Wimbledon
World number one Carlos Alcaraz easily cleared the first hurdle in Wimbledon. The 20-year-old Spaniard easily defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-0 6-2 7-5 in the classic lawn game on Tuesday. Alcaraz converted his first match point after 1:53 hours on court one, which was covered because of the rain.
04.07.2023 16.41
Online since today, 4:41 p.m. (Update: 4:53 p.m.)
For Chardy it was the last game of his tennis career. The 36-year-old world number 542. had already announced in advance that Wimbledon would be his last tournament. Alcaraz, who recently won the preparatory tournament in Queens, only had a few difficulties in the third set. Otherwise, the number one was very confident.
“I played very well at the beginning. He then increased his level. I’m glad that we both played at a high level and happy to be in the second round,” said Alcaraz after the match on center court. The roof doesn’t change much for him in terms of the game itself, he said. “Of course, with the sun it’s nicer for me and for all of us. But the sound of the ball under the roof is very nice.” The young star is only playing the fourth grass tournament of his young career in London. Last year he reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon, in 2021 he failed in the second round.
Reuters/Toby Melville Defending champion Yelena Rybakina also successfully cleared her opening hurdle
Rybakina further with some difficulty
Defending champion Jelena Rybakina had a little more trouble than Alcaraz. The 24-year-old from Kazakhstan needed three sets against the American Shelby Rogers to advance to the second round 4:6 6:1 6:2 ahead of tennis legend Roger Federer, who was watching in the Royal Box.
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“It was very tough for me today, I was very nervous. I couldn’t even hide it anymore. I’m very happy that I made it one lap further,” said Rybakina after the three-set game.
Rain causes delays
For the majority of the players, on the other hand, it was time to wait, because it is currently not possible to play on the outdoor courts due to the rain. Among other things, the games of Sebastian Ofner and Dennis Novak have already been postponed to tomorrow. Ofner meets Jiri Lehecka (CZE) in the first round, Novak meets Milos Raonic (CAN). Dominic Thiem was already on the pitch at noon and leads 6: 3 3: 4 against world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) before the match had to be interrupted after 59 minutes. It is still unclear when the game will continue.
Julia Grabher from Vorarlberg, whose match against Danielle Collins (USA) had been stopped the day before due to darkness at 4:6, has to wait for the game to continue.