The 2014 Wimbledon tennis tournament has started. It began on Monday morning.
The tournament will run through Sunday, July 6.
ESPN and The Tennis Channel will be broadcasting many of the matches in the United States, while BBC will carry coverage in the United Kingdom.
Live streaming will be available through BBC iPlayer and Watch ESPN as well as ATP and WTA.
The first day of matches are being broadcast in the United States on ESPN until 11:30 a.m., shifting to ESPNews from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ESPN2 will air coverage from 2 p.m. through 3:30 p.m.
The first round should see many of the higher ranking players advance, although as with the French Open there will likely be some upsets in the first several rounds. Among the possible upsets--Coco Vandeweghe over Garbine Muguruza, because Vandeweghe just beat her at the Topshelf Open in the quarterfinals, on her way to winning the tournament.
Some upsets have already come through, including American Sloane Stephens losing, along with Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm.
See a story below via AP, full seedings, and other broadcasters below that.
Story
LONDON—The first question posed to Andy Murray at his pre-Wimbledon news conference concerned England’s early exit from the World Cup and how the tennis player might feel “to have the hopes of a despondent nation” on his shoulders.
Murray paused, before replying with a single word: “Wow.”
Then Murray smiled and again said, “Wow.”
Welcome back to the All England Club, Andy, where the attention and expectations are unlike those heaped on any tennis player at any other tournament.
Murray has handled it all quite well, reaching at least the semifinals five consecutive times, getting to the final in 2012 before losing to Roger Federer, and then in 2013 becoming the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon. He'll open his title defense Monday on Centre Court against David Goffin of Belgium, who has lost seven Grand Slam matches in a row.
After composing himself, Murray did get around to answering Sunday’s opening query: “To be honest, I don’t feel too much different than I did a few days ago. I’m here to try and win the tournament. That’s it. My focus is solely on the first match, preparing properly for that.”
Update: Murray won his first match.
Five other things to know about Wimbledon on Monday:
NOVAK AND BORIS: Boris Becker won three Wimbledon titles in the 1980s and was a runner-up four times, and now he’s helping coach No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic. “This is his surface. This is his home,” said Djokovic, the 2011 champion and 2013 runner-up. It’s their first trip to the All England Club as a pair. Assuming Djokovic is healthy — he said he felt “a little bit of a strange sensation” recently in his problematic right wrist, but declared “now it’s fine” — his first match hardly shapes up as a test. His opponent, Andrey Golubev, has lost nine matches in a row on grass.
VENUS ON COURT 2: Venus Williams has won five singles trophies at the All England Club, but she hasn’t won a match there since 2011. She lost in the first round on Court 2 in 2012, then missed Wimbledonlast year with a back injury. On Monday, the 30th-seeded Williams returns to Court 2, facing Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor.
AZARENKA EYES A WIN: Victoria Azarenka is a two-time Australian Open champion, a two-timeWimbledon semifinalist and a former No. 1, but it’s hard to know what to expect from her Monday. It’s been five months since she won a match, mainly because of a left foot injury. She plays on Court 1 against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a Wimbledon semifinalist way back in 1999.
DIMITROV VS. HARRISON: For all the potential of 11th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, the 23-year-old Bulgarian is awaiting a real breakthrough at a Grand Slam tournament. He has lost in the first round in seven of his 15 previous appearances. At Wimbledon, he’s never been past the second round. But he did win the Queen’s Club grass-court title this month. He faces 22-year-old American qualifier Ryan Harrison, who always seems to run up against highly seeded players at majors.
STEPHENS VS. KIRILENKO: Only one woman has reached the second week at each of the last six major tournaments. No, not Serena Williams. Or Maria Sharapova. It’s 18th-seeded American Sloane Stephens, who is 31-12 over her career in Grand Slam matches, 55-54 elsewhere. On Court 18, she'll take on Maria Kirilenko, a 2012 Wimbledon quarterfinalist and former top-10 player now ranked 109th. Kirilenko is engaged to three-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin.
Full Seedings
Rankings in parentheses
Men
1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia (2)
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain (1)
3. Andy Murray, Britain (5)
4. Roger Federer, Switzerland (4)
5. Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland (3)
6. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic (6)
7. David Ferrer, Spain (7)
8. Milos Raonic, Canada (9)
9. John Isner, United States (11)
10. Kei Nishikori, Japan (12)
11. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria (13)
12. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia (10)
13. Richard Gasquet, France (14)
14. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France (17)
15. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland (24)
16. Fabio Fognini, Italy (15)
17. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia (16)
18. Fernando Verdasco, Spain (23)
19. Feliciano Lopez, Spain (25)
20. Kevin Anderson, South Africa (18)
21. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, (19)
22. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany (27)
23. Tommy Robredo, Spain (22)
24. Gael Monfils, France (21)
25. Nicolas Almagro, Spain (26)
26. Andreas Seppi, Italy (34)
27. Marin Cilic, Croatia (29)
28. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain (28)
29. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain (31)
30. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia (33)
31. Marcel Ganollers, Spain, (30)
32. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia (32)
Women
1. Serena Williams, United States (1)
2. Li Na, China (2)
3. Simona Halep, Romania (3)
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland (4)
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia (5)
6. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic (6)
7. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia (7)
8. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus (8)
9. Angelique Kerber, Germany (9)
10. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia (10)
11. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia (11)
12. Flavia Pennetta, Italy (12)
13. Eugenie Bouchard, Canada (13)
14. Sara Errani, Italy (14)
15. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain (15)
16. Caroline Wozniaki, Denmark (16)
17. Sam Stosur, Australia (17)
18. Sloane Stephens, United States (18)
19. Sabine Lisicki, Germany (19)
20. Andrea Petkovic Germany (20)
21. Roberta Vinci, Italy (21)
22. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia (22)
23. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic (23)
24. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium (24)
25. Alize Cornet, France (25)
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia (26)
27. Garbine Muguruza, Spain (27)
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia (28)
29. Sorana Cirstea, Romania (29)
30. Venus Williams, United States (30)
31. Klara Koukalova, Czech Republic (31)
32. Elena Vesnina, Russia (32)
Other broadcasters
Africa (Sub-Saharan) — Supersport
Albania — Supersport
Armenia – NTV+
Australia — Fox, Seven
Azerbaijan – NTV+
Belarus — BNC, NTV+
Belgium — RTL, VRT, VTM (VMMA)
Bosnia — I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Bulgaria — TV+
Brazil — Globosat
Canada — TSN
China — Beijing TV, CCTV5, Guangdong TV, Liaoning TV, Qiyi, Shanghai Media Group, Shandong TV, Shenzhen TV Sports Channel, Sohu, Telecent
Cook Islands – Fiji TV
Croatia — HRT, I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Cyprus — Lumiere TV
Czech Republic — ARQ
Denmark — TV3
Georgia — GMG Sport, NTV+
Greece — Nova
Fiji – Fiji TV
Finland – Canal+
France – Canal+
Ireland — TG4
Israel — Sports Channel
Italy — Sky Italia
Japan — Gaora, NHK, WOWOW
Kazakhstan — Kaz Sport, NTV+
Kosovo – Supersport
Kygrystan – NTV+
Macedonia – I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Malta — Go Multiplus
Middle East — ADMC
Moldova – NTV+
Montenegro – I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Netherlands –Nos, Sport1
New Zealand — TVNZ
Norway – Canal+, NRK
Pan-Asia — Fox Asia
Poland — Polsat
Portugal — Sport TV
Russia– NTV+
Serbia — B92, I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Slovakia — ARQ
Slovenia – I.K.O (Sport Klub)
Solomon Islands — Telekom TV
Spain — Sogecable (Canal+ and Cuatro)
South America — ESPN Sur
Sweden — Canal+
Switzerland — SRG
Tajikstan – NTV+
Thailand — BTV
Tonga — Fiji TV
Turkey — Digiturk
Turkmenistan – NTV+
Ukraine – NTV+, Totveld
United States — ESPN, The Tennis Channel
Uzbekistan – NTV+
