Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a shaky start to beat unseeded Australian Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets to reach the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The world No 3 – who defeated Novak Djokovic in last year's final – was taken to a tiebreaker in the opening set, where he took a healthy 5-1 lead only for Vukic to win three straight points but manages to raise his level again and take the set as Spanish fans breathed a sigh of relief.
The French Open champion, who is bidding for a fourth Grand Slam title, did not give Vukic any more opportunities and closed out the second set quickly before easing through the third to seal victory in one hour 48 minutes on Court One.
“I'm really happy about my performance today,” said Alcaraz. “The first set was the key for me. He served for the set, then I played a really good tie-break. In the second set and third set, I played a really high level.”
He will now take on Frances Tiafoe of the US. “I'm going for him! We played a really good match in the US Open,” added Alcaraz. “He is a really talented player, a tough one, even tougher on grass with his style. Good volley, good slices. It is going to be a very difficult match.”
Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev also hit back from a sticky start before overcoming Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a draining battle on Centre Court.
The Russian, who reached the semi-finals last year before losing to eventual champion Alcaraz, looked out of sorts early on and had to save a set point to avoid going 2-0 down.
However, Medvedev, runner-up at the Australian Open, found a bit more of his usual groove to level the match with a tiebreak before clinching the third set and then the match over three-and-a-half hours.
Casper Ruud continued his dismal record at the grass court Grand Slam as he lost in four sets to veteran Italian Fabio Fogini. Norway's Ruud, seeded eighth, was beaten 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 on Court Two meaning the three-time Grand Slam finalist has never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon after four appearances in the main draw.
In the women's draw, second seed Coco Gauff kicked-off Wednesday's schedule by crushing 19-year-old Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni in just 66 minutes on her way to a 6-2, 6-1 victory on Court One.
The American, 20, was always in control but did produce 16 unforced errors and managed to land only 43 per cent of her first serves. But Gauff's nervous opponent, ranked 142 in the world, hit 23 unforced errors of her own.
“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.
Reigning US Open champion Gauff had disposed of countrywoman Caroline Dolehide in similar ruthless fashion, taking 65 minutes to knock out her friend on Monday.
Since losing to Sofia Kenin in the first round of Wimbledon 12 months ago, Gauff is now 19-2 at Grand Slam tournaments where she has looked particularly strong in the first week, not losing a set in either the Australian Open or French Open in her first four matches.
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur is due back in action on Thursday for her second round match against American teenager Robin Montgomery, ranked 161 in the world and making only her second appearance at the All England Club.
Two-time runner-up Jabeur, who lost to Elena Rybakina over three sets in the 2022 final and was then beaten by the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova in last year's final, eased through her opening match against Moyuka Uchijima of Japan on Tuesday, securing a 6-3, 6-1 win.
“If I make it a third year in a row to the final, that would be like a dream,” the 29-year-old 10th seed said. “I know I have a big capacity of doing it, I’ve been working on myself a lot. I can see myself winning this tournament hopefully.”
