Djokovic racks up 80th Wimbledon win as Alcaraz fights back
Novak Djokovic became the first player to win 80 matches at
all four Grand Slams as he made a successful start to his Wimbledon title
defence on Monday while teenage star Carlos Alcaraz battled over five sets to
make the second round.
Six-time champion and top seed Djokovic saw off South
Korea's Kwon Soo-woo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
But 20-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic was made to work
after falling a break down in the opening two sets against his 81st-ranked
opponent.
"Now we have got to 80 wins, let's get to 100,"
said Djokovic.
Djokovic, 35, is attempting to win a fourth successive
Wimbledon title and join a select group.
In the Open era, only Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Roger
Federer have managed such a streak at the All England Club.
Next up for Djokovic is Thanasi Kokkanikis. "Novak is
kind of a brick wall," said the Australian.
Alcaraz, a potential quarter-final opponent for Djokovic,
came back from two sets to one down to defeat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.
The 19-year-old fired 30 aces and 73 winners in a dazzling
display of shot-making to win 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
"Last year, I played five sets in the first round here
as well so this shows how much I like grass," joked Alcaraz.
Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina knocked out 2021
semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz courtesy of the tournament's first final-set
10-point tiebreak.
World number 37 Davidovich Fokina triumphed over the
seventh-seeded Pole 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (10/8) in a match interrupted
twice by rain.
"When the rain came at 5-5 in the third set, I didn't
know whether to have lunch or take a siesta," admitted 2017 junior
champion Davidovich Fokina, who needed five match points to seal the win.
Two-time Andy Murray also made it through, coming from a set
down to see off Australia's James Duckworth, who hasn't registered a single win
in 2022.
"I'm getting on a bit now so don't know how many more
chances I'll get to play on Centre Court," said the 35-year-old.
Around two hours of play was lost on Monday due to rain --
and 10 matches cancelled -- but that did not faze new women's world number two
Ons Jabeur.
The Tunisian, a quarter-finalist in 2021, eased past Swedish
qualifier Mirjam Bjorklund 6-1, 6-3 in just 54 minutes under the Court One
roof.
World number three Anett Kontaveit began her bid to reach
the second week for the first time with a 7-5, 6-1 win against Bernarda Pera of
the United States.
US Open champion Emma Raducanu beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-4,
6-4, much to the delight of a partisan home crowd on Centre Court.
The 10th seed became the first British female player to win
a Grand Slam singles crown since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 when she
triumphed in New York last year.
"It's an incredibly special feeling to be back at
Wimbledon," said the British number one, who reached the fourth round last
year.
Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins was the day's
biggest casualty as the seventh-seeded American was knocked out by Marie Bouzkova
of the Czech Republic.
The world number 66 clawed back from a break down in the final
set to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Casper Ruud won a match at Wimbledon for the first time with
a straight-sets victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Third seed Ruud, who was runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the
French Open, came through 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (11/9), 6-2.
John Isner fired 54 aces and 97 winners to knock out French
qualifier Enzo Couacaud 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and will next face
Murray.
However, Marin Cilic, the 2017 runner-up, withdrew before
hitting a ball after testing positive for Covid-19.
Beatriz Haddad Maia, who arrived with a season-leading 12
match wins on grass with title runs at Nottingham and Birmingham, fell at the
first hurdle.
The 28th-ranked Brazilian lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Slovenia's
Kaja Juvan.
After a cancelled edition due to the pandemic in 2020 and a
reduced-capacity tournament last year, Wimbledon has returned to full crowds
for 2022.
However, missing from the line-up are a host of Russian and
Belarusian players who were banned following the invasion of Ukraine, including
men's world number one Daniil Medvedev.
Eight-time champion Federer is also absent as he recovers
from knee surgery.
However, Serena Williams will play her first singles match
since last year's championship as she bids again to equal Margaret Court's
record of 24 Grand Slams.
The American star, a seven-time champion at Wimbledon, gets
her campaign under way on Tuesday as does Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard has already collected the Australian Open and French Open this year to put himself halfway to a first men's calendar Grand Slam since 1969.
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