Emma Raducanu used England's comeback win over Slovakia at Euro 2024 as motivation ahead of her Wimbledon opener.

Raducanu was handed a boost on Monday when her planned first-round opponent - world number 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova - withdrew due to illness.

But the 2021 US Open champion did not put in the most convincing display as she beat lucky loser Renata Zarazua 7-6 (7-0) 6-3 on Centre Court.

Nevertheless, Raducanu got the job done, much like Gareth Southgate's side as Jude Bellingham's stunner and Harry Kane's header secured an extra-time win over Slovakia in Germany, despite another poor display.

Raducanu, however, believes England's progress to the quarter-finals at Euro 2024 shows that "winning ugly" is sometimes the way forward.

"I was nervous, I think everyone could see that in my tennis, but at the end of the day you have to do whatever it takes to get over the line," said Raducanu, who wore an England shirt to practice on Sunday.

"Honestly, watching the football [on Sunday], it was winning ugly – it all counts."

Raducanu suggested the late switch of opponent did not help.

"For the past three days, I've been playing and setting up practice for similar opponents and then it is a change of plan," said Raducanu.

"It took a little bit of adjusting and finding my feet.

"But I’d like to thank everyone for their support in the crucial moments. I enjoyed playing back here."

Raducanu will face Elise Mertens in the next round, and is delighted to have progressed as she aims to build on a solid grass-court swing so far.

"I said I'd be over the moon if I won my first round here, and I really am," the 21-yea

"I feel the joy of being on site, the joy to be part of the buzz. I'm really just enjoying myself."

Jannik Sinner made a winning start to his quest for Wimbledon glory, seeing off Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-3 on No.1 Court.

The new world number one is the first Italian to be the top seed in the men's singles event at SW19, and is fresh from landing his maiden ATP title on grass in Halle last time out.

Two break points were enough to put Sinner two sets to the good against Hanfmann, who was seeking his first victory in three main-draw appearances at Wimbledon.

The German responded in the third set to halve the deficit, but his opponent was not to be denied as he sealed the win in just under three hours.

Up next for Sinner is a mouth-watering all-Italian second-round clash against former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini, who won 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 3-6 6-1 against Marton Fucsovics to progress.

Earlier in the day on the same court as Sinner, fifth seed Daniil Medvedev moved safely into the second round.

Despite some difficult preparation for the tournament, Medvedev defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3 6-4 6-2 in just one hour and 47 minutes, firing down 16 aces and not being broken throughout the contest.

Data Debrief: Sinner picks up the baton

Sinner hit 16 aces and 47 winners to 30 unforced errors, while converting four out of five break points as he saw off world number 110 Hanfmann.

In his first major outing since officially becoming world number one, he extended the Wimbledon winning streak of players atop of the ATP rankings to 22 matches.

The last such defeat came exactly 2,178 days ago, when Rafael Nadal was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the 2018 semi-finals.

Earlier on, Medvedev overcame Kovacevic to claim his 230th ATP match win since the start of the 2020 season - the most of any player during this decade, and six clear of nearest challenger Andrey Rublev (224).

Emma Raducanu delighted the home crowd at Wimbledon by defeating Renata Zarazua in straight sets on Monday.

The Briton had been scheduled to face 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in round one until the Russian withdrew from the tournament through injury.

Raducanu was still given a stern examination by Alexandrova's replacement, lucky loser Zarazua, on Centre Court, but she prevailed 7-6 (7-0) 6-3.

The home favourite led 4-2 in the opening set but was promptly broken back and had to deliver when it mattered to win a tie-break that ultimately proved to be one-sided.

Raducanu saved two break points early in the second set and then got the crucial break in game six before closing out the victory with relative comfort.

Up next for Raducanu is a clash with Elise Mertens, who won a three-set battle against Nao Hibino.

Data Debrief: Raducanu ups her game

It was a mixed performance from Raducanu in the opening set, but the 21-year-old upped her game in the second to make sure of victory.

Raducanu won 17 of her 20 points on first serve in the second set and, after saving those break points in the third game, did not offer up a single break opportunity to Zarazua from that stage onwards.

Naomi Osaka made a winning return to Wimbledon after holding off Diane Parry to win a tense deciding set.

Osaka had not played at Wimbledon since 2019 until Monday's contest and last won a match at the All England Club in 2018.

But the Japanese star, playing in the tournament as a wild card, battled to a round-one victory over Parry, winning 6-1 1-6 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter on No.2 Court.

Osaka looked in trouble after following up an emphatic first set with a poor second that saw Parry seize control.

Four-time major winner Osaka then lost her first two service games of the decider and trailed 3-1, but battled back to win five of the last six games and claim victory.

Data Debrief: Opportunity knocks for Osaka

On a dramatic day in the women’s singles which saw seeds Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova all withdraw from the tournament, Osaka is a big name who will be in round two.

While a meeting with either Wang Qiang or Emma Navarro is unlikely to be straightforward, Osaka will have her sights on not only reaching the second week, which she has never done before, but also making an impact if she gets there.

There was plenty to like about her aggressive approach against Parry, and she racked up 34 winners, but Osaka also has plenty to work on. She lacked fluency with her serving, as only 35 of 75 first serves (47%) landed in, often leaving her on the back foot.

Still, winning a deciding set in her first grand slam match since the painful defeat to Iga Swiatek at the French Open will have come as a huge relief, with that Paris disappointment still fresh in the memory.

Carlos Alcaraz has made a winning start to his Wimbledon title defence, defeating qualifier Mark Lajal in a competitive contest.

Opening the 2024 tournament on Centre Court, the Spaniard was broken early in each of the first two sets, but ultimately progressed 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 6-2.

Alcaraz was more dominant in the third set, not offering up a single break-point opportunity to Estonian qualifier Lajal, who can nonetheless reflect on a decent showing on the big stage.

French Open champion Alcaraz, looking to become the youngest player in the Open Era to win Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, will play Aleksandar Vukic or Sebastian Ofner in round two.

Elsewhere on Monday, eighth seed Casper Ruud and 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov both made comfortable starts to the tournament with straight-sets wins over Alex Bolt and Dusan Lajovic respectively.

Denis Shapovalov is also through, with the Canadian knocking out 19th seed Nicolas Jarry in a 6-1 7-5 6-4 triumph.

Frances Tiafoe almost joined Jarry as a seed to crash out on day one, but the American fought back from two sets down to defeat Matteo Arnaldi in five. That dramatic win saw him tee up a round-two clash with Borna Coric.

There was more American success when Brandon Nakashima earned a straight-sets victory over 18th seed Sebastian Baez. He won 6-2 6-3 6-4 and will face Australian Jordan Thompson next.

Data Debrief: Alcaraz up and running

Alcaraz did not have ideal preparation for Wimbledon after losing to Jack Draper in the last 16 at Queen's.

He will therefore be pleased to have got two hours and 23 minutes of competitive court time under his belt against Lajal without his progress ever really looking like it was in jeopardy.

Alcaraz fired 44 winners and lost just nine of the 56 points played on his first serve. He was also adept at the net, winning 26 of his 33 points to make it a smooth start.

He is now just the seventh player in the Open Era, and the first since compatriot Rafael Nadal, to win all of his first 14 first-round matches in grand slam tournaments.

Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury ahead of the first round.

The world number three was due to play Emina Bektas on Monday, but left the practice court early, with the All England Club organisers confirming she would not be participating.

She will now be replaced by Erika Andreeva, who lost to Sonay Kartal in the final round of qualifying.

Sabalenka retired from her Berlin quarter-final in June with the same issue, the first time she has ever done so in a professional match in her career, and later stated she was not "100% fit" or able to serve without pain.

The Belarusian is a two-time Grand Slam winner but has never won at Wimbledon, falling at the semi-final hurdle in both 2021 and 2023.

Sabalenka was looking to put a disappointing clay swing behind her, after suffering final defeats in Madrid and Rome before being knocked out in the quarter-final at the French Open.

Emma Raducanu has been handed an early boost ahead of her first match at Wimbledon after the withdrawal of Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021 but is now ranked outside of the top 100, had been due to face world number 22 Alexandrova on Centre Court on Monday.

However, Alexandrova has withdrawn due to illness, meaning Raducanu will face lucky loser Renata Zarazua instead.

Mexico's Zarazua lost to Mccartney Kessler in qualifying last week, but now has another shot.

But Raducanu will be the big favourite as she aims to build on a solid grass-court swing.

The 21-year-old reached the semi-finals at the Nottingham Open, going down to eventual champion Katie Boulter, before claiming her first top-10 win when she beat Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne.

Raducanu will face Zarazua in the second match of the day on the All England Club's main court, after reigning men's champion Carlos Alcaraz takes on Mark Lajal.

Should Raducanu win, she will face either Elise Mertens or Nao Hibino in round two.

Andy Murray says he wants "a bit of closure" at Wimbledon as he continues a fight to be fit in time for his opening match.

The Brit is due to retire later this year but has previously said either Wimbledon or the Olympics would be a fitting stage to end his career.

However, Murray was forced to retire injured during the Queen's Club Championships in the second round due to a back injury earlier this month, for which he later underwent surgery.

Murray's Wimbledon campaign is due to start on Tuesday against Tomas Machac, but he is still yet to decide whether he will actually be competing in the men's singles event at the All England Club.

"I don't think there's one thing that I'm hoping for. When it comes to the end, I don't know, maybe a bit of closure," the two-time Wimbledon winner, Murray, said.

"I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there, hopefully on Centre Court, and feel that buzz.

"Last year, I wasn't planning on it being my last year on the tour. I wanted to come back and play again, whereas this year I have no plans to do that."

Murray is also due to play in the doubles alongside older brother Jamie, though his chances of competing in both are slim.

He managed to get on the Wimbledon practice courts for the first time on Saturday and, after more training on Sunday, Murray admitted he would wait until the last possible moment to decide on his participation.

"It went pretty well," Murray said after training on Sunday, "but I still don’t have 100% feeling and sensation in my leg.

"It's getting better every single day. I want to give it every single chance that I can to get there.

"I'm going to play another set again [on Monday]. I'm doing some physical testing in the morning to see how far off I am from a physical perspective. Then I will probably make a decision after that."

Carlos Alcaraz will be the Centre Court star at Wimbledon when the Spaniard opens his title defence on Monday.

Alcaraz will be hoping to add to this year's French Open glory when he opens his All England Club campaign against world number 269 Mark Lajal.

The 21-year-old will play in the Centre Court opener as the grass-court major starts, with Alcaraz aiming to become the youngest player in the Open Era to win at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in a calendar year.

World number one Jannik Sinner meets Yannick Hanfmann in his first-round clash on the same day.

Sinner won his maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, and heads to SW19 having won a further three Tour-level titles this year.

Daniil Medvedev reached the semi-final last year for his personal-best performance at Wimbledon before losing to Alcaraz, and the fifth seed faces American Aleksandar Kovacevic in his opener.

As for the women's draw, Emma Raducanu will follow Alcaraz onto Centre Court as one of the home favourites at Wimbledon.

Raducanu reached the last four at the Nottingham Open before claiming her first top-10 victory against Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne, with Ekaterina Alexandrova awaiting in the first round for the Briton.

Aryna Sabalenka has won the opening round in her last 15 grand slam appearances and the third seed will be seeking to extend that impressive record when she clashes with world number 107 Emina Bektas.

Coco Gauff will be another to keep an eye on when she wraps up Monday's Centre Court action with an all-American showdown against Caroline Dolehide.

Reigning US Open champion Gauff will be the youngest player to feature in the women's singles at Wimbledon seeded in the top two since Maria Sharapova in 2007.

Novak Djokovic was in a celebratory mood after passing his first Wimbledon test "pain-free" following a warm-up encounter with Daniil Medvedev.

The Serbian star withdrew midway through the French Open just three weeks ago after damaging the medial meniscus in his right knee.

Djokovic subsequently underwent knee surgery for the troublesome issue, though his recovery to compete at the grass-court major remained in doubt.

Yet the 37-year-old has once again defied the odds to feature at the All England Club.

"I can tell you I enjoyed myself really, really much," Djokovic said after playing against Medvedev in Friday's practice match.

"I can tell you that pain-free tennis is the best tennis. I was pain-free and I'm really glad. It was a great test obviously against one of the best players in the world.

"I've played a couple of practice sets but I really wanted to test myself. The test was very successful so I'm obviously really glad. It's been an intense three weeks after surgery, spending a lot of hours rehabbing.

"I kind of always wanted to give myself a chance to be in London. I think my surgeon is here. He's the MVP for sure in the last three weeks. I'm trying to take it day by day and see how far it goes."

The seven-time Wimbledon champion will face debutant Vit Kopriva in the first round of the upcoming major.

Djokovic will hope to go one better in the 2024 edition after losing in the showpiece to Carlos Alcaraz last year, his fifth straight Wimbledon tournament when making the final.

Centre Court was treated to a five-match thriller in that showdown with Alcaraz, and Medvedev suggested that may be the struggle for Djokovic with his knee issue.

"He seems to be fine," said world number five Medvedev. "You never know what he feels inside of him.

"It's a five-set match on grass [at Wimbledon], which is never easy for the knee, so I don't know how it's going to go during the matches.

"But he seemed to be moving well, even if I got him off guard a little bit."

Carlos Alcaraz is not wanting to dwell on his French Open triumph as the Spaniard prepares for Wimbledon by featuring at the Queen's Club Championships this week.

The 21-year-old secured his third major title this month after overcoming Alexander Zverev in a five-set final thriller at Roland-Garros.

Alcaraz is the youngest player in the Open Era to win the singles title at three different grand slams, with the Australian Open the only one missing from the set.

The world number two has one thing on his mind, however, as Alcaraz turns his focus to the grass-court challenge awaiting at Queen's, and subsequently the next major Wimbledon.

"We have to be focused on the tournament that we are playing right now," Alcaraz said. "Roland-Garros was a fantastic two weeks for me, a dream come true lifting the trophy.

"But right now my mind has to be here on the grass to be ready. As soon as I can to play good tennis and to get ready for Wimbledon.

"Right now my focus is on the grass and then after that, my mind will be on clay again to be at my best for the Olympics."

Just a year ago, Alcaraz headed to Queen's with only four ATP wins on grass.

A year later, the big-hitting youngster is getting ready to defend his title in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament before attempting to go back-to-back at the next major.

"I have more matches in my bank on grass and now with the great run I had last year at Queen's and Wimbledon, I know a little bit on how to play and understand the game a little bit on grass," he added.

"I am more mature playing on this surface. The first practice I have done here, my movement wasn't as good as last year but it is a slow process, so I have to be really focused in every practice and every match."

Alcaraz took the fewest main draw appearances of any player in the Open Era to win titles on grass, clay and hard courts.

He celebrated that French Open glory with a tattoo of Paris' Eiffel Tower on his left ankle, before jetting off for further toasts to his success.

Asked on his plans after Paris, Alcaraz said: "I had a few days off. I went to Ibiza with a group of friends. I had fun. It was a great time celebrating Roland Garros and I just had fun.

"For me as a player, I need this kind of thing. Every player is different but for me to reach my best tennis I have to separate the professional part from the personal part.

"I have some days off to forget a little bit that I am a professional player. Being with my friends and family means I can rest a little bit."

Step aside Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, tennis has a new world number one on the block in Jannik Sinner.

The 22-year-old, born in San Candido, ended a 51-year wait for Italy to boast the ATP's best player in the world rankings after moving to top spot this month.

Sinner overtook Djokovic at the summit of the men's game after his French Open performance, reaching the Roland-Garros final before falling in a five-set thriller to the battling Alcaraz.

Having already secured his first major at the Australian Open earlier this year, Sinner's remarkable rise continued in Paris – but how has the Italian managed to do so?

Here, we unpack the best of the Opta data to delve into Sinner's surge to world number one.

Major champion in Australia

Sinner was crowned a grand slam champion for the first time in his career back in January, defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final after overcoming a two-set deficit in Melbourne.

Sweeping aside Djokovic in the last four and Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, his route to glory was far from straightforward, too.

Aged 22 years and 165 days at the time of his Melbourne Park triumph, Sinner became the youngest-ever player to achieve successive ATP top-five wins in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a major, surpassing Michael Stich – 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon in 1991.

That Medvedev victory, at the time, also marked Sinner's fourth top-five scalp of 2024.

Since 1973, Sinner is the only fourth player aged under 23 to claim four such wins in the opening three months of a season, after Bjorn Borg (1978-79), Miloslav Mecir (1987) and Andy Murray (2007 and 2009).

Special 2023 sets tone for this year's success

Sinner enjoyed a remarkable campaign last year, winning his first Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open and finishing the season by reaching the showpiece of the ATP Finals.

He finished with a win-loss record of 64-15 in 2023, breaking the Open Era record previously held by Corrado Barazzutti (55, 1978) for most ATP match wins by an Italian in a calendar year.

En route to the Indian Wells semi-final defeat to Alcaraz, Sinner also claimed a 19th consecutive ATP match win after overcoming Jiri Lehecka, breaking Adriano Panatta's record for the longest winning streak at ATP level of any Italian in the Open Era.

It is hard to argue with his position at the top, too.

Sinner became only the fifth player before turning 23 to defeat the men's world number three times in a calendar year, having overcome Alcaraz and Djokovic (twice) in a remarkable 2023 season.

The Italian also helped his country lift the Davis Cup, though major individual honours were always around the corner for the excellent right-hander.

The best in the world

Australian Open successes and a fine 2023 campaign brought Sinner to his crowning moment in June as he became the first Italian to reach world number one since the ATP rankings started in 1973.

Sinner is one of four players in the past two decades to hold the ATP's number-one ranking before the age of 23, along with Roger Federer, Nadal and Alcaraz.

Since 2000, Sinner is also just the third male player taller than 188 centimetres to reach the summit of tennis before turning 23, along with Andy Roddick and Marat Safin.

Coco Gauff warned tennis must do more to protect player welfare after Novak Djokovic's remarkable late finish at the French Open on Saturday.

Djokovic edged a five-set thriller with Lorenzo Musetti, battling into the early hours of Sunday in Paris at Roland-Garros.

The third-round marathon finished at 3:08 a.m. local time in the French capital, shattering the tournament's previous latest finish of 1:25 a.m.

After overcoming Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the quarter-finals, Gauff lamented the late start times and the problems it could cause for both men and women's players.

"I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really at 3 a.m. [you're] probably not going to bed until 5 a.m. at the earliest, maybe 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.," said 2023 US Open women's champion Gauff.

"I definitely think it's not healthy.

"For the health and safety of the players, it would be in the sport's best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time."

The ATP and WTA tours brought a new ruling in January that matches cannot start after 11 pm local time.

That legislation does not apply to the four majors, though, and hits harder for the men playing best-of-five encounters.

World number one Iga Swiatek, who overcame Anastasi Potapova on Sunday, echoed Gauff's sentiment.

"It's not easy to play and it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match," said Swiatek.

"[Change] is not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us."

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his third successive French Open quarter-final, after a commanding straight-sets victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard, who has dropped just a single set across his four matches so far, wrapped up a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 success in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Auger-Aliassime, appearing in round four for the second time in three years at Roland-Garros, was affected by a groin issue during the second set, but the 21st seed was no match for an inspired Alcaraz.

After the pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set, the third seed broke in game eight on the way to drawing first blood.

Alcaraz then stole the advantage in the second set when he broke to 15 in game five, and followed suit in the ninth to double his lead.

The reigning Wimbledon champion was going from strength to strength, and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, before wrapping up another dominant win that sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Data Debrief: Three in a row for Carlitos

Aged 21 years and 28 days old, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the French Open quarter-finals in three consecutive years since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008).

The Spaniard has now won each of the last 36 matches he has played at grand slams against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20.

Coca Gauff showed no signs of slowing down after easing into the French Open quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive year with a straight-sets victory over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Iga Swiatek blitzed past Anastasia Potapova in just over 40 minutes earlier on Sunday, and a wind-swept Court Philippe-Chatrier watched a similar demolition shortly after.

Gauff dropped just five points on service in a dominant first set, brushing the world number 51 to one side in a routine 25-minute opener.

Italy's Cocciaretto responded by holding her serve in the second set but had no match for the athletic Gauff, who secured another break early on to go 2-1 up.

The world number three resumed her usual domination from there on, with Cocciaretto struggling to thwart Gauff's resounding power and eventually falling to a 6-1 6-2 defeat in just over an hour.

Gauff, the US Open champion in 2023, is still yet to lose a set in Paris this year as she prepares for a last-eight meeting with Clara Tauson or Ons Jabuer.

Data Debrief: In-form Gauff on song

Cocciaretto had defeated 2023 French Open semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia and big-hitting 17th-seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach this stage, with the 23-year-old impressing in the French capital.

Yet Gauff, three years younger than the Italian, could not be stopped on Philliper-Chatrier. She now has 19 wins at Roland-Garros, two more than Chris Evert managed before turning 21.