Wimbledon 2024: The lineup for center court on Day 1

Are you ready, tennis fans? Wimbledon 2024 is almost here which might mean a few things. One is that we are bound to see some ridiculous service games because grass courts are made for players who do well on that surface. We could also witness 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz win his fourth major. Possibly 20-year-old Coco Gauff wins her second.

Alcaraz and Gauff are important to begin the tournament as well. Both will appear at different times for matches on center court. There will be three matches total on the court on day one. Following tradition, Alcaraz will kick off the center court part of the tournament since he was the men's winner the previous year.

The Spaniard will play Mark Lajal at 13:30 local time in London (so for those living in the Eastern Time Zone that would be 8:30 am). Alcaraz is currently ranked No. 3 on the ATP tour while Lajal is ranked 262 and has never ranked higher than 191. In other words, the match seems as if it should be one-sided in favor of Alcaraz.

Who is playing on center court on day one of Wimbledon 2024?

Following the Spaniard will be 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu. Raducanu likely got onto center court because she is British, of course, but there is nothing wrong with the home major showing a bit of favoritism. Raducanu will not have an easy match, though.

Her opponent is 22nd-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova. Raducanu's career record on grass courts is 8-6 and her best showing at Wimbledon was the fourth round in 2021. That matches Alexandrova's best though the Russian reached that level last year. She has also played a lot more on grass courts than the Brit and has a career record of 29-15. An early exit for Raducanu should be expected.

Finishing the day on center court will be second-seeded Coco Gauff. She will play fellow American Caroline Dolehide. The two have met twice before with Gauff winning each time in straight sets. In three of the sets, however, Dolehide has won at least five games so the match might be tighter than expected.

More tennis news and analysis: