London, July 4: Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz made a shaky start against unseeded Australian Aleksandar Vukic but moved through the gears to seal a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2 win on Wednesday.Vukic, 28, had form for upsetting the Spaniard, having beaten the then 17-year-old in French Open qualifying four years ago.
The defending champion from Spain was broken twice by world No 69 Vukic after serving for the opening set.
But there was to be no repeat as Alcaraz managed to break back to force a tie-break, which he dominated, and never looked back.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu produced a stunning victory at Wimbledon, sweeping past Elise Mertens hours after confirming she will play alongside Andy Murray in the mixed doubles. Raducanu dominated the world No 33 and claimed a 6-1 6-2 victory in just 75 minutes to return to the third round of a grand slam for the first time since winning the US Open in 2021.
Murray was forced to pull out of his final singles match at the Championships after ruling that he had not recovered from a back operation in time. The two-time champion will play in the men’s doubles alongside brother Jamie on Thursday but his on-court swansong will continue in the mixed doubles alongside Raducanu, the former US Open champion.
Tomas Machac will not soon forget his start to the 2024 edition of The Championships.
Originally scheduled to face Andy Murray on Centre Court in the first round before the former World No. 1’s withdrawal, Machac rallied from 0-5 in the fifth set to defeat lucky loser David Goffin 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(10-5) on Wednesday.
“It was a really tough match today,” Machac told ATPTour.com. “I’m grateful that I can manage to win this match in the fifth, especially when I was losing 0-5. This match will forever stay in mind.”
Earlier, Novak Djokovic enjoyed a confidence-boosting victory to kick-start his latest Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday, when the seven-time champion breezed past Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
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Nagal out of doubles too
India’s Sumit Nagal drew curtains on his campaign at the Wimbledon, crashing out in straight sets in the opening round of the men’s doubles event alongside his Serbian partner Dusan Lajovic here on Wednesday. Nagal and Lajovic lost 2-6, 2-6 against Spanish pair of Jaume Munar and Pedro Martinez in one hour and seven minutes to bow out of the competition.
