LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz defeated 269th-ranked qualifier Mark Lajal at the start of his Wimbledon title defence on Monday as Andy Murray decided whether or not to call a halt to his All England Club singles career.

As action got under way, Aust­ralian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was heading home after withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury.

Alcaraz, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

Opening the Centre Court programme, the Spanish star recovered from a break down in each of the first two sets to see off the dreadlocked Lajal 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-2.

“He played a really good match, he obviously surprised me a little bit because I didn’t have the chance to see him play a lot,” said Alcaraz.

Two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabalenka, ranked third in the world, is one of eight players to have pulled out since the draw was made.

She had admitted she was not 100 per cent fit after suffering a sho­ulder injury at the Berlin Open and has been replaced by Russian lucky loser Erika Andreeva.

“Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won’t be able to play The Championships this year,” wrote 26-year-old Sabalenka on X.

Russian fifth seed Daniil Med­v­edev reached the second round and admitted he was happy not to be playing on the All England Club’s famed Centre Court.

Medvedev, a semi-finalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.

“I’ve still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court,” said Medvedev.

“Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost.” Eighth seed Casper Ruud, who has never been past the second round, saw off Alex Bolt of Australia in straight sets and revealed he had been laid low by a parasite since reaching the French Open semi-finals.

Three-time Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka won his Wimbledon opener at the age of 39, beating British wild card Charles Broom 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Murray, champion in 2013 and 2016, underwent surgery to rem­ove a cyst on his spine last week and admitted he still has not fully recovered feeling in his leg.

Murray, whose 2013 triumph ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon, is due to face Czech world number 39 Tomas Machac on Tuesday.

If he cannot make that date, he still hopes to play doubles with brother Jamie before bringing the curtain down on his Wimbledon career, which began 19 years ago.

OSAKA, RADUCANU OFF THE MARK

Former world number one Naomi Osaka navigated a tricky first round match against France’s Diane Parry, eventually winning 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 with the help of some nervous serving from her opponent.

The 26-year-old Japanese, who entered the draw as a wildcard, looked to be in total command in the first set, her hefty groundstrokes hitting the lines and her big serve forcing Parry on to the back foot.

But Osaka, who returned to the tour this year after 15 months of maternity leave for her daughter who turns one on Tuesday, appe­ared to lose concentration and rhythm in the second set and 21-year-old Parry, ranked 53, took advantage.

Osaka, who was playing at Wimbledon for the first time for five years, saved break points in a difficult ninth game to lead 5-4 before Parry’s serve crumbled and she produced three double faults to concede the match.

Emma Raducanu snapped a dispiriting sequence of first-round defeats for British players as the wildcard beat Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 7-6 (0), 6-3 on Centre Court.

The 21-year-old got an unexpected boost when Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, her scheduled opponent, withdrew because of illness on the morning of the match with Zarazua, a loser in qualifying, taking her place.

Raducanu looked nervous early on against an unorthodox opponent but eventually contained the unforced errors that littered the first set to move into round two.

After a scrappy opening to the match, Raducanu appeared to have settled down when she led 4-2 but Zarazua, ranked 98th in the world, shot back to win three games in a row and Raducanu twice had to hold serve to stay in the first set.

Raducanu, battling back up the rankings after missing the second half of 2023 because of ankle and hand surgery, blazed through the tiebreak and looked far more comfortable after that to set up a clash with Belgium’s Elise Mertens.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024