Carlos Alcaraz cruises after early turbulence
LONDON, July 3
Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz made a shaky start against unseeded Australian Aleksandar Vukic but moved through the gears to seal a 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 victory and power into the third round today.
The result extended Alcaraz’s winning run at the grasscourt Grand Slam to nine matches but the Spaniard could face a tricky test in his next match against American 29th seed Frances Tiafoe.
“I’m really happy about my performance. The first set was the key for me. He served for the set, then I played a really good tiebreak. In the second set and third set, I played at a really high level. I’m really happy about it,” Alcaraz said.
Gauff begins brightly
Coco Gauff did not look at her imperious best under the roof on Court One but she was always in control of an error-strewn second-round 6-2 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.
The US Open champion slipped and fell twice on the slick court and muttered to herself during the one hour and six-minute match against an opponent ranked 140 places below her.
“I do think I could have played cleaner at some points but overall I’m happy to have got through to the third round,” Gauff said in an interview on court.
Second seed Gauff, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon after announcing her arrival on the big stage with a fourth-round run as a 15-year-old five years ago, produced 16 unforced errors in the short match and managed to land only 43% of her first serves. — Reuters
Day 3: highlights
SURVIVor SVITOLINA
Former Ukrainian world No. 3 Elina Svitolina, a semifinalist last year, booked her place in the second round with a hard-fought 7-5 6-7(9) 6-3 win over Magda Linette.
American dream on
Danielle Collins beat Clara Tauson 6-3 7-6(4) to advance to the second round. Fellow American Frances Tiafoe progressed to the third round after defeating Borna Coric 7-6(5) 6-1 6-3.
RUUD shock
Fabio Fognini rolled back the years with a dazzling display to knock out eighth seed Casper Ruud 6-4 7-5 6-7(1) 6-3. Daniil Medvedev defeated Alexandre Muller 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5.
