Alexei Popyrin has crashed out to a Briton ranked number 461 in the world while only a wonderful trademark comeback from Jordan Thompson could rescue Australia's fortunes on Wimbledon's hottest opening day ever. Popyrin, the 20th seed and the biggest Australian men's hope apart from Alex de Minaur, was left "numb" after tumbling out to French-born English wildcard Arthur Fery 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in one of the biggest upsets of a record-breaking opening day. Fery, whose dad Loic owns French soccer club Lorient, was a huge long shot, not even originally in the initial batch of wildcards named by the All England Club because his ranking had dropped so low, until he turned heads with a fine performance at Nottingham. But world number 22 Popyrin felt he'd played so poorly against a man ranked 439 places below him that, afterwards, he sounded almost as dejected, demotivated and burned out as de Minaur had done following his early exit from the French Open. "I think it just shows that I understand why this result happened. It was because I was under-prepared going into Wimbledon, demotivated going into Wimbledon." Thompson was magnificent in summoning up his familiar spirit on his favourite lawns to scrap his way back, eventually prevailing 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 against Vit Kopriva for his third comeback from two sets down in the last three years at Wimbledon. Despite his win, a back injury means Thompson is unsure whether he will be fit to play his second-round match against France's Benjamin Bonzi, who stunned Daniil Medvedev in one of the biggest upsets of day one at Wimbledon. "I'm just praying I can get back on the court," he said. Thompson's win came amid a nightmare day for Australians in both the men's and women's draws. It began when Kim Birrell became the first player knocked out in a completed match at this year's championships — 6-0, 6-4 to last year's semifinalist and 22nd seed Donna Vekic. And it ended with Ajla Tomljanovic's late-evening loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. There were a couple of gallant cracks at causing an upset, with Sydneysider James Duckworth taking Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to five sets before losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4. Then 21-year-old Perth qualifier Talia Gibson also made it tough for four-time grand slam champ Naomi Osaka in the biggest match of her career, twice missing out when serving to take the contest into a third set, before the Japanese superstar made her pay with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) triumph. Chris O'Connell found the ever-tricky French veteran Adrian Mannarino too much to handle, going down 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in two-and-a-quarter one-sided hours, while Gadecki battled gallantly, saving five match points only to eventually succumb 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) to Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra. Alcaraz survives major scare as fellow seeded stars struggle Lleyton Hewitt's ignominious record as the only Wimbledon men's singles champion in the Open era to lose in the first round of their title defence was nearly erased as the 2025 championships opened with a scare for Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish world number two was forced into a marathon five-set battle by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini before winning 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. Hewitt was beaten by the then-unknown qualifier Ivo Karlovic in 2003. The Croatian later rose to number 14 in the world but was at the time ranked 203rd and Hewitt admitted he had never seen him play. Fognini has a far greater pedigree, but is now 38 years old and has slid down the rankings to number 138. He belied his years and status to keep Alcaraz on a sweltering Centre Court for an energy-sapping four hours and 37 minutes. "Playing the first match is never easy," said Alcaraz, who had to save two break points before taking control of the final set. Along with Medvedev, another top-10 seed departing is the number eight seed, Holger Rune, who blew a two-set lead as he fell in five sets to Nicolas Jarry. The giant Chilean fired down 31 aces. Former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas is also out after retiring against Valentin Royer. The 24th-seeded Greek had treatment on his back in the second set and called it a day while trailing 6-3, 6-2.