Reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz continues his quest to win a second Grand Slam title this year when he squares off against Aleksandar Vukic in the second round on Wednesday.
While Alvarez came out on top in straight sets in round one against a fellow 21-year-old ranked 266 place below him, Vukic required five sets to squeeze past an opponent ranked 21 places higher than himself.
Match preview
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Carlos Alcaraz began the defence of his Wimbledon crown with a straight-sets victory over world number 269 Mark Lajal in the first round on Monday.
Following his triumphant run at Roland Garros at the beginning of June, Alcaraz's preparations for this year's tournament have been limited, as he played in only two grass court matches at Queens, including a surprise second-round defeat by Jack Draper.
The 21-year-old was not quite as his best to begin with against Lajal, who raised eyebrows among the Centre Court crowd when he edged himself into a 3-2 first-set lead. However, Alvarez eventually raised his game and fought off the valiant efforts of his Estonian counterpart to win 7-6[3] 7-5 6-2.
Prone to intermittently losing his focus, Alcaraz admitted that the memories of last year's Wimbledon triumph came back to him during his first-round match, but he has acknowledged that this is a "totally different tournament" this time around and he 'has to be focused on his game' if he wishes to come out on top again in 2024.
The world number three has won 26 of his 32 matches in all tournaments since the turn of the year and he will back himself to progress to the third round at Wimbledon for the third straight year. Alcaraz was just 18 the last time that he lost a second-round match at a Grand Slam, losing in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon.
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Aleksandar Vukic has progressed to the second round of Wimbledon for the second successive year after coming out on top against Sebastian Ofner in a five-set first-round thriller on Wednesday.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout, Vukic managed to survive an onslaught of winners (a total of 73 as well as 24 aces) from Ofner, and the 28-year-old saved a crucial match point before edging the fifth-set tie-breaker to seal victory after a demanding three-hour and 49-minute battle.
Victory would have tasted all the more sweeter for Vukic considering that he had suffered defeat in the previous two five-set matches he has contested, and the reward for his efforts is a second-round clash of rackets with reigning champion Alvarez.
The Australian has now won eight times on grass in 2024, with four of those coming at the Eastbourne International last month as he progressed all the way to the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Taylor Fritz.
Vukic, ranked No.69 in the current standings, will now be eyeing up his first-ever appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam and must replicate his solitary triumph over Alvarez in 2020 if he wishes to continue in this summer's tournament.
Tournament so far
Carlos Alcaraz:
First round: vs. Mark Lajal 7-6[3] 7-5 6-2.
Aleksandar Vukic:
First round: vs. Sebastian Ofner 6-7[9] 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-6[8]
Head To Head
Roland Garros (2020) - First Round Qualifying: Vukic wins 4-6 7-6[5] 6-3
The only previous meeting between Alvarez and Vukic took place on clay at Roland Garros in 2020 when the latter came from a set down to secure victory and progress from a first-round qualifier.
Vukic staged a remarkable comeback victory on his Roland Garros debut against his then 17-year-old opponent to recover from a 4-6 3-5 deficit, saving two match points in the ninth game of the second set en route to a memorable victory.
We say: Alcaraz to win in three sets
Alvarez will hope to make a stronger start to his second-round clash following a rusty beginning against Lajal in round one, and the same can be said for Vukic who will need to frustrate the Spaniard early doors if he wishes to gain a foothold in the contest.
Both players have reason to be optimistic, but it is difficult to back against Alvarez here and the explosive third seed should ultimately have few problems powering himself to a straight sets victory.
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