Wimbledon Briefing - Australian and New Zealand Results: Heroic Thompson survives marathon; Sun and Popyrin exit early

With Day One of Wimbledon concluded, Oceanic players had a tough day, with only one victory among Australians and New Zealanders. This came from world No. 44 Jordan Thompson, who overcame being two sets down to secure an epic victory against Vit Kopriva, in a cleared section of the draw.

On the other hand, the early defeats of Alexei Popyrin (20th seed) and Lulu Sun – a quarterfinalist in 2024 – marked a first round that saw the elimination of up to 7 players from Australia and New Zealand.

A remarkable day for Jordan Thompson, who for the 5th consecutive year has advanced to the second round of Wimbledon. The Australian claimed victory against Vit Kopriva, coming back from two sets down, by 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-1 after 3 hours and 40 minutes of play.

The Australian hit 20 aces and won 73% of points on his serve. In a match decided by fine margins, Thompson had 16 break opportunities and converted three of them, while Kopriva had the same number but could only convert two breaks – in the first two sets. The 31-year-old player advances in a section of the draw open to surprises. The elimination of Daniil Medvedev and Popyrin in this section leaves a path free of Top 35 players at least until the 4th round.

One of the surprises of the day, as Alexei Popyrin fell in the first round of Wimbledon by 4-6, 1-6, 6-4, 4-6 to local wildcard Arthur Fery, world No. 561. The 2024 Canadian Open champion hit a total of 20 aces against his opponent's 6, but conceded too many opportunities to Fery, who ultimately relied on the home crowd's support and great consistency from his serve to close out a comfortable victory, his first over a Top 25 player in his career.

Popyrin must prepare for a part of the year where he defends a large number of points. With the start of the hardcourt swing in North America, he defends the Canadian Open title and a fourth-round appearance at the US Open, a loss of more than half of his points that could see him fall out of the Top 50.

A year ago, Lulu Sun caused a surprise at Wimbledon and began to make a name for herself at the top level at 23 years old. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon coming from qualifying – eliminating 8th seed Zheng Qinwen and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu along the way. However, her run at SW19 ended prematurely as she fell to the experienced Marie Bouzkova by 4-6, 4-6. It was a complicated first-round draw, and Sun's lack of consistency on serve – with only 51% first serves in – was key for Bouzkova to capitalize on her break opportunities.

The New Zealander has just two wins in her last 9 matches and will see her ranking drop at least 37 positions to world No. 84, still with a good chance of falling a few more places in the coming days.

The men's side saw no other victories besides Thompson's, with the elimination of Christopher O’Connell without appeal against veteran Adrian Mannarino (2-6, 4-6, 3-6), repeating what had happened at the Libema Open three weeks prior, where the Frenchman also thrashed O’Connell (6-1, 6-3).

Furthermore, James Duckworth suffered a major disappointment by squandering a two-sets-to-one lead against Felix Auger-Aliassime. The world No. 103 was close to delivering a blow in the first round, but the Canadian brought out his class in the final part of the match to secure the victory.

On the women's side, up to four Australians were eliminated, with Talia Gibson's match making headlines, as she gave a good battle to 4-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, but the former world No. 1 managed to pull through 6-4, 7-6. In addition, Kimberly Birrell also fell to a high-profile opponent: 22nd seed Donna Vekic, last year's semifinalist, who showed no mercy to her rival.

Former Aussie No. 1 Ajla Tomljanovic also ended her participation early at the All England Club. She put up a good fight but squandered a one-set lead against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6-4, 3-6, 2-6), leaving Tomljanovic with 5 consecutive losses in WTA-level main draws. Additionally, 23-year-old Olivia Gadecki faced lucky loser Solana Sierra, but ended up falling in straight sets 2-6, 6-7, marking her 6th consecutive Grand Slam first-round defeat.