Alcaraz vs. Fognini among first-round matches to watch at Wimbledon

Wimbledon

Alcaraz vs. Fognini, Draper vs. Baez among first-round matches to watch at Wimbledon

Main-draw action at grass-court Grand Slam begins Monday in London

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Carlos Alcaraz practises in London ahead of his Wimbledon title defence. By Andy West

The 2025 Wimbledon draw has thrown up some tantalising first-round men’s singles clashes. They include two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz’s meeting with former Top 10 star Fabio Fognini, while home favourite Jack Draper and fast-rising #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca face tough opening assignments.

ATPTour.com highlights five first-round matches to watch at the grass-court major.

[2] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Fabio Fognini (ITA)

Having defeated Novak Djokovic in the championship match to triumph at Wimbledon in both 2023 and 2024, Alcaraz will begin his campaign on a 14-match winning-streak at the grass major. He will bid to make that 15 by overcoming Fognini, a former No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Alcaraz has triumphed in each of the pair’s two previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, both of which took place on clay in Rio de Janeiro (2022, 2023). While Alcaraz undoubtedly starts the match as a heavy favourite, he will be wary of a player whose shotmaking ability has earned him 17 victories against Top 10 opponents.

[4] Jack Draper (GBR) vs. Sebastian Baez (ARG)

The highest-seeded Briton in a Wimbledon singles draw since two-time champion Andy Murray competed as top seed in 2017, Draper will aim to show his home fans just how far he has come in the past 12 months with a big opening display against Sebastian Baez. Although he has never been past the second round at Wimbledon, Draper is 28-8 in 2025 and lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in March in Indian Wells.

The 23-year-old lefty Draper will be hoping to build on his solid start to the 2025 grass season, a semi-final run at the Queen’s Club last week, and he leads Baez 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Baez holds a 3-7 career record on grass, but the Argentine is a seven-time ATP Tour champion who was inside the Top 20 as recently as last August.

[5] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA)

Grass-court tennis is known as a favourite of big servers and there are few more suited to the surface than Taylor Fritz and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Fritz is a four-time ATP Tour champion on grass and is into another semi-final in Eastbourne this week.

Meanwhile the 6’ 8” Mpetshi Perricard, the Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2024 ATP Awards, finished last year with the best Serve Quality (9.5) on Tour according to Tennis Data Innovations' INSIGHTS. The Frenchman, who has struggled for wins in 2025, will need his biggest weapon to fire if he is to upset the fifth-seeded Fritz in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting.

Jacob Fearnley (GBR) vs. Joao Fonseca (BRA)

The 18-year-old Fonseca has generated big atmospheres and hype around the world in 2025, but the Brazilian will likely be up against a crowd pulling for his opponent on his Wimbledon main-draw debut. Jacob Fearnley is the No. 2 Briton in the PIF ATP Rankings, having reached a career-high No. 49 earlier this month.

Still cutting his teeth on grass, Fonseca will be aiming to make a big impact at his third consecutive Grand Slam. He stunned then-Top 10 star Andrey Rublev at January’s Australian Open and did the same to Hubert Hurkacz en route to the third round at Roland Garros. Can the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion silence the home crowd early against Fearnley?

[18] Ugo Humbert (FRA) vs. Gael Monfils (FRA)

A pair of highly-skilled French favourites meets in a popcorn opening showdown at Wimbledon. The 18th-seeded Ugo Humbert is a seven-time tour-level titlist, a tally that includes an ATP 500 title on grass in Halle. Meanwhile his countryman Monfils remains a daunting opponent and crowd favourite, even at the age of 38.

Humbert leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-2, but Monfils won two of the pair’s three meetings in 2024 (all of which took place on hard courts). The former Top 10 star will be hopeful of levelling his rivalry with Humbert in the pair’s second grass-court meeting.

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