Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner confirmed their favoritism, emerging victorious from their respective first-round matches to advance to the second round at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz opened proceedings against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal on Center Court, earning a 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 win after two hours and 23 minutes, outperforming a combative young player, making his Wimbledon debut, and on the main court.
“He played a really good match,” said Alcaraz courtside about Lajal.
“It surprised me a little bit because I haven’t seen him too much. He has the level to go up a lot. I’m sure I will play against him more often. I am really happy to get my first win on Centre Court this year.”
The world No. 3 will next meet Australian Aleksandar Vukic, who rallied through five sets to beat Austrian Sebastian Ofner in three hours and 49 minutes on Court 7, taking his 18-match victory of the season.
The world No. 69 is making his second appearance at The Championships, and on Wednesday, the 28-year-old will meet the Spaniard for the first time at tour level.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Sinner launched his campaign in London with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph in barely under three hours against German Yannick Hanfmann to progress to the next round at the grass-court major for the third consecutive year.
The 22-year-old, who dropped a set through the encounter, assessed his performance, outlining: “When you go a break down immediately, it’s tough to recover, but how I reacted in the fourth set was very positive and ending the match in a very positive way hopefully can help me to start the next round.”
An all-Italian clash with Matteo Berrettini awaits the world number one who hit 47 winners to 30 unforced errors, winning 79 percent of the points on his first serve and converting 4 of 5 break point opportunities to reach the second round.
In the lead-up to Wimbledon, Sinner claimed his maiden title on grass in Halle as he seems to have found his foot on a surface his compatriot has learned to master, capturing four of his eight ATP titles on grass.
Berrettini made a positive return to the Slam, where he finished runner-up in 2021, achieving his first win at a major in 10 months, having struggled with injury.
The 28-year-old took a four-set victory over Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, using his powerful forehand and trademark booming serve to continue his run at the event.
Addressing his upcoming contest, the San Candido native said: “It’s a tough one for sure. He played the final here, and he knows very well how to play on this surface, so it’s a big challenge for me.”
Moreover, four encounters went the distance for the delight of the spectators, who could see the relentless players battling from two sets down to clinch best-of-five victories and stay alive for another day.
Among them, 29th seed Frances Tiafoe produced for the first time in his career, a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down to overpower world No. 35 Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 after a marathon three-hour, 9-minute match.
The American is not having the best of his season on Tour, and a hip injury sustained while competing at the Queen’s Club has not helped either.
Regardless, he regrouped, finishing with 50 winners against 39 unforced errors, hitting 12 aces.
He has set up a meeting with Borna Coric; the Croat ousted Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves with a straight-set win, 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3.
The other players who rallied from 0-2 were 23rd seed Alexsander Bublik, South African Lloyd Harris, and Australian Jordan Thompson.
Furthermore, world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev and 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov sailed through their adversaries, Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, respectively, continuing their title quest.
A three-time Slam winner, Stan Wawrinka became the 10th man aged 39 or older in the Open Era to advance to the second round at Wimbledon by taking out British wild card Charles Broom 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
He will square off against another veteran in action, Frenchman Gael Monfils, tied in their series 3-3.
Early in the day, the 37-year-old Parisian prevailed against 22nd seed Adrian Mannarino with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win.