cinch Championships 2023: DAY ONE!

Despite a spot of rain, Sunday afternoon saw a few of this year’s stars take to Centre Court for the first ever LTA Tennis Foundation Charity Challenge at Queen’s.

With the sun shining, lines painted and Centre Court played in, we welcomed fans into the grounds for Day One of this year’s cinch Championships. After an unfortunate last-minute withdrawal, Matteo Berrettini will be unable to defend his title, leaving the door wide open for an extremely strong player field including young sensations Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune.

Five-time Queen’s Champion, Andy Murray returns to West Kensington this year after missing last year’s tournament through injury. Could the King of Queen’s make it a sixth title?

First up on Centre Court saw British star Ryan Peniston take on France’s Ugo Humbert. After having a fantastic run at Queen’s last year, wild card Peniston was sure to put on a show. A steady start to the match with Peniston clinching an early break in the first set to take the lead 6-4. The Brit continued his momentum into the second set and saw off Humbert 6-2 to advance into the next round. First match of the year on Centre, complete.

The second of four Brits to step out onto the grass on day one, fifth seed Cam Norrie faced Miomir Kecmanovic. Surely this would be a breeze for the British No.1? Or could the 23-year-old Serbian upset the Brit on day one? A comfortable start from Norrie who took the first set 6-4 after some dazzling rallies in the heat. Kecmanovic stuck with him going into the second set to take it to a tie break. Norrie squeezed through into the next round with a gritty 7-6 tie break win.

Could Dan Evans be the second Brit of the day to advance to the next round? Not if Sebastian Korda of the United States had anything to say about it. Ranked number 32 in the world aged just 22, not one to be underestimated! Taking the first set comfortably 6-4, Evans would need two sets in a row to advance to round two. Fighting back well, it looked like we could go to the first three-setter of the day, but Korda held strong to take the second set and knock Dan Evans out.

After flying through the order of play for day one, our final match on Centre Court today saw British wild card Jan Choinski take on sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti. Game for game as Musetti took the first set 6-4 and continued his momentum to clinch the second set even more comfortably, 6-2.

A fantastic opening day at the cinch Championships 2023, with a stunning showcase of British tennis. Congratulations to today’s winners, bring on Day Two!

Keep up to date on live scores, results and daily orders of play on the official cinch Championships website!