Percy Pigs and marriage proposals: just a normal day at Wimbledon then.
The first day was, predictably, full of drama on and off the court as stars like Novak Djokovic, Emma Raducanu, Carlos Alcaraz and Andy Murray kicked off their campaigns.
There’s nothing quite like the first day at Wimbledon and it didn’t disappoint – not even the British weather could put a dampener on it as fans were treated to a marvellous day of world-class tennis.
Here, Express Sport pick out five standout things that you may have missed from Day One.
BECKER FAMILY SIT IN DJOKOVIC’S BOX
Novak Djokovic was watched on by Boris Becker’s children from his box as he survived a scare against Kwon Soon-woo to progress to the Wimbledon second round.
The Serbian, who revealed in May that he was left heartbroken by his former coach’s prison sentence, reached out to Becker’s son Noah and offered to help the family out with the German tennis legend serving a two-year sentence for fraud.
BBC commentator Andrew Castle claimed that Becker’s son Elias and Lily were sat in Djokovic’s box though Express Sport understands Lily was not in attendance but Noah was spotted at Wimbledon.
Djokovic’s coach of three years, meanwhile, received a message of support from John McEnroe and Sue Barker. McEnroe said on BBC: “Boris, we love you. We miss you man,” before Barker replied: “We do indeed.”
FAN PROPOSES TO RADUCANU
Emma Raducanu is probably used to the fame by now but the random marriage proposals from people she’s never met must still be a weird part of her reality.
A fan on Centre Court twice shouted, “Emma, will you marry me?” during her victory over Alison Van Uytvanck. It drew a few chuckles from those nearby but stone-cold silence from Raducanu, who was far too busy focusing on the job at hand.
The emotion pouring out from Raducanu come the end showed what a job it was that she had on her hands. After coming through the test with flying colours, Raducanu paid tribute to the crowd for pulling her through.
“I mean I felt the support the minute I walked out of those doors,” she beamed in her on-court interview.
“Yeah I wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been here supporting and through the tough times as well. But it’s all worth it to play on Centre Court and especally come through with a win.”
TWEENER GAMBLE ALMOST VERY COSTLY
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has got some nerve and it almost cost him dearly.
The Spaniard was on match point when he remarkably tried to hit a tweener winner against Hubert Hurkacz and ended up finding the net.
The Polish star, who famously upset Roger Federer here last year, then rallied back from the brink of defeat to take the next two sets as the match headed into the decider.
Fokina would’ve had nightmares about that failed tweener had it gone pear-shaped for him, but fortunately for his sake, he was able to win a nail-biting tiebreak to clinch the win.
HURKACZ’S UKRAINE PLEDGE
The charitable Hubert Hurkacz will be donating nearly £2,000 to Ukraine after vowing to send 100 euros (£86) to the war-torn country for every ace he hit at Wimbledon.
The 25-year-old was on the top of his game with his serves and hit 20 compared to Fokina’s five during their five-set thriller.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Polish star as his tournament came to an end at the first hurdle.
