Full order of play for Monday, what time it starts and how to watch in UK

WIMBLEDON — Novak Djokovic may now lead the way for men’s grand slam titles but the 36-year-old’s work is far from done as he starts his Wimbledon defence on Monday.

Grand slam No 23 was won at the French Open last month, taking the Serbian beyond a record he shared with Rafael Nadal.

And amid a fresh wave of young hopefuls out to dethrone him, namely top seed and recent Queen’s winner Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic remains the man to beat and will be spurred on by the fact he could match Margaret Court’s outright singles record of 24 slams in a fortnight’s time.

“I don’t feel more relaxed, to be honest. I still feel hungry for success, for more grand slams, more achievements in tennis,” Djokovic said.

“As long as there’s that drive, I know that I’m able to compete at the highest level. If that goes down, then I guess I’ll have to face probably different circumstances and have a different approach.

“So far there’s still the drive. A few days after Roland Garros, I was already thinking about preparation for grass and what needs to be done.

“Part of me is very, very proud and very thrilled to be able to be in this position and have 23 slams. I want to try to use every grand slam opportunity I have at this stage where I’m feeling good in my body, feeling motivated and playing very good tennis, to try to get more.”

Ones to watch

Djokovic is the favourite with the bookmakers and he is first up on Centre Court, where he is expected to make light work of Pedro Cachin as he starts his pursuit for an eighth Wimbledon title.

Iga Swiatek is over on No 1 Court, and is favourite for the women’s singles by proxy of her status as top seed and recent French Open winner. On grass it is a different matter, though, and she is yet to progress beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon – although she should beat Lin Zhu with little trouble here.

Arguably the pick of the Monday matches sees 43-year-old Venus Williams take to Centre in the second match, with the five-time champion facing Elina Svitolina, the 2019 Wimbledon semi-finalist who is back on tour after having her first child in October.

Upsetwatch

British wildcard Katie Swan will hope home advantage counts for something against No 14 seed Belinda Bencic on No 2 Court. Swan, 24, is playing her sixth Wimbledon and has reached the second round once, in 2018, but she could do so again with Bencic struggling for fitness of late, having not played since the French Open after pulling out of Madrid and Rome.

Women’s No 7 seed Coco Gauff would have perhaps preferred another opponent to compatriot Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion. Gauff has the tools to go far here, and though Kenin would have to go some to spring an upset, it is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Brits in action

There’s a double helping of Brits for those with No 2 Court tickets on Monday, and after Swan is third out it will then be British men’s No 2 Dan Evans, who is seeded No 27 for this tournament and is hoping to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career. A first-round casualty last time out, he will aim to overcome world No 76 Quentin Halys this time around.

Elsewhere, the first Brit in singles action will be Harriet Dart, who opens play on Court 12 against 20-year-old Diane Parry of France, who like Dart reached the third round last year.

Over on No 3 Court, Jodie Burrage takes on American Catherine McNally. Burrage made the Nottingham Open final last month, and the world No 128 will have high hopes of upsetting the world No 63.

The third GB versus France match-up on Monday sees Liam Broady face Constant Lestienne on Court 15. Wildcard Broady enjoyed a run to the third round last year, and has the experience to beat Wimbledon debutant Lestienne, the 31-year-old who only broke into the top 100 for the first time last year.

Wildcard Jan Choinski, ranked 167 in the world, is third out on Court 17 when taking on Dusan Lajovic.

How to watch Wimbledon 2023

As is tradition, the BBC will show every match played at Wimbledon over the course of the next fortnight.

The tournament runs from Monday 3 July to Sunday 16 July and play will start at 11am most days, with coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Multi-court coverage is also available to stream via BBC iPlayer, the red button, the BBC Sport website and app.

As for the highlights they can be found every evening on BBC Two and all of the above platforms from 8.30pm onwards.

Wimbledon order of play, day 1

(All courts start at 11am BST unless stated)

Centre Court – 1.30pm

• Pedro Cachin (Arg) vs (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser)
• Venus Williams (USA) vs Elina Svitolina (Ukr)
• (8) Jannik Sinner (Ita) vs Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Arg)

No 1 Court – 1pm

• (1) Iga Swiatek (Pol) vs Lin Zhu (Chn)
• Laurent Lokoli (Fra) vs (4) Casper Ruud (Nor)
• Sofia Kenin (USA) vs (7) Coco Gauff (USA)

No 2 Court

• (4) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs Lauren Davis (USA)
• David Goffin (Bel) vs LUCKY LOSER
• Katie Swan (Gbr) vs (14) Belinda Bencic (Swi)
• Quentin Halys (Fra) vs (27) Daniel Evans (Gbr)

No 3 Court

• (7) Andrey Rublev (Rus) vs Max Purcell (Aus)
• Katie Volynets (USA) vs (5) Caroline Garcia (Fra)
• Jodie Burrage (Gbr) vs Catherine McNally (USA)
• Yannick Hanfmann (Ger) vs (9) Taylor Fritz (USA)

Court 4

• Nadia Podoroska (Arg) vs Tereza Martincova (Cze)
• Corentin Moutet (Fra) vs Richard Gasquet (Fra)
• Rebeka Masarova (Spa) vs (31) Mayar Sherif (Egy)
• Lloyd Harris (Rsa) vs Gregoire Barrere (Fra)

Court 5

• Barbora Strycova (Cze) vs Maryna Zanevska (Bel)
• Maximilian Marterer (Ger) vs Borna Gojo (Cro)
• Mikael Ymer (Swe) vs Alex Molcan (Svk)
• (32) Marie Bouzkova (Cze) vs Simona Waltert (Swi)

Court 6

• Sebastian Baez (Arg) vs Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (Chi)
• Martina Trevisan (Ita) vs Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spa)
• (24) Qinwen Zheng (Chn) vs Katerina Siniakova (Cze)
• (29) Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Arg) vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles (Spa)

Court 7

• Luca Van Assche (Fra) vs Aslan Karatsev (Rus)
• Marketa Vondrousova (Cze) vs Peyton Stearns (USA)
• Miomir Kecmanovic (Ser) vs Diego Schwartzman (Arg)
• Camila Osorio (Col) vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Ita)

Court 8

• Alycia Parks (USA) vs Anna-Lena Friedsam (Ger)
• Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr) vs Claire Liu (USA)
• Dominik Koepfer (Ger) vs Oscar Otte (Ger)
• Benjamin Bonzi (Fra) vs Harold Mayot (Fra)

Court 9

• Jordan Thompson (Aus) vs Brandon Nakashima (USA)
• Storm Hunter (Aus) vs Xin Yu Wang (Chn)
• Aleksandar Vukic (Aus) vs Daniel Altmaier (Ger)

Court 10

• Cristina Bucsa (Spa) vs Kamilla Rakhimova (Rus)
• Jeffrey Wolf (USA) vs Enzo Couacaud (Fra)
• Roman Safiullin (Rus) vs (20) Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa)

Court 12

• Diane Parry (Fra) vs Harriet Dart (Gbr)
• Michael Mmoh (USA) vs (11) Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can)
• (26) Denis Shapovalov (Can) vs Radu Albot (Mol)
• Shuai Zhang (Chn) vs (20) Donna Vekic (Cro)

Court 14

• (14) Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) vs Juan Pablo Varillas (Per)
• Kateryna Baindl (Ukr) vs Leylah Fernandez (Can)
• (28) Elise Mertens (Bel) vs Viktoria Hruncakova (Slo)
• (13) Borna Coric (Cro) vs Guido Pella (Arg)

Court 15

• Yue Yuan (Chn) vs (19) Victoria Azarenka (Blr)
• Liam Broady (Gbr) vs Constant Lestienne (Fra)
• Alexander Bublik (Kaz) vs MacKenzie McDonald (USA)
• Anett Kontaveit (Est) vs Lucrezia Stefanini (Ita)

Court 16

• Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) vs (30) Petra Martic (Cro)
• John Isner (USA) vs Jaume Munar (Spa)
• (24) Yoshihito Nishioka (Jpn) vs Daniel Elahi Galan (Col)
• Sloane Stephens (USA) vs Rebecca Peterson (Swe)

Court 17

• Ana Bogdan (Rom) vs (15) Ludmilla Samsonova (Rus)
• (23) Magda Linette (Pol) vs Jil Teichmann (Swi)
• Jan Choinski (Gbr) vs Dusan Lajovic (Ser)
• Danielle Collins (USA) vs Julia Grabher (Aut)

Court 18

• (12) Veronika Kudermetova (Rus) vs Kaia Kanepi (Est)
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spa) vs (17) Hubert Hurkacz (Pol)
• (11) Daria Kasatkina (Rus) vs Caroline Dolehide (USA)
• Emil Ruusuvuori (Fin) vs Stan Wawrinka (Swi)