Wimbledon: Alcaraz Going For Three-Peat Is One Of Many Storylines To Follow

Carlos Alcaraz, Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, June 30, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The 138th Wimbledon Championships begin Monday with pristine grass, full 128-player draws for both men’s and women’s singles, and plenty of strawberries and cream for everyone to enjoy as the annual British fortnight commences at the All England Club in southwest London.

On the order of play for Opening Day will be 64 first round matches (32 men’s and 32 women’s) – half of both draws, the men’s lower half and the women’s upper half – spread about the grounds of the All England Club in London SW19, with as many as 17 courts in action at one time. There’s a wide variety of star power, British favorites, and up-and-comers in the Day One lineup to please fans.

Monday’s Wimbledon order of play

For just the second time in 22 years, there’s no Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray as defending Gentlemen’s Singles champion kicking off play on Centre Court. No worries, though. That’s because there’s two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who gets the traditional opening slot on Centre Court at 1:30 p.m. sharp. The World No. 2 from Murcia, Spain will face 130th-ranked Fabio Fognini of Italy.

Alcaraz, a five-time major champion, comes in as a favorite to three-peat at Wimbledon after winning three consecutive titles, at Rome and Roland-Garros on clay and Queen’s Club on grass, as well as 18 consecutive matches. He’s 27-1 since the beginning of April.

“I’m coming here thinking that I really want to win the title,” Alcaraz said Saturday during Media Day. “I really want to lift the trophy. I’m not thinking about how many players have won three Wimbledons in a row.”

The 22-year-old Alcaraz was one of several men’s and women’s players who met with tournament media over the weekend.

Here’s a sampling of what others had to say:

• “Truthfully, I don’t expect much from myself this year. I just want to go out there and embrace the occasion. There aren’t many opportunities to be playing at Wimbledon. You get it once a year and for a finite amount of time. I’m just looking forward to going out there and feeling the surroundings and the atmosphere. It’s a great privilege to be part of the Brits here.”

– No. 38 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who plays her first-round match on No. 1 Court Monday against 318th-ranked British wild card Mimi Xu.

• “I’m feeling good. I had a little bit of time, obviously from Queen’s all the way till here. Partly why I decided not to play a tournament is to kind of get the body right and now it feels at a stage where it’s ready to compete, ready to go. And I’m definitely very excited to get started. I feel in a very good space.”

– No. 11 Alex de Minaur of Australia, who plays his first-round match Tuesday against Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.

• “For sure, probably so far it’s the best one that I’ve had. I had a really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Also, having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a few more skills.”

– No. 8 Iga Swiatek of Poland, who plays her first-round match Tuesday against Polina Kudermetova of Russia.

• “Obviously, when I’m here or when I’m training, I’m completely dialed in on what I’m trying to do. But when I get away from it, I try and detach myself from it all to try and have the most energy to perform again the next day, because that’s what tennis is. It’s kind of like a recovery sport.

“We’ve got to be able to show up and give our best every day. So, that’s important, just to detach. It’s pretty boring really. Not a lot of interesting things. Just lying down.”

– No. 4 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, who plays his first-round match Tuesday against Sebastian Baez of Argentina.

Getting to know your Wimbledon wild cards

There are eight men’s and eight women’s wild cards among the 128-player men’s and women’s singles draws at this year Wimbledon. With the exception of Petra Kvitova of Czechia, who is a two-time Wimbledon champion (2011, 2014), all of the men’s and women’s wild cards are British – which makes sense that the All England Club would show favor toward British players.

Following is a list of this year’s wild cards:

Men: Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford, Daniel Evans, Arthur Fery, George Lofthagen, Johannus Monday, Jack Pinnington Jones, Henry Searle.

Women: Petra Kvitova, Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Francesca Jones, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Heather Watson, Mingge Xu.

No. 153 Clarke, from Derbyshire, is competing in his seventh Championships, while Crawford his back for his second Wimbledon main draw. Meanwhile, Evans is a former British No. 1, who has reached the third round of Wimbledon three times.

Kvitova has returned from maternity leave to play in her 16th and final Wimbledon before she retires at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Burrage, ranked No. 164, is making her third appearance at Wimbledon after having reached the second round in 2023, and Dart is a five-time quarterfinalist on grass and returns for her eighth Wimbledon.

Wimbledon men’s singles draw

Wimbledon women’s singles draw

Wimbledon men’s doubles draw

Wimbledon women’s doubles draw

By the numbers

If Carlos Alcaraz can extend his current 18-match winning streak by another seven to wins – to 25 consecutive victories – he would become only the fifth man in the Open Era – after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – to win Wimbledon three consecutive years. His road to a three-peat begins Monday with Fabio Fognini of Italy and could include: 719th-ranked qualifier Oliver Tarvet of Great Britain, No. 25 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, No. 14 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 8 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev and No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner.

“Quotable …”

“I think the most beautiful tennis that we can watch is on grass. The style that the people bring to the court when they play on grass, I think it is so beautiful. The sound of the ball. The movement is really tough, but when you get it, it’s kind of [like] you’re flying.”

– Two-time defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, speaking Saturday during Media Day at Wimbledon.

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