Key events
But back to the immediate future, which are the matches I’ll watch when play gets under way at 11am? I think we’ll go with:
Cocciaretto v Pegula (3)
Monday v Paul (13)
Tauson (23) v Watson
De Minaur (11) v Carballes Baena
We may, though, swap in Michelsen (3) v Kecmanovic at some point.
Of course, he might not have to: if Alcaraz doesn’t play better than he did yesterday, he’ll be making no finals. Except we know he’s almost certain to improve, the win over Fognini simply reminding us how brilliant he is at finding a way to impose his will. Which is to say that Sinner will have seen what happened, tantalised himself with hope and, now it’s been extinguished, must ensure he’s as focused as he needs to be.
Jannik Sinner, then. One thing we know about elite sportsfolk is that mentally, they’re different to the rest of us, able to deliver the best of themselves under the most intense pressure. But after losing from a seemingly impregnable position in the French Open final we can be certain he’ll be feeling a way: having lost his last five matches against Carlos Alcaraz, will he really believe he can beat him on grass?
It’s a million degrees outside, and some moron has come back from Glastonbury with a minger of a head-cold. What a world.
On the other hand, Shaboozey covering Bob is worth every litre of sweat.
Preamble
Wotcha and welcome to Wimbledon 2025 – day two!
After yesterday’s frankly ridiculous opening dig, it’s my solemn duty to announce that awaiting us over the next 12 hours is nothing other than more of the same … but different.
The Clash once sung about being lost in the supermarket and that’s how today feels: so many potential choices it’s hard to know where to begin. Perhaps with Johannes Monday against Tommy Paul, or Clara Tauson versus Heather Watson … except what of Alex de Minaur, who meets Roberto Carballes Baena, or Alex Michelsen who takes on Miomir Kecmanovic? And that’s just the opening set of outside-court matches!
Otherwise, we’ve got Barbora Krejcikova beginning the defence of her title; Jannik Sinner returning after his Roland Garros desolation; two bangers – Arthur Rinderknech v Alexander Zverev and the final set of Taylor Fritz v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – held over from yesterday; Alexandre Muller v Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper v Sebastian Baez, Daria Yastremska v Coco Gauff; and potentially the funnest match of the lot between Petra Kvitova and Emma Navarro.
And if, to that, we add Jessica Pegula, Ben Shelton, Lorenzo Musetti, Mirra Andreeva, Qinwen Zheng, Dan Evans v Jay Clarke, and Iga Swiatek seeking to right herself after a miserable season, we have some sense of the glorious chaos just waiting to absorb us.
Play: outside courts 11am BST, No 1 Court 1pm BST, Centre Court 1.30pm BST
Quick Guide
Wimbledon: Tuesday’s order of play
Show
Centre Court (1.30pm BST start)
B Krejcikova (Cz, 17) v A Eala (Phi)
A Muller (Fr) v N Djokovic (Srb, 6)
D Yastremska (Ukr) v C Gauff (US, 2)
No.1 Court (1pm BST start)
J Sinner (It, 1) v L Nardi (It)
P Kvitova (Cz) v E Navarro (US, 10)
J Draper (GB, 4) v S Baez (Arg)
No.2 Court (11am BST start)
E Cocciaretto (It) v J Pegula (US, 3)
N Basilashvili (Geo) v L Musetti (It, 7)
I Swiatek (Pol, 8) v P Kudermetova
B Shelton (US, 10) v A Bolt (Aus)
No.3 Court (11am BST start)
J Monday (GB) v T Paul (US, 13)
M Andreeva (7) v M Sherif (Egy)
G Dimitrov (Bul, 19) v Y Nishioka (Jpn)
E Avenesyan (Arm) v E Rybakina (Kaz, 11)
Court 12 (11am BST start)
C Tauson (Den, 23) v H Watson (GB)
D Evans (GB) v J Clarke (GB)
G Monfils (Fr) v U Humbert (Fr, 18)
S Kenin (US, 28) v T Townsend (US)
Court 18 (11am BST start)
A de Minaur (Aus, 11) v R Carballes Baena (Sp)
M Joint (Aus) v L Samsonova (19)
C McNally (US) v J Burrage (GB)
H Gaston (Fr) v J Mensik (Cz, 15)
Selected courts only; full order of play here.