IRISH-AUSTRALIAN tennis player James McCabe suffered a defeat, while defending champion Barbora Krejcikova battled back from a set down to win her Wimbledon opener on Tuesday, as men’s top seed Jannik Sinner barely broke sweat in the searing London heat.
McCabe, who holds a dual Irish and Australian citizenship, was born in Iba, Philippines, to an Irish father and a Filipina mother.
The 21-year-old suffered a straight-sets defeat against Fábián Marozsán, losing 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 11.
The Hungarian had been the favourite to progress, as he sits 58th in the ATP rankings, 123 places above today’s opponent.
McCabe, whose father is originally from Walkinstown in Dublin, was making his first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon, having come through the qualifiers.
The youngster previously competed at the Australian Open earlier this year and last year, winning his first-round match against Spain’s Martin Landaluce in January, before coming unstuck against American Alex Michelsen.
Limerick’s Conor Niland was the last Irish player to make the main draw at Wimbledon in 2011.
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon on a day of significant first-round shocks on Tuesday, but defending champion Krejcikova kept her nerve to battle back from a set down.
US second seed Gauff came to the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month, but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukrainian world number 42 Dayana Yastremska.
Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen.
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Instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, 21-year-old Gauff endured her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.
The two-time Grand Slam champion paid the price for an unusually error-strewn display featuring nine double-faults, 29 unforced errors and just six winners.
Earlier, US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes.
Pegula was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng, who went down 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 against unheralded Katerina Siniakova.
Men’s third seed Alexander Zverev also bowed out, beaten in five sets by French world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech, giving a bleak assessment of his state of mind after the match.
The German, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019 after a marathon match that started on Monday evening.
Afterwards, he made surprisingly frank comments, saying he was considering therapy to talk through his mental health issues.
“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times,” he said. “I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open.”
- Krejcikova digs deep -
It was a different story for Krejcikova, who came to Wimbledon with just six matches under her belt this year and was in grave danger after being outplayed by Philippines star Alexandra Eala in the first set.
But the two-time Grand Slam champion regrouped, cut her error count drastically and lost just three more games as she completed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.
Krejcikova has endured a difficult time since defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final last year.
The 29-year-old was out of action this season until May after suffering a back injury and she pulled out of last week’s Eastbourne Open before the quarter-finals with a thigh problem.
“I was in a lot of pain in my back, and I didn’t really know how my career was going to go,” she said. “I’m super happy and super excited that I can be here and that I can play on such a great court.”
Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi on Court One with the minimum of fuss.
Unfazed by the scorching conditions, the three-time Grand Slam champion sealed a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win in just one hour and 48 minutes.
Novak Djokovic shrugged off the loss of a set to cruise through to the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday, launching his mission to win a record 25th Grand Slam.
The veteran Serb, a seven-time winner at the All England Club, won 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2 against French world number 41 Alexandre Muller.
He dominated the first set on Centre Court, breaking three times, but Muller levelled the match after taking the second set tie-break.
Sixth-seeded Djokovic resumed normal service in the third set, and a couple of breaks in the fourth set sealed the deal.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek swatted aside Russia’s Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, handed a wildcard to compete, lost 6-3, 6-1 in an emotional farewell appearance against US 10th seed Emma Navarro.
There were also wins for men’s fourth seed Jack Draper and fifth seed Taylor Fritz.
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Irish-Australian player suffers defeat on Wimbledon debut, Coco Gauff crashes out
Updated at 22.41
IRISH-AUSTRALIAN tennis player James McCabe suffered a defeat, while defending champion Barbora Krejcikova battled back from a set down to win her Wimbledon opener on Tuesday, as men’s top seed Jannik Sinner barely broke sweat in the searing London heat.
McCabe, who holds a dual Irish and Australian citizenship, was born in Iba, Philippines, to an Irish father and a Filipina mother.
The 21-year-old suffered a straight-sets defeat against Fábián Marozsán, losing 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 11.
The Hungarian had been the favourite to progress, as he sits 58th in the ATP rankings, 123 places above today’s opponent.
McCabe, whose father is originally from Walkinstown in Dublin, was making his first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon, having come through the qualifiers.
The youngster previously competed at the Australian Open earlier this year and last year, winning his first-round match against Spain’s Martin Landaluce in January, before coming unstuck against American Alex Michelsen.
Limerick’s Conor Niland was the last Irish player to make the main draw at Wimbledon in 2011.
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon on a day of significant first-round shocks on Tuesday, but defending champion Krejcikova kept her nerve to battle back from a set down.
US second seed Gauff came to the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month, but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukrainian world number 42 Dayana Yastremska.
Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen.
Instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, 21-year-old Gauff endured her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.
The two-time Grand Slam champion paid the price for an unusually error-strewn display featuring nine double-faults, 29 unforced errors and just six winners.
Earlier, US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes.
Pegula was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng, who went down 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 against unheralded Katerina Siniakova.
Men’s third seed Alexander Zverev also bowed out, beaten in five sets by French world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech, giving a bleak assessment of his state of mind after the match.
The German, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019 after a marathon match that started on Monday evening.
Afterwards, he made surprisingly frank comments, saying he was considering therapy to talk through his mental health issues.
“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times,” he said. “I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open.”
- Krejcikova digs deep -
It was a different story for Krejcikova, who came to Wimbledon with just six matches under her belt this year and was in grave danger after being outplayed by Philippines star Alexandra Eala in the first set.
But the two-time Grand Slam champion regrouped, cut her error count drastically and lost just three more games as she completed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.
Krejcikova has endured a difficult time since defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final last year.
The 29-year-old was out of action this season until May after suffering a back injury and she pulled out of last week’s Eastbourne Open before the quarter-finals with a thigh problem.
“I was in a lot of pain in my back, and I didn’t really know how my career was going to go,” she said. “I’m super happy and super excited that I can be here and that I can play on such a great court.”
Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi on Court One with the minimum of fuss.
Unfazed by the scorching conditions, the three-time Grand Slam champion sealed a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win in just one hour and 48 minutes.
Novak Djokovic shrugged off the loss of a set to cruise through to the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday, launching his mission to win a record 25th Grand Slam.
The veteran Serb, a seven-time winner at the All England Club, won 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2 against French world number 41 Alexandre Muller.
He dominated the first set on Centre Court, breaking three times, but Muller levelled the match after taking the second set tie-break.
Sixth-seeded Djokovic resumed normal service in the third set, and a couple of breaks in the fourth set sealed the deal.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek swatted aside Russia’s Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, handed a wildcard to compete, lost 6-3, 6-1 in an emotional farewell appearance against US 10th seed Emma Navarro.
There were also wins for men’s fourth seed Jack Draper and fifth seed Taylor Fritz.
– © AFP 2025
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
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