.

"The good thing now, looking back, is I know it will not happen here because I'm ready, I'm excited, I'm pumped up. I know I can do so much better."

Image source, Getty Images

Silence around the stadium as Pete Sampras prepares to serve on match point at Wimbledon. It's a familiar setting for the American, a seven-time champion, but today is different.

Sampras is not serving for victory this time. Lose this point and he is eliminated.

On the other side of the net his teenage opponent waits, hair in a neat pony tail, wooden bead jewellery around his neck. It's his first appearance in front of the Centre Court crowd.

Sampras crashes a serve out wide and begins a charge towards the net, he wants to follow up with a signature volley. But the return is too powerful and beyond his reach as it comes thumping down the line. It all happens so quickly. The crowd roars as the 19-year-old winner falls to the ground in disbelief, a five-set epic over in an instant. He has beaten the champion, his idol.

"Game, set and match…

"Federer!"

Was that epic fourth-round meeting really 20 years ago?!

Read Chris Peddy's excellent piece on that match here.

Woah! We're closing in on some tennis... there are players on the court, fans in the stands.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka and Monica Niculescu are warming up on Court One.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Remember the excitement of going to one of your first sporting events as a young 'un? Well, the smile of Tanishka Naveen should certainly grab that information from the temporal lobe in your brain.

Look how buzzing she is! The youngster from Birmingham is here with dad Naveen Nagarathna, sat on the second row in Centre Court.

"I was super happy when we got tickets," she giggles. "When we saw we were in these seats we were even happier.

"But we had to rush here because I was playing tennis this morning. My idols are Federer and Djokovic and I want to be a professional tennis player when I'm older too."

Remember the name, folks...