24 Hours Tennis Recap: Emma Raducanu Nearly Hit by Fan, Osaka’s Conflict With Sabalenka and More

Day 1 at 2025 Wimbledon couldn’t have gone off to a better start! We saw some intense battles, a few upsets, and a lot more drama through the day’s play. Talking about some tough fights, the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, was forced to play five sets against the 38-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini. What a match it was! Even Madison Keys had to work hard against Elena-Gabriela Ruse in her first match. Coming to the upsets, there were plenty on Day 1. We saw Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ons Jabeur withdrawing from their matches due to injuries. Other than that, Paula Badosa’s exit was also a big upset in this tournament. However, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu managed to seal victory in their first matches at the 2025 Wimbledon. Overall, it was an action-packed Day 1.

Talking about the home favorite, just before the start of this tournament, Emma Raducanu said, “Truthfully, I don’t expect much from myself this year…I’m just looking forward to going out there and feeling the surroundings and the atmosphere.” Raducanu did have a lot of fun in their match playing in front of her home crowd, but after the match, she also shared a scary incident with a broad smile on her face. What was it, though? We’ll see, but other than that, Naomi Osaka was also spotted stealing the headlines with an interesting admission after her first-round win. Let’s delve into these moments one by one!

Emma Raducanu was nearly hit by a flying champagne cork

Yes, this bizarre incident took place during her first-round match against her 17-year-old Mingge Xu. How did it happen? Well, fresh off a first-set victory against Xu, Emma Raducanu was then seated at her bench. During that time, she witnessed a cork from a champagne bottle soar over her head. Seeing the cork flying onto the court, Raducanu found the incident amusing, and then later on, she retrieved the cork that came inside the service box and offered it back to the crowd.

“I’m glad people were having fun today. I saw a champagne cork fly onto the court. I’m glad you guys are having a good time. Cheers to you,” she said in her on-court interview. 

Emma Raducanu‘s best record at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round in 2021 and 2024. What did she say about her winning start (6-3, 6-3) in this tournament? “I’m super pleased to have come through that match – it’s so difficult playing another Brit first round. When the draw came out, I can’t say that I was loving it. Mimi is a very dangerous player – she’s so young and got some amazing weapons at her disposal. I just want to thank everyone for the support on both sides – it was a really nice atmosphere.“

She even stated that she would give her coach, Mark Petchey, an “11 out of 10” after this win in the first round of Wimbledon. Next up for the 2021 US Open is the 2023 Wimbledon champion, Marketa Vondrousova. Who will win this battle of champions? Get all the action from the Championships live and uninterrupted on EssentiallySports. But in the meantime, let’s take a look at another incident featuring four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.

Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka aren’t on the same page when it comes to playing five sets at majors

Both Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka got off to a winning start at Wimbledon. The current world number one, defeated Canada’s Carson Branstine in the first round by 6-1,7-5, while the former world number one, Naomi Osaka, outclassed Australia’s Talia Gibson by 6-4,7-6(4) in her first match. Shortly after their match, they were put on the hot seats to share their comments on the debate that has been going on for some time now in the tennis world.

Shortly after her victory in the first match, Aryna Sabalenka was asked what she thinks about women playing three sets in comparison to the men who play best of five at Wimbledon. Commenting on this, she said, “I think probably physically I’m one of the strongest ones. Maybe it would benefit me. But I’m not ready to play 5 sets. I think it’s too much on the woman’s body. We are not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the number of injuries. So this isn’t something I would consider. I’ll leave this for the guys to handle.”

Despite the thriller that was the French Open men’s singles final, Sabalenka said that it was amazing to watch five hours of great tennis, while admitting that that staying on court for a grueling 5 sets is not something she’s keen to experience herself.

However, Naomi Osaka had a different take. In her post-match press conference, when the Japanese was asked a similar question, she said, “I think I would do pretty well if that’s what you’re asking. I know we would probably never get to that point. But I wouldn’t be against it if it did happen.” Does she think that’s important that the games are equal in that way?

Osaka replied, “Honestly, I feel like out of all the things to be equal, that might be like one of the most nit-picky things. I’ve also just grown up my whole life knowing that men play 5 sets and women play 3 sets. I think it’s a bit hard to change that mentality, for me, personally.” Although these are all hypothetical questions but seeing their difference in opinions is what makes this topic even more interesting.

Taylor Fritz was left fuming after a controversial decision at Wimbledon

To everyone’s surprise, the 21-year-old Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard started his first round match against America’s number one, Taylor Fritz, on a positive note. He quickly secured the first two sets before Fritz made a strong comeback in the next two. But this high-stakes first-round match was abruptly halted after the fourth set. Just when Fritz seemingly looked to get back into this match.

At around 10:15 pm (local time), the players met at the net with an official to decide whether to push forward, and following a few discussions, the match was halted. Taylor Fritz didn’t look too pleased with this decision. He held his hands wide in frustration at the decision. Boos rang across the stadium after hearing this decision. Wimbledon has a tradition of not finishing matches after 11 p.m. But why this early? Fritz claimed, “Then don’t ask me then…We have more time than our longest set.” But the decision went against his wishes to continue playing.

Reacting to this incident, renowned tennis journalist Jose Morgado tweeted, “What? Play suspended on court 1 before 5th set at 10.18pm, 40 minutes before curfew. There was a good chance they could finish this set in 40 minutes. Nonsense tbh. Fritz is furious. Crowd too. And rightly so.” 

The American tennis star was absolutely livid with the situation, and he looked at his box and said, “I couldn’t do anything. I tried.” Later on, he even shared the reason why the match didn’t go on. On Instagram, he wrote, “They would’ve let us play if my opponent agreed to, I said I want to, he didn’t.” So, Day 1 was full of dramas like these! Are you excited to get things started on Day 2 at this historic grass court event?