Wimbledon is Set to Start with Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff on the Schedule

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, center and his team walk over rain covers, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, June 30, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, center and his team walk over rain covers, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, June 30, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)
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Wimbledon is Set to Start with Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff on the Schedule

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, center and his team walk over rain covers, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, June 30, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, center and his team walk over rain covers, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, June 30, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (John Walton/PA via AP)

The 2024 edition of Wimbledon is scheduled to start on Monday, with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and past Grand Slam title winners Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu all set to play in matches at Centre Court.
Alcaraz just won his third major championship at the French Open three weeks ago, The Associated Press said.
He defeated Novak Djokovic in last year's final at Wimbledon. Alcaraz faces qualifier Mark Lajal of Estonia on Day 1 on the All England Club's grass courts.
Raducanu won the 2021 US Open at age 18, but she has been dealing with various injuries since then. Her scheduled opponent — No. 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova — withdrew Monday morning because of illness. Alexandrova was replaced by Renata Zarazua, a so-called “lucky loser” from the qualifying tournament.
Gauff, who won the US Open last September, closes out the day's schedule in the main stadium against Caroline Dolehide in an all-American matchup.
No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner is also on Monday's schedule, playing Yannick Hanfmann at No. 1 Court.



Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday after leader Pedro Acosta crashed out with four laps to go, reducing his gap with championship leader Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, to 15 points.

Rookie Acosta, who took pole earlier in the day, had overtaken Bagnaia on the third lap to take the lead, but lost control near turn seven, losing the opportunity to win his first MotoGP sprint.

Ducati's Bagnaia, who moved to 357 points ahead of Sunday's race, fought off second-placed Enea Bastianini by 0.181 seconds amid occasional rains in Motegi to win his 16th sprint of the season.

"We had to sacrifice a bit of performance during the race to understand the conditions better... I'm very happy because with this condition it's not very easy to win," Bagnaia said in his post-sprint interview.

Pramac Racing's Martin, who started from the 11th position on the grid after crashing during the qualifying session, started well to take the fifth position in the first lap, facing pressure from Marc Marquez, who eventually overtook him.

Marquez momentarily took second place from Bastianini but the Ducati rider recovered to leave him third.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami crashed out of his home grand prix sprint after a collision with teammate Johann Zarco, while Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder, sixth in the championship, quit due to an issue with his bike.

"We´re investigating what happened to cause Brad Binder's sprint to come to a premature end," the team wrote on X. "For now, all we can do is apologize to Brad."