Eugenie Bouchard
Former Canadian tennis player on BBC One

Aryna Sabalenka has made the Wimbledon semi-finals three times, but never made the final. I think it is a case of her being a little less comfortable on the grass, as her favourite is hard court by far.

She hasn't had the best preparation ever coming into this year's tournament. Her last two losses have come with a 6-0 bagel in the third set, so I wonder if she can mentally regroup to get herself fighting in matches again.

Teodora Kostovic goes for a cute drop shot but Aryna Sabalenka is quickly up to it.

The teenage attempts a lob but sends it long to hand Sabalenka an early break.

*denotes next server

Image source, PA Media

Teodora Kostovic is going to have to summon all of her composure again after giving up another break point with a forehand error.

Teodora Kostovic punches her fist after saving the break point.

Aryna Sabalenka shows her intent early on, attacking the net on the second point of the match and pummelling a forehand winner. 15-all.

The world number one gets on top of the baseline to overpower her teenage opponent for 30-all and earns a break point as an undercooked drop shot drifts into the net.

Image source, PA Media

Teodora Kostovic, rocking the Petra Kvitova headband and long plait combo, will serve first on Centre Court.

Safe to say it has not been the best day so far for British interest at SW19.

We started Monday's schedule with 11 carrying home hopes, but we are still waiting for that first victory.

Six have exited at the first hurdle, with four still to take to the court and Ollie Tarvet - who is two sets down - receiving treatment for an injury on court 12.

• Ostapenko (LAT) 6-3 3-6 6-4 Harriet Dart (GB)
• Zheng (USA) 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (10-4) Cameron Norrie (GB)
• Jodar (ESP) 6-3-6-3 7-5 Felix Gill (GB)
• Bencic (SUI) 6-2 6-1 Mika Stojsavljevic (GB)
• Parks (USA) 6-3 6-3 Alicia Dudeney (GB)
• Mochizuki (JPN) 6-3 6-0 6-0 Max Basing (GB)

To add to the disappointment, we also had the news that Jack Draper has followed Emma Raducanu in having to withdraw from Wimbledon through injury.

Image source, Getty Images

After coming through three rounds of qualifying to earn her Grand Slam main draw debut, 19-year-old Teodora Kostovic only had one name in mind when asked who she wanted to face in round one.

"I want to face Sabalenka," she said. "Let's see if she can deal with my power. Of course I can beat her. I can beat anybody when I'm in the zone."

The teenager's wish came true and now she's aiming to become only the sixth player to beat Sabalenka in the first round of a major - and the first to do so at Wimbledon since 2019.

Kostovic, a former world junior number four, climbed from 898th in the world to inside the top 200 in 2025 and currently sits at number 184 in the rankings.

Image source, Getty Images

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka begins her quest for a maiden Wimbledon crown against Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic.

Sabalenka, the world number one, is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion but is yet to win a major away from the hard courts.

The three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, who is also searching for her first title on grass, lost to Jessica Pegula in the last four in Berlin in her only warm-up event.

Sabalenka hasn't lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since the 2020 Australian Open, reaching at least the quarter-finals in her past 14 appearances.

Up next on Centre Court, it's women's number one Aryna Sabalenka against Teodora Kostovic. The players have just walked out into the sunshine.

World number one Sabalenka will be hoping for a considerably less dramatic match than her male counterpart, Jannik Sinner.

Russian eighth Daniil Medvedev is cruising towards the second round after going two sets and a break up against Marin Cilic.

The Russian eighth seed took the second set inside 37 minutes and continued his momentum into the third.

It's a long way back for Cilic from here, who was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2017.

Image source, Getty Images

World number one Jannik Sinner speaking on Centre Court after beating Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic: "First of all, thank you all for coming. It is such a huge honour to be the first player to come out here on Centre Court and start the tournament. It was a little tight in the beginning, I didn't play at my very best but I tried to get into it. It was my first official match on grass which is also a very important factor.

"I'm happy I turned it around because the third set was a very tough one to swallow. It is a big honour to play in front of all of you [the Royal Box] so thank you for coming."

On his trainer being soaked in blood: "No, no I'm good. It just seems much worse than it is. I'm actually very surprised that they let me keep playing because my all white outfit turned into a little red. It is just a nail. I didn't want to Miomir Kecmanovic either because I thought we both had a good rhythm. It was a great match from both of us so I didn't want to take any time off the court. It is all good though, so thank you for asking."

On whether he was nervous or excited to defend his title: "It was a very different feeling. There is a lot of nerves when you go down the stairs behind the court. It's also a mental thing knowing it is such a prestigious court.

"Coming back here as defending champion means a lot to me so I'm very happy to have won my first match. Of course I will try to aim for a couple of improvements for my next match, but today I can feel very happy. I felt a lot of mistakes on my forehand side in the first set, which is normal so I tried to accept that. I thought I raised my level when I really needed to.

"This is tennis, every day is different, I'm very happy to be in the next round."

Next up for Jannik Sinner is Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Borges beat American qualifier Tristan Boyer 6-3 7-5 7-5 earlier.

Tim Henman
Former British number one on BBC One

It is a bit of a Grand Slam cliche that you can't win the tournament in the first week, but you can certainly lose it.

It is safe to say Jannik Sinner was in trouble when he was down two sets to one - but he has certainly given himself another opportunity.

As the defending champion and with sights on reaching the final again, Jannik Sinner would no doubt want to get through his first couple of matches swiftly to avoid any build up of fatigue.

But this win over Miomir Kecmanovic is his third-longest at Wimbledon, at three hours and 28 minutes - only victories over Matteo Berrettini (2024) and Carlos Alcaraz (2022) were longer.

Sinner is speaking on court now, we'll bring you his full interview shortly.

Centre Court shows their appreciation for Miomir Kecmanovic as he makes his way off court.

It would have been a major shock if he'd won today but he came so close to causing that upset - leading 1-0 and 2-1 - but ultimately Jannik Sinner's ability shone through.

Andrew Castle
BBC Sport tennis commentator on BBC One

Disaster averted for Jannik Sinner! He did it the hard way from two sets to one down, but the defence is still on at Wimbledon.

Miomir Kecmanovic played his part. It was an excellent match from him.

It is a case of job done as far as Sinner is concerned.

Jannik Sinner grinds down Miomir Kecmanovic with some crushing shots to the baseline and it eventually proves too much for the Serbian as he fires long.

Sinner gets to 40-0 and match point.