Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz starts Wimbledon defence with straight-sets win over Mark Lajal

Naomi Osaka claimed her first victory at Wimbledon in six years

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Sean Ingle at Wimbledon
Mon Jul 1 2024 - 21:29

Carlos Alcaraz got his Wimbledon title defence off to an encouraging start with a straight-sets victory on Centre Court.

The 21-year-old Spaniard, seeded third this year, beat Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6 (3) 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 22 minutes.

Lajal, also 21 but ranked 266 places lower than Alcaraz, sported dreadlocks pulled back in a pineapple-style ponytail on his Wimbledon debut.

He took a chunk out of the three-time grand slam winner with a break of serve in the opening set.

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But Alcaraz, who last month added the French Open to his Wimbledon and US Open titles, hit straight back and then eased through the gears.

“He played a really good match,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously he surprised me a little bit because I hadn’t seen him too much.

“He’s young, he’s my age and I’m sure I’m going to see him really soon on the tour and play him more often.

“But I’m really happy to get through and get my first win on Centre Court this year.”

World number one Jannik Sinner, seeded to meet Alcaraz in the semi-finals, dropped a set against German near-namesake Yannick Hanfmann but still eased through.

The 22-year-old, who secured his first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, triumphed 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 in a shade under three hours.

He will face a fellow Italian, former finalist Matteo Berrettini, in an eye-catching second-round tie.

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev picked up another win in his “happy” place, beating American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3 6-4 6-2.

The Russian has never lost a match on Court One, and was only beaten by Alcaraz in the semi-finals last year when he had to switch to Centre Court.

“I’m really happy with my level and I’ve still never lost on Court One, so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court,” he said.

“I said last year before the semis that it’s unfortunate I have to go to Centre Court, and I lost.

“This year I got lucky, I managed to practise on Centre before the tournament, so maybe it can give me some edge after, but for the moment I want to play on Court One, enjoy it, and try to win.”

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns against France's Diane Parry. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP via Getty

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka claimed her first victory at Wimbledon in six years on a day where the bottom half of the women’s draw was blown wide open after Aryna Sabalenka led a string of high-profile withdrawals.

Sabalenka and compatriot Victoria Azarenka pulled out within the space of a few hours, which followed Emma Raducanu’s scheduled round one opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova being forced to withdraw due to illness.

Raducanu eased through against lucky loser Renata Zarazua either side of fellow US Open champions Osaka and Coco Gauff laying down markers with solid first-round victories to serve notice to the rest of the field.

France’s Varvara Gracheva had clinched the opening win at this year’s Championships with a 6-3 6-1 success over Lesia Tsurenko at 12.11pm and she was quickly joined in round two by ninth seed Maria Sakkari and Zhu Min.

Not long after those triumphs Sabalenka, one of the favourites to win the crown, revealed she had to withdraw due to an ongoing shoulder problem called teres major, which primarily affects her serve.

Osaka, who has never made it past the third round at Wimbledon, will face 19th seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday and feels her game is in strong shape three years on from her last grand-slam title at the Australian Open.

World number two Coco Gauff is a potential fourth-round opponent for Osaka and she banished the memories of her early exit in 2023 with a rapid 6-1 6-2 triumph over fellow American Caroline Dolehide on Centre Court.

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