The Wimbledon Championships 2022 Suffer a Huge Blow With Roger Federer and Other Top Players Missing Day 1

The Wimbledon Championships 2022 kicked off yesterday, and many top players won their first-round matches, as expected. Also, we saw some upsets from both men’s and women’s draws at the tournament.?

This year’s Wimbledon also drew many controversies, as they banned Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament. The ATP and WTA reacted by stripping ranking points from the tournament. As a result, many players decided not to take part in the prestigious grass court tournament along with the players who were missing due to injuries. All these factors played their part, as Wimbledon witnessed poor numbers on day 1.?

Wimbledon Championships recorded the lowest attendance on day 1 since 2007

According to various reports, Wimbledon recorded the lowest first-day attendance since 2007. The tournament organizers were expecting a full capacity (42,000) crowd. However, on the first day, only 36,600 were at SW19 to witness some of the stars in action.

On the first day, plenty of stars appeared, like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu, Carlos Alcaraz, Angelique Kerber, and many others. Despite the star-studded affair, many fans did not attend the proceedings on day 1.

Apparently, one of the major reasons was the absence of the 8-time Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer. Yesterday, many fans were holding banners about the Swiss Maestro as they were missing him on the first day.

Read More: ?No Roger, No Party? ? Fans Miss Roger Federer as He Skips Wimbledon Championships for First Time in 23 Years

Despite the low attendance on day 1, the organizers are expecting better results on day 2 as superstars like Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Nick Kyrgios, and others will be playing.

Day 1 saw many upsets and withdrawals

Meanwhile, we have seen various upsets on day 1, as some of the top seeds from both men’s and women’s draws crashed out in the first round. Last year’s semi-finalist, Hubert Hurkacz, had a shocking first-round exit, as he lost to the Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Watch This Story: Rafael Nadal’s biggest fan, Serena Williams, cheers for his success at Wimbledon Championship 2022

On the women’s side, Belinda Bencic and Danielle Collins lost their respective matches in the first round. Meanwhile, 2017 Wimbledon finalist, Marin Cilic announced his withdrawal from the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19. Today, another Wimbledon finalist and one of the favorites, Matteo Berrettini, also decided to withdraw after a positive covid test result.