Exciting Kickoff at Wimbledon 2023

The Wimbledon tennis championships commenced on a brisk note with several notable matches. Maria Sakkari breezed past McCartney Kessler, while Grigor Dimitrov matched up against Dusan Lajovic. Ekaterina Alexandrova withdrew due to illness, handing a spot to Renata Zarazua. Key games featured players like Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff.

Highlights of the first day at the Wimbledon tennis championships on Monday (times GMT): 1116 SAKKARI BREEZES PAST KESSLER

Greek ninth seed Maria Sakkari served five aces as she brushed aside American qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3 6-1 to reach the second round. 1012 PLAY UNDER WAY

Play began under cloudy skies with the temperature hovering around 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit). Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov started his first-round match against Serbian Dusan Lajovic on Court Two.

0936 RADUCANU TO FACE ZARAZUA AFTER ALEXANDROVA WITHDRAWS Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 22nd seed who was scheduled to play Britain's Emma Raducanu in the first round on Monday, has withdrawn due to illness. She has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Renata Zarazua.

DAY 1: ORDER OF PLAY Order of play on the main showcourts on the first day of the Wimbledon championships on Monday (prefix number denotes seeding):

CENTRE COURT (1230 GMT) 3-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) v Mark Lajal (Estonia)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia) v Emma Raducanu (Britain) Caroline Dolehide (U.S.) v 2-Coco Gauff (U.S.)

COURT ONE (1200 GMT) Aleksandar Kovacevic (U.S.) v 5-Daniil Medvedev (Russia)

Emina Bektas (U.S.) v 3- Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Yannick Hanfmann (Germany)

COURT TWO (1000 GMT) 10-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) v Dusan Lajovic (Serbia)

Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) v Charles Broom (Britain) Naomi Osaka (Japan) v Diane Parry (France)

Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) v Sloane Stephens (U.S.) READ MORE:

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