Wimbledon Day 1 Women’s Recap: Three Seeded Players Exit

An action-packed opening day of women’s matches occurred at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, and last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini all featured. 2022 and 2023 finalist Ons Jabeur was among those who exited after retiring with an injury against Viktoriya Tomova. Some other notable results occurred, including three seeded women exiting. This article overviews the best of the action.

Wimbledon Day 1 Women’s Recap

Who Looked Good

Aryna Sabalenka made a solid start to her bid for a first Wimbledon title. She defeated the qualifier Carson Branstine 6-1 7-5 on Court 1. Branstine dominated many of the rallies in the second set, and Sabalenka relied on good serving to help her win it. The Belarusian did not get broken and only faced one break point throughout the match.

Jasmine Paolini survived a scare in her opening match. 2018 US Open semifinalist Anastasija Sevastova threatened to cause an upset after winning the opening set 6-2 against the out-of-sorts Italian. The two-time Grand Slam finalist did well to retain her composure and eventually found some of her best tennis to triumph 2-6 6-3 6-2 and avoid a significant upset.

Katie Boulter managed an outstanding win against the No. 9 seed Paula Badosa on Centre Court. The Briton’s game suits grass, and she showed her credentials on the surface. Boulter triumphed 6-2 3-6 6-4 after one of the most entertaining matches of Day 1. Badosa, whose preparation for Wimbledon was disrupted by an injury setback at the Berlin Open, did well to make the match competitive after a poor first set, but fell just short.

2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu was another home favorite who performed competently. 17-year-old wild card Mingge Xu put up a good fight, and can be proud of making the contest somewhat competitive. Raducanu showed her class when it counted, though, and prevailed 6-3 6-3 without facing too many stressful moments.

2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova played very well in her first match. She got a tricky draw against this year’s Nottingham Open winner and No. 32 seed McCartney Kessler, but showed her class and trademark variety to win 6-1 7-6 and avoid a second consecutive opening round loss at SW19.

Who Looked Bad

Yulia Putintseva suffered what might have been the worst moment of her professional career on Day 1 at Wimbledon. Amanda Anisimova annihilated her 6-0 6-0 on Court 15. Putintseva won just 20 points in the match, and only six on return. It was a stunning contrast to last year’s tournament, when the Kazakhstani beat Iga Swiatek in the third round after an inspired performance.

2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko was the other seeded player to lose. The Latvian fell 5-7 6-2 2-6 against Sonay Kartal, who delighted her home fans. Ostapenko struggled in lengthy rallies, and did not attempt to run for balls that looked makeable. Either the issue that caused her to retire at last week’s Eastbourne Open remained a problem, or she struggled in the very hot conditions in London.

Kimberly Birrell could have played better against Donna Vekic. Facing last year’s semifinalist was a tough draw, but she never got going in a 0-6 4-6 defeat. Vekic did not need to reach anywhere near her best tennis to progress to the next round without facing any significant issues.

Match of the Day

There were several outstanding Wimbledon matches on Day 1. Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Varvara Gracheva in a deciding set tiebreak, and Boulter’s win against Badosa contained much excellent shot-making. Osaka’s 6-4 7-6 victory against Talia Gibson was also entertaining despite only being two sets.

However, those matches were eclipsed by Madison Keys’ battle with Elena-Gabriela Ruse. After a topsy-turvy opening set, Ruse took it 7-4 on a tiebreak. The Romanian was two games away from victory in the second, and repeatedly caused the 2025 Australian Open champion issues with her consistency. But Keys found a way to fight through and take it 7-5 to force a decider.