Forza Carota Boys
Meet Lorenzo, Francesco, Alessandro, Herberto, Gianluca and Enrico – AKA the ‘Carota Boys’ – who made their debut at Wimbledon on Monday at the same time as their hero, Jannik Sinner, was easing into the second round.
The Italian squad of devoted Sinner superfans have been following their man across Europe this spring dressed as six carrots, their choice of fancy dress a tribute to one of the Italian’s more unusual on-court snacks.
The 21-year-old world No.8 was once seen munching a raw carrot during an ATP match he played in Vienna in 2019. “It’s a good nickname,” Sinner said recently. The Carota Boys have been courtside in Rome and Paris this year and now have their own Instagram page.
Aorangi Hour
The opening day of the Championships launched with a brand new offering for fans following the event from afar – an hour-long magazine show live from the All England Club called ‘Aorangi Hour’. The live show is filmed daily at lunchtime near the practice courts and the first ever show featured segments from Indian star Sania Mirza and roving reporter Anne Keothavong, the former British No.1.
Fans can enjoy news, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, latest scores and player interviews. Former Roland-Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova also joined the team on Day 1.
Watch the show between 12 noon and 1pm BST every day on Wimbledon.com.
British hat-trick
British players fall under an intense spotlight when Wimbledon rolls around and three of six in action on Day 1 made good starts to the Championships with first round wins.
Jodie Burrage led the trio when she cruised through against American Caty McNally on No.3 Court, just before Liam Broady finished a straight-sets victory over Frenchman Constant Lestienne.
Late in the day Jan Choinski made it a hat-trick when he took out Dusan Lajovic in four sets.
Supermum Strycova
It was a joyous return to the All England Club for Barbora Strycova on Monday. The 37-year-old enjoyed a memorable Championships in 2019 when she won the doubles and reached the semi-finals of the singles and on Day 1 picked up her first Grand Slam match win as a mum.
The Czech played her first tournament for 26 months in Madrid in April and wasted no time beating Maryna Zanevska 6-1, 7-5 early on Monday to become the first player to complete a match at this year’s Championships. The former singles world No.16, who gave birth to son Vincent in September 2021, says she will retire after this summer’s US Open in New York.
Star-spotting
Perhaps inspired by Strycova’s story, former world No.1 and 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki recently announced she too will be making a comeback when she plays in Montreal and New York in August.
The Dane, who retired from professional tennis in 2020 and has since started a family with husband and former pro basketball player David Lee, was spotted near Centre Court on Monday.
The 32-year-old is in town for TV duties during the Championships and will play the Ladies’ Invitation Doubles event with Cara Black during the second week.
Late-night news
It was late on Sunday evening when news of Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal from the Championships reached most tennis fans, but when exactly did the man who was expecting to face him on Monday find out? “It was not easy – I was in my bed,” laughed David Goffin after he beat lucky loser Fabian Marozsan on No.2 Court.
“I received a text message: ‘Nick has withdrawn from the tournament, we don’t know yet against who you’re going to play but tomorrow you will have an opponent!’ It was an ‘original’ situation for the beginning of the tournament!”
New this year:
See the draw like never before, with interactive Path to the Final view of the draw by clicking a player’s name on the draws page
See the projected Path to the Final of every player in the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ singles draws with IBM Likely to Play
View how favourable or difficult a player's draw is, with IBM AI Draw Analysis
