London, July 4 Top seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the second round of the Wimbledon after soaring past Jeremy Chardy, who was competing in his final singles match as inclement weather played havoc with the schedule, here on Tuesday.
Under the roof on Court 1, the Spaniard overpowered the 36-year-old Frenchman with his destructive groundstrokes, sealing a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory in one hour and 53 minutes.
Two-time champion Andy Murray opened his campaign with a clinical victory early in the afternoon on his favourite surface when the home favourite outclassed his fellow Briton Ryan Peniston 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 on Centre Court.
Murray was rock-solid from the baseline and showcased top-quality movement on the grass in his two-hour win. After fending off the first two break points of the match in the third and fifth games, respectively, Murray converted six of 12 break points of his own to charge to victory and set a second-round blockbuster against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Dominic Thiem.
The 2022 US Open champion Alcaraz is chasing his second major title this fortnight, and he could not have made a better start to his Wimbledon title bid, with his main scare coming at the start of the first set when he slipped on the slick court.
After shaking out his leg, Alcaraz quickly bounced to his feet and from there it was one-way traffic, with Chardy unable to deal with the Spaniard's pace off the ground. The Frenchman struck seven double faults in the first set as he showed signs of nerves, but did play with more freedom as the match went on, breaking Alcaraz to lead 4-2 in the third set.
These two were the only matches to get completed on Tuesday as rain played spoilsport once again.
Multiple matches were cancelled following lingering light rain at The Championships with 34 men's singles matches postponed when reports last came in.
Among matches that started but were suspended due to rain, Dominic Thiem led the fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 3-4 on Court 2 when the rain arrived in southwest London. Matteo Berrettini was also behind early: Lorenzo Sonego was leading the 2021 finalist 7-6(5) on Court 12.
Ben Shelton was in a commanding position on his Wimbledon debut against Taro Daniel. The Americans led 6-4, 4-2 against the Japanese when play was suspended. Another of the ATP Tour’s young stars, Holger Rune, leads home wild card George Loffhagen 7-6(4).
--IANS
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