Knights on centre court, red hot conditions and British success on Wimbledon day one

Sir David Beckham brought his mum along to enjoy a sizzling day at Wimbledon as British players enjoyed a red-hot start.

With temperatures hitting a first-day record of 32.3 °C, it was a very good day to enjoy the air conditioning in the Royal Box.

The footballing knight took along his mum, Sandra, for the centre court experience to watch defending champion Carlos Alcaraz kick off his campaign with an epic battle.

Becks, who had bandages on his wrist after his operation last week, looked cool as a cucumber as he sat next to another footballing knight, former England manager Gareth Southgate.

They were joined in the Royal Box by actor Eddie Redmayne and wife Hannah Bagshawe, Sarah Ferguson and daughter Princess Beatrice, cricketer Stuart Broad and partner Mollie King.

British number two Katie Boulter was second on centre while Emma Raducanu made her tournament debut on court one against fellow Brit Mimi Xu winning in straight sets against her 17-year-old compatriot.

Delighted Raducanu said: "It's really nice to be back. I love the support and I love playing in this atmosphere. It's my favourite tournament by far so I'm happy to get another match here."

She added: "I'm super pleased to have come through that match. It is so difficult playing against another Brit in the first round. When the draw came out, I can't say that I was loving it.

"Mimi [Xu] is a really dangerous player, she is so young and she has some amazing weapons at her disposal. I'm just so happy to come through that. I just want to thank everyone for their support, it was a really great atmosphere.

Meanwhile Boulter beat ninth seed Paula Badosa in a three set thriller on centre.

Around the grounds plenty of sun cream and hand fans were the order of the day as SW19 was bathed in glorious, baking sunshine.

Fans sought our shaded areas and the queues for refreshments were lengthy all day as fans stocked up on fluids and plenty of strawberries and cream.

Temperatures soared above the previous first-day heat record of 29.3C, set in 2001, hitting the 32.3C high mark in SW19 in mid-afternoon.

The sweltering conditions were too much for one spectator on centre court during the exhausting almost five-hour long Alcaraz match, which was delayed as they were treated for heat exhaustion. The star came over to offer a water bottle as staff attended to the woman in her 60s.

Wimbledon said a "handful" of spectactors were treated by medical staff due to the heat.

To help keep players safe, Wimbledon has introduced a heat rule for all singles matches when deemed necessary. The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) heat index is a measure which pulls together air temperature, humidity and surface temperature and is measured by a heat stress monitor.

If the WBGT is at 30.1C or higher, players are permitted 10-minute breaks during a match after two sets.

Wimbledon Chief Executive Sally Bolton said: "For colleagues working around the grounds, we've got plenty of changes in shift patterns to make sure they're getting regular breaks.

"And for the guests that will be joining us, there's lots of medical professionals around but come prepared - bring a hat, wear sunscreen, wear light clothing, if you can. Take breaks out of the sun.

"We've got over 100 water points around the ground, so definitely stay hydrated and keep an eye on your friends and others around you."

The Wimbledon chief also defended the decision to replace line judges with new technology after 148 years in the form of electronic line calling.

"For us it was time to make that change. It's not a money saving exercise," she said. "It's about evolving a tournament and making sure that we're providing the most effective possible line calling.

"The line judges have been such an important part of the championships for so many years and we obviously hugely appreciative the service that they provided. Quite a few of them, around 80 are still with us as match assistants in a new role, supporting the chair umpire, so many of them have returned to work with us again this year."

While champion Alcaraz kicked off the showpiece action on centre in a five set victory with Italian Fabio Fognini there was plenty of British success for home fans to savour on the outside courts.

Sonay Kartal and Arthur Fery pulled off major upsets as Britain's large singles cohort made a brilliant start to the Wimbledon fortnight.

British number three Kartal, 23, and wild card Fery took out the respective women's and men's 20th seeds, with the former seeing off Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 2-6 6-2 and the latter defeating Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-4.

And British qualifier Oliver Tarvet enjoyed a dream Wimbledon debut as he beat Switzerland's Leandro Riedi 6-4 6-4 6-4 to reach the second round.

Tarvet, 21, is ranked 733rd in the world and came through three rounds of qualifying to secure his place in the main draw - the first British man to achieve that since 2017.

His victory means he will next face world number two and defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz tomorrow (weds).

University of San Diego student Tarvet, from St Albans, said: "There's a lot of emotions, I'm just really overjoyed. All the hard work I put in the last few years has clearly paid off."

British number three Cameron Norrie also won in four sets against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and Billy Harris overcame Dusan Lajovic in straight sets. But Jacob Fearnley lost out against teenage sensation Joao Fonseca.