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With a victory over Jelena Ostapenko, the 20th seed, Sonay Kartal was the first player to pass from the 14-strong British contingent to start the first day of Wimbledon action.

Kartal defeated the former French Open champion 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 to advance to the second round on a hot day at SW19.

Kartal, 23, has been playing for the All England Club for the most British women since 1992.

On a lively court three, she had to come from behind to win the opening set.

However, following a strong tournament at last year’s Wimbledon, where she advanced to the third round, a dominant deciding set ensured her progress to round two for the second time in her career.

After the win, which was her third over a top-20 player this year, she said, “That was by far one of the toughest matches I’ve played.”

“I would say that I struggle against the big players,” he said. This year, I’ve made a conscious effort to compete in bigger matches and put myself under the most pressure on the court.

I was certain that the outcome would eventually pay off, and that is what happened today.

In the last 18 months, Kartal has seen a remarkable rise in rankings.

She reached the third round of Wimbledon last year as a wildcard ranked 281 out of the world.

She cut a calm and mature figure on her return this year, which came in 230 places above that.

Ostapenko, 28, was comfortably defeated by Kartal in Eastbourne’s opening round last week, but the Briton maintained her composure as she fell 5-2 behind.

Kartal won the next five games with a forehand from Ostapenko, saving set points 5-4 before moving in the set from the set.

Ostapenko was shocked when Kartal sent a sharp forehand round the net post, but the former Wimbledon semi-finalist made it work and won the match comfortably.

Despite this, Ostapenko continued to grow increasingly irritable throughout the match, yelling profanity and berating herself while yelling at her coaches.

She asked the umpire to let the crowd be quiet before shouting at them, raising her arms in exasperation, and the crowd’s fans received glaring looks as well.

Jonny Evans, a former Northern Ireland defender, has retired from the game and will lead Manchester United’s loan and pathway division.

The 37-year-old also spent two spells with the Old Trafford giants, two of which included playing for West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City in the Premier League, and two loan spells at Sunderland.

Evans, who made 241 appearances for United, graduated from their academy and won three Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup, and two League Cups.

I’ll be forever grateful to the managers, coaches, staff, and of course, my team-mates, with whom I’ve had the honor of working for 20 years in the sport of football.

Manchester United claim that in his new role, he will work with director of football Jason Wilcox to promote player development and train young talent for the first team. He will also lead on loan moves for the club’s young players.

I am aware of the crucial role that loans can play in a player’s development because I have personally used them. Evans continued, “I’m excited to help further the development of the pathway to our first team and the legacy of young players flourishing at Manchester United,” he continued.

United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, described Jonny as the ideal role model for his young players.

Each of them will benefit greatly from his understanding of what it means for Manchester United as we continue to develop top talent capable of playing for our first team.

Evans left Old Trafford in 2015 after being replaced by Erik ten Hag as manager, but he made a comeback eight years later.

Evans was a key player for Leicester’s FA Cup winning campaign in 2021 before signing a one-year deal with the club in 2023 and winning the 2024 FA Cup before agreeing to extend his contract for a further season.

Between 2006 and 2024, he captained his nation 15 times and won 107 international caps.

His first appearance in Northern Ireland was as an 18-year-old in a memorable 3-2 victory over Spain in Belfast in September 2006, and his final appearance was in a 5-1 friendly defeat against Mallorca in June 2024.

He announced his retirement from professional football two months later.

The Euro 2016 squad that included Evans was a member of Michael O’Neill’s.

Oliver Tarvet, a British qualifier, defeated Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round, making his Wimbledon debut.

Tarvet, 21, is the first British man to achieve that position since 2017 and is ranked 733rd in the world after three rounds of qualifying.

With his victory, Carlos Alcaraz, the defending Wimbledon champion, will next face the world’s number two.

There are a lot of emotions, Tarvet said to BBC Sport, “just really overjoyed.” It is obvious that my efforts over the past few years have paid off.

It’s just a dream come true for me to compete in a tour-level event, and to qualify, win a first-round match, have a chance to play Carlos on Wednesday.

As crowds gathered around the edges for his match against fellow qualifier Riedi, who is ranked 506th in the world but was 117th as recently as August last year, Tarvet’s underdog story ensured there was plenty of interest in his match on court four.

In a sparse opening few games, Tarvet got the crucial break in the ninth before turning to his serve to take the first set.

As Tarvet battled to break Riedi early in the second, his Swiss opponent became more and more frustrated as he struggled to break the Briton’s serve and lost the second set.

After more than two hours of playing tennis at temperatures over 30C, Riedi sent a long shot with a serve-handling accuracy to give Tarvet the winning break in the third set.

The 21-year-old will experience some disappointment, though it appears he will be entitled to significantly less than the £99, 000 prize money that was given to him for reaching round two despite having a fairy tale run at the tournament.

The Englishman has improved his game through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) system while attending the University of San Diego.

Wimbledon 2025

Venue: All England Club, June 30 – 13 .

After winning his first Wimbledon match, British qualifier Oliver Tarvet said he would never underestimate the threat presented by his second-round encounter with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Leandro Riedi defeated Tarvet, 21, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, to claim a comfortable victory on the opening day of the tournament, which places him 733rd in the world.

Alcaraz, who is hoping to win Wimbledon for the third year in a row, will face a much tougher opponent.

The Spanish player avoided an upset by defeating Italian Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-7 (7-5) 7-5 2-6 6-1 in the sweltering heat, but he stayed on the court for almost five hours.

Tarvet described the challenge ahead of him as “I feel like nothing has changed.”

“I’ve arrived here without really having any expectations.” I have a strong feeling that I can defeat anyone. Alcaraz is not a case in this regard.

He has accomplished a lot in the tennis industry. He’s a difficult person to respect. I’ll just go out there and try to match it up.

“I try to play the ball, not the player,” I said at the end of the day.

As crowds gathered around the edges for his match against fellow qualifier Riedi, who is ranked 506th in the world but was 117th as recently as August last year, Tarvet’s underdog story ensured there was plenty of interest in his match on court four.

In a sparse opening few games, Tarvet got the crucial break in the ninth game before using his serve to break the first set.

As Tarvet battled to break Riedi early in the second, his opponent’s struggle to break through the Briton’s serve led to his loss of the second set, which he did as he broke Riedi.

After more than two hours of playing tennis at temperatures over 30C, Riedi sent a long shot with a serve serve down to give Tarvet the winning break in the third set.

The 21-year-old will experience some disappointment, though it appears he will be entitled to significantly less than the £99, 000 prize money that was given to him for reaching round two despite having a fairytale run at the tournament.

The Englishman has improved his game through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) system while attending the University of San Diego.

Players are limited in what amount of money they can withdraw from professional tournaments, according to NCAA rules, with Tarvet stating before the competition that they are only permitted to make $10,000 (£7, 290) in profit annually as well as any expenses incurred during the events.

Tarvet joked that filing a sizable expense claim is required by the rule.

“I’ve got to find £60, 000, £70, 000 of expenses, tennis is an expensive sport”, he said.