It had been exactly 365 days since the last time Carlos Alcaraz He had played a match on court 1 of the All England Club, the second center at Wimbledon.
His last match there was the first round of the 2023 edition against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. With a little-known rival like Aleksandar Vukic, and taking into account that all the favorites have to go through the second stage in some round, the tournament management scheduled the current champion in the second round.
Alcaraz was lucky that since 2019 the facility has a retractable roof because the rain conditioned the day for the second day.
Carlitos was measured against an opponent who had won him face to face because he defeated him in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying, in 2019. The Murcian was 17 years old and was 193rd. The stands were empty due to Covid.
A lot has happened since then and Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil has won 14 titles, three of them Grand Slam titles.
Shot on grass
Vukic, number 69 on the lists, had won eight matches on grass throughout his career, six this season, thanks to the Hertogenbosch quarterfinals and the Eastbourne semi-finals.
Alcaraz, winner by 7-6(5), 6-2 and 6-2For the third time in a row, he surpassed the first two games of the big grass field and is five wins away from retaining the crown. Only Bj�rn Borg and Boris Becker achieved two Wimbledon trophies in the Open Era at the age of the El Palmar tennis player.
The ‘Aussie’ won the toss and chose to subtract. The Australian knew that his rival prefers to avoid the serve at the start. The tactic did not work because it was the Spaniard who opened the scoring. With serve tips at 210 kilometers per hour, he was saving his turns of service.
Carlitos put one more gear in the sixth game. A 0-40 was manufactured. A ‘break’ on grass is almost synonymous with a set. Aleksandar raised the first two break options, but he miserably failed a shot to deliver his serve. The score shot up to 5-2. That margin was not enough for the current champion to score the initial heat by the fast pace. It required sudden death.
Vukic equaled five and returned the break with the help of the net. A double fault would give the Australian a second break in a row. His were four games in a row. When he served to take the lead, with 5-6, he crumpled before a superior being.
Alcaraz then brought out his magic wand. The early bounce on the volley is pure art for him. In the continuation, stood at a comfortable 5-1. Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil was in a hurry to finish. And she got to work. In the last two sets, he gave up four games. His recital ended with 11 aces, 42 winners and 20 out of 26 success in his attempts at the net.
“The key to the match was the first set. Since then, I have played at a high level. Now I’m going for Tiafoe“, reflected the winner at the conclusion.
Tiafoe, next obstacle
In the third round wait Frances Tiafoe, the first of the seeds to appear on the road. The American, the twenty-ninth favoritegave a good account of Borna Coric, for 7-6(5), 6-1 y 6-3.
There are two precedents between the two, with a victory for each one. Tiafoe, US Open semi-finalist in 2022, It promised a lot and has fallen by the wayside.. That’s why you’re trying to wipe the slate clean.
“You lost against clowns and you start to doubt yourself,” argues a player who became ‘top 10’ and invited himself to Roger Federer’s farewell party. Together with his compatriot Jack Sock they defeated Federer and Rafael Nadal in the last match as a professional of the Basel genius.
Ruud Failure
In the upper part of the painting, the one that the Murcian circulates, Casper Ruud (8), potential opponent in a hypothetical quarterfinal. The grass is not made for the Norwegian, who has never made it past the second round of Wimbledon. His executioner was the veteran Flavio Fognini, 6-4 7-5, 6-7 (1) and 6-3.
