As the sun played hide-and-seek with the grey clouds that hovered over Centre Court, Sabalenka kept knocking on the door in the opening set but was shut out by Bouzkova each time and dropped serve with a double fault in the 11th game.

The veteran Serb, a seven-time winner at the All England Club, beat French world number 41 Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2 in a late-night match on Centre Court.

"I'm very happy to come back here to such a special place for me," Sinner said.

In a rare all-British first-round encounter -- the first since 2011 -- Raducanu showed flashes of the form that once catapulted her into global stardom.

Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fifth man since tennis turned professional in 1968 to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles, arrived at the All England Club on an 18-match winning streak but the second seed looked out of sorts at times.

Former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock first-round defeat at Wimbledon on Monday, beaten by France's Benjamin Bonzi in the first round.

"If we sweat, we sweat -- we know each other well," laughed Cathy Butcher, 73, arriving with her daughter Helen.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine on a sweltering Court One to get her quest for a first Wimbledon title up and running with a 6-1 7-5 win on Monday.

Two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur broke down in tears before retiring from her first-round match against Viktoriya Tomova on Monday.

Carlos Alcaraz starts his bid for a third successive Wimbledon men's title, while volatile women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka will be in the spotlight as the grass-court Grand Slam gets underway on Monday.

British tennis players come under the spotlight at Wimbledon like nowhere else and the full glare will be trained on world number four Jack Draper as he leads a sizeable home assault at the All England Club starting on Monday.

Raducanu and Alcaraz practiced together at Wimbledon on Friday as part of a sponsors commitment and will play alongside each other at Flushing Meadows in September in the mixed doubles.

Parting company with two of your team days before Wimbledon might not sound ideal but world number one Jannik Sinner has played down any negative impact as he prepares for the grass-court Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic admits Wimbledon offers him the "best chance" to make history as he chases a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title in the twilight of his glittering career.

Carlos Alcaraz will start his Wimbledon defence against Fabio Fognini while world number one Jannik Sinner faces a potential semi-final clash against Novak Djokovic following Friday's draw.

Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik, 19, and 18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca are two teenagers McEnroe could envision breaking into the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry, as well as big-serving American Ben Shelton.

Holger Rune has put the mangled rackets that have borne the brunt of his frustration in matches over the years up for sale among a collection of items in his new online store which he hopes will help charitable causes.

Carlos Alcaraz survived a huge scare against fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar as the world number two moved into the Queen's Club quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 victory on Thursday.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass at Halle on Thursday to Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, the Italian's first tournament since his French Open final defeat.

Carlos Alcaraz came through a testing first-round match against Adam Walton at Queen's on Tuesday as the top seed returned to action for the first time since his dramatic French Open triumph.