Pablo Carreno Busta has made a big career breakthrough at Wimbledon this year.
Carreno Busta has been ranked as high as world number 10 and has won seven ATP titles in his career.
This includes Carreno Busta winning a Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open, and he has twice reached the semi-finals of the US Open.
Despite all of the success he has achieved in his career, Carreno Busta had not won a match at Wimbledon, until now.
Pablo Carreno Busta wins his first ever match at Wimbledon on his eighth attempt
Carreno Busta had made seven previous appearances in the first round of Wimbledon, losing in the first round every single time.
The Spaniard had been a seeded player for several of those first round defeats, but Carreno Busta was still unable to win a match.
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Carreno Busta had not played a match at Wimbledon since 2022 before returning in 2026, having retired in the first round against Dusan Lajovic.
Having not won any grass court match for four years, Carreno Busta appeared to be the underdog in his first round match against former Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov.
Despite this, Carreno Busta made a positive start against Shapovalov by winning the first set, before finding himself in a second set tie-break.
It was in this tie-break where Shapovalov collided with the barrier when running for a shot and subsequently injured his shoulder.
Shapovalov lost in this tie-break and after taking a medical timeout, the Canadian could no longer continue, therefore rewarding Carreno Busta with his first ever victory at Wimbledon.
| Year | Pablo Carreno Busta’s result at Wimbledon |
| 2014 | Lost in the first round to David Ferrer (7), 6-0 6(3)-7 6-1 6-1 |
| 2015 | Lost in the first round to Gael Monfils (18), 6-4 6-4 7-5 |
| 2016 | Lost in the first round to Milos Raonic (6), 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4 |
| 2018 | Lost in the first round to Radu Albot, 3-6 6-0 6(5)-7 6-2 6-1 |
| 2019 | Lost in the first round to Alexei Popyrin (Q), 7-6(2) 7-5 6-2 |
| 2021 | Lost in the first round to Sam Querrey, 7-6(6) 6-4 7-5 |
| 2022 | Lost in the first round to Dusan Lajovic, 3-6 6-4 (Carreno Busta retired) |
| 2026 | Won his first round against Denis Shapovalov, 6-3 7-6(7) |
Seven ATP players won their first match at Wimbledon on day one of the 2026 tournament
Carreno Busta was not the only ATP player to win their first ever match at Wimbledon on day one of the 2026 Championships.
There were a total of seven players who won their first ever main draw match at Wimbledon on day one of the 2026 Championships, with Carreno Busta alongside Rafael Jodar, Michael Zheng, Ignacio Buse, Daniel Merida, Dino Prizmic and Nicolas Mejia.
However, unlike Carreno Busta, the other six first-time winners were all making their main draw debut at Wimbledon.
Carreno Busta will now take on his aforementioned compatriot Jodar, as he looks for back-to-back wins at Wimbledon.
This will be a second meeting between the two Spaniards, with Jodar beating Carreno Busta at Roland Garros last month.
