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DAY 1: Rusty Alcaraz sees off qualifier in Wimbledon opener

tennis01 July 2024 20:03| © AFP
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Carlos Alcaraz made a stumbling start to his Wimbledon title defence on Monday before coming through in straight sets against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal.

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The Spanish third seed was taken to a tie-break in the opening set and trailed 2-0 against his unheralded opponent in the second but held his nerve to win 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 6-2.

Alcaraz, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

He came into the match short of practice on grass after making an early exit from Queen's, where he was also the defending champion.

The dreadlocked Lajal, also 21, had never won a Grand Slam qualifying match let alone a main draw tie before last week and has just two wins on the ATP Tour in his career.

But the 269th-ranked player put up an impressive fight against his illustrious opponent on Centre Court, forcing the first break of the match, which was cancelled out straight away by Alcaraz.

The Spaniard won the first set tie-break but Lajal broke again to take a 2-0 lead in the second set. Again a ruffled Alcaraz snuffed out his opponent's advantage.

The defending champion, who won his first French Open title last month, forced a crucial break in the 11th game and served out to love to take a two-set lead.

Alcaraz, who struck 44 winners in total, stepped up a gear in the third set, winning 92 per cent of points on his first serve.

He raced into a 5-1 lead and although he was briefly held up he served out to win in two hours and 22 minutes.

The third seed will face Australia's Aleksandar Vukic or Austria's Sebastian Ofner in the second round.

MEDVEDEV WINS OPENER, HOPES TO AVOID CENTRE COURT

Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev reached the second round of Wimbledon and admitted he was happy not to be playing on the All-England Club's famed Centre Court.

Medvedev, a semifinalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.

"I've still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court," said Medvedev.

"Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost.

"So for the moment, I want to play on Court One, enjoy and try to win."

Medvedev goes on to face either Alexandre Muller or Hugo Gaston for a place in the last 32.

WAWRINKA MAKES FLYING START

Stan Wawrinka won his at the age of 39, beating British wild card Charles Broom in straight sets.

The Swiss three-time Grand Slam champion, the oldest man in the draw, hit 38 winners in a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory on No 2 Court.

Victory means Wawrinka, who has slumped to 95th in the world, is just the 10th man in the Open Era to win a Wimbledon singles match aged 39 or older.

The former world No 3 came into the match with just three wins under his belt on the ATP Tour this year.

The two-time former Wimbledon quarterfinalist will face either Gael Monfils or 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino in the second round.

SINNER SUBDUES FEISTY HANFMANN

Jannik Sinner wobbled midway through his first-round clash with unseeded German Yannick Hanfmann but the world No 1 recovered to seal a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 win and book a meeting with fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.

The Australian Open champion used his powerful serve and forehand to good effect against Hanfmann as he breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break and got his nose in front early in the next.

Hanfmann hung on and heaped pressure on Sinner's serve but was unable to find a way through and the 22-year-old top seed moved two sets ahead.

The world number 110 flipped the script to go 4-0 up in the third set as Sinner appeared to be belatedly hampered by a nasty fall, and the German cupped his ear amid huge cheers after forcing a fourth set with a neat volley.

There was to be no comeback, however, as Sinner rediscovered his rhythm under the lights on Court One to break for a 3-1 lead and held firm from to close out the match.

Sinner, who lifted his first title on the sport's slickest surface at Halle two weeks ago, could face another tricky test against Berrettini after the 2021 runner-up beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(3) 6-2 3-6 6-1.

OTHER MEN'S RESULTS

In other men's first-round matches, American Tommy Paul, the 12th seed, overcame Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-2 6-1 4-6 6-3, while Italy's Lorenzo Sonego beat Argentinian 31st seed Mariano Navone 6-4 7-6(2) 6-4.

Kazakh 23rd seed Alexander Bublik fought back from two sets down to defeat Jakub Mensik 4-6 6-7(2) 6-4 6-4 6-2 and French 16th seed Ugo Humbert beat Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko 6-1 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(3) 6-1.

American Brandon Nakashima, meanwhile, surprised Argentinian 18th seed Sebastian Baez, beating him 6-2 6-3 6-4.

Chinese 32nd seed Zhang Zhizhen defeated Frenchman Maxime Janvier 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round for the first time. Zhang will play Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff next.

American 29th seed Frances Tiafoe reached the second round, beating Italy's Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-3, while Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud eased past Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4.

Canadian former semifinalist Denis Shapovalov beat Chilean 19th seed Nicolas Jarry 6-1 7-5 6-4 and former semifinalist and Bulgarian 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 7-5.

 

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