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6 Matches To Watch On Day 1.

Gentlemen's singles

Marcus Willis vs Ricardas Berankis

Winning seven consecutive matches at Wimbledon usually brings the reward of the title, an invitation to the Champions' Dinner and a place in history. For Willis, the prize would be a place in the second round, as Britain's world No.775 has already had to win six matches just to make it to the main draw (that's three in the pre-qualifying tournament and three in the qualifying event). Still, it wouldn't be any old second-round match should Willis beat Berankis, as his opponent would probably be Roger Federer and the match would almost certainly be on Centre Court. Still, Berankis has some past experience at causing unhappiness for British tennis players – he was part of the Lithuanian Davis Cup team that defeated one of the competition's founding nations at a tie in Vilnius in 2010.


Gael Monfils vs Jeremy Chardy
There's really no need to pine for the days when Boris Becker would dive across a grass court. If that's your thing - watching tennis players get airborne - then you need to have your eyes on Monfils in this all-French encounter with Chardy. If anyone on Monday is going to be soaring across the All England Club, it will be Monfils, who missed his home Grand Slam at Roland Garros because of a viral infection. It's Andy Murray's view that Monfils is the greatest athlete in tennis, and the Frenchman is certainly the bravest with a willingness to fling himself at the ball. Yes, the grass is softer than a hard court, but if you don't land correctly, a dive will hurt. It will hurt a lot.


Kei Nishikori vs Sam Groth
If Groth is "dirty with the draw gods" after being paired in the opening round with Nishikori, a former Grand Slam finalist, you can imagine that the unease over the match-up is mutual. Certainly, the Japanese, whose preparation for The Championships were complicated by a rib injury, wouldn't have been performing cartwheels on Murray Mound after learning of his encounter with the Australian. And that's understandable. After all, Groth's serve has the same top speed as a sports car: 163mph. Plus, his aggressive game is well-suited to these lawns, as he showed last summer by reaching the third round, where he took a set off Roger Federer. This is the third major in succession this season that Groth has run into one of the sport's Hollywood names, having lost to Andy Murray in the second round of the Australian Open and Rafael Nadal in the opening round at Roland Garros. Still, as Groth says, if he's going to cause an upset at a Slam, it's most likely to happen here.


Ladies' singles

Angelique Kerber vs Laura Robson
For the first time, Kerber finds herself playing Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion after her triumph at this year's Australian Open (though she hasn't won a match at a major since, after losing in the opening round at Roland Garros). As a former semi-finalist here, the German can play on grass. There is bound to be plenty of interest from Londoners – as well as from Wimbledon's global audience – in this match. A former junior champion here, Robson is still making her way back from a wrist injury. This is a repeat of a first-round match at the 2011 Championships, which Robson won.


Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs Lucie Safarova
Nothing will ever be as awkward for a singles player as facing a sibling in a Grand Slam final, as the Williams sisters did on several occasions. But perhaps the next hardest task is having to play against your regular doubles partner. That's the fate for this American-Czech duo, who won a couple of Grand Slam titles last season with triumphs at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. This will be their first meeting since those victories. Of the two, Safarova has been the most successful singles player - she was the runner-up to Serena Williams at last year's French Open.


Madison Keys vs Laura Siegemund
So Keys is now among the one per-centers of the women's game, after breaking into the top 10 in the rankings for the first time this month. A strong run this summer would solidify her position among the elite, especially as she has a lot of points to defend after making last year's quarter-finals. English grass courts agree with Keys, who won a warm-up tournament in Birmingham, and who should have too much firepower for her German opponent.

Will Novak Djokovic win Wimbledon 2016?

Player to win Wimbledon? (Djokovic must start)

Will Serena Williams win Wimbledon 2016?

Player To Win Wimbledon 2016? (Serena must start)

[h=3]Matches and storylines to watch on Day 1:[/h] Sticking with Wimbledon tradition, the defending champion will open play on Centre Court on Monday, as Novak Djokovic returns to action for the first time since winning the French Open to face British wildcard James Ward. The No. 1 will be looking to win his third consecutive Grand Slam title—and third consecutive Wimbledon title—at the All England Club. Djokovic's chase at history also marks the first time since Jim Courier in 1992 that a men's player has come to Wimbledon after winning titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. The Serb should have no trouble with No. 177th-ranked Ward; the two have never met in their careers.

2016 French Open champion and 2015 Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza will also kick off her campaign on Centre Court on Monday. She'll face Camila Giorgi. The Italian is always dangerous and leads their head-to-head 2–1, but Muguruza won their most recent meeting at the 2015 French Open and the pair has never played each other on grass. After missing the French Open due to injury, Roger Federer will return to Grand Slam action against Argentina’s Guido Pella to round out the matches on Centre Court on Day 1. The No. 3-seed is coming off a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 loss to Alexander Zverev in the Halle semifinals.

17 Americans in marquee match-ups on Day 1:

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams leads the pack of Americans on Day 1, facing Donna Vekic in the opening round on Monday (No. 1 Court, 8 a.m. ET). New World No. 9 Madison Keys has a tough test against Laura Siegemund, who has won their only career match-up in April on clay in Charleston.

French Open darling Shelby Rogers will face Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, a powerful server and 2013 Wimbledon finalist (Court 18, 6:30 a.m. ET). Lisicki lost in the third round to Timea Bacsinszky last year; Rogers is looking to get her first career win at Wimbledon (second match, No. 2 Court).

Most are used to seeing Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands on the same side of the net for doubles, but the pair will face off in the opening round of singles on Monday. Though the American leads their head-to-head 2-1, the two haven’t faced each other in a single match since 2010.

After making his Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open last, 22-year-old Bjorn Fratangelo is into his first main draw at Wimbledon after beating countryman Austin Krajicek in qualifying. He’ll face Grigor Dimitrov on Monday (second match, Court 16). Another young American, 20-year-old Vicky Duval, will make her return to Wimbledon for the first time since 2014 against Daria Kasatkina (Court 4, 6:30 a.m.). After battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer-free Duval returned at the 2016 Australian Open, but underwent knee surgery shortly after in February. She just started playing again in June, on grass in Nottingham and Birmingham.

Other Americans in action include:

No. 9 seed Marin Cilic vs. Brian Baker (Court 12
Jack Sock vs. Ernests Gulbis (third match, Court 8)
Misaki Doi vs. Louisa Chirico (fourth match, Court 8)
Nicole Gibbs vs. Kirsten Flipkens (second match, Court 9)
Samantha Crawford vs. Paula Kania (second match, Court 11)
Irina Falconi vs. Marina Erakovic (fourth match, Court 14)
Damir Dzumhur vs. Denis Kudla (Court 14,
Lukas Rosol vs. Sam Querrey (Court 5,
Kurumi Nara vs. Madison Brengle (Court 17
Malek Jaziri vs. Steve Johnson (fourth match, Court 6);
Teliana Pereira vs. Varvara Lepchenko (third match, Court 7)

2016 Australian Open champ returns to Grand Slam stage:

After an early, first-round exit Roland Garros at the hands of Kiki Bertens, Germany’s Angelique Kerber will try to find her Melbourne form and make another deep Grand Slam run, this time at the All England Club. She’ll have to get through hometown favorite Laura Robson, as the Brit looks to find the form that saw her make a run to the third round in 2013. The 22-year-old has battled injuries since then, but she will certainly have the crowd behind her (third match, No. 1 Court). No. 4-seed Kerber leads their head-to-head 2-1, but Robson defeated Kerber in the first round at Wimbledon in 2011.

Quality matches on No. 2 Court:

Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund will take on France’s Adrian Mannarino to start the day on the No. 2 Court, followed by Siegemund-Keys. No. 6-seed Milos Raonic, a favorite to take the 2016 Wimbledon title, will put his new coaching partnership to the test against Pablo Carreno Busta and No. 5-seed Simona Halep will close out the day against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Venus will be making her 71st major appearance, equalling Amy Frazier's Open Era record.

It's officially Day 1 of The Championships 2016.

The Joker looks to Defend.

Behind the poker face fielding questions on the eve of her 17th Wimbledon campaign is a woman grappling with her position on the brink of history. She appears unperturbed. But naturally there is an element of nerves at play. Her results in her past three majors would suggest as much.

For the fourth straight major, the American arrives as the overwhelming favourite to equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
She suffered a monumental meltdown in last year’s US Open semi-finals when, two matches shy of completing a first calendar Grand Slam, she fell to Roberta Vinci. Now, for the first time in her career, she arrives at SW19 having lost back-to-back Grand Slam finals.

In Melbourne she succumbed to Angelique Kerber’s relentless defence and in Paris she was simply hit off the court by Garbiñe Muguruza. It doesn’t happen often.
If the weight of history is having some bearing on her results Williams is not about to admit it. “Honestly, I don't feel any pressure. I feel good and confident,” she said.
“This year I don't feel as much tension as I usually do. Well, there's some years I haven't felt any tension either. I'm feeling pretty good. I don't feel any pressure or stress.”

While choosing not to dwell on any of her losses, Williams was not entirely dismissive of her two Grand Slam finals defeats this season. Even at 34, there are lessons to take from on-court disappointments.

“I think it's important to learn from every loss that you have,” she said. “I think I usually do throughout my whole career. I have been able to learn a lot, to come off, to come back a much better player.”

Williams faces Macedonia-born Swiss Amra Sadikovic, a 27-year-old who came out of retirement last year to qualify for her first Grand Slam main draw at this year’s Championships.

Williams concedes she knows little about her unheralded opponent. Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou will take care of that.
“Honestly, it doesn't matter who I play,” Williams said. “I'm definitely ready to start playing at this point. I'm kind of over practising every day for two hours, then going to the gym for some time.”

"I’ve been practising really well" Things are looking up...lol

Andy`s ready for action.

Who`s calling me old?

An interesting 1R for Stan Wawrinka. He takes on 18-year-old Taylor Fritz, who has climbed to world No.63 this year.