- No 1 seed beats veteran Frenchman in straight sets
- Alcaraz hopes to seek out Roger Federer at SW19
In Carlos Alcaraz’s first match of the grass season against France’s Arthur Rinderknech at Queen’s Club, the Spaniard found that he was distracted. Still not entirely comfortable with his turbo-powered movement on the slick lawn, he was so focused on maintaining his balance that the rest of his game suffered. Alcaraz was pushed to the brink, barely surviving a third-set tiebreak.
There is still so much room for Alcaraz to improve on grass and growth takes time but, after nearly three weeks on the surface and counting this year, that discomfort is a long way away. Alcaraz began his first Wimbledon title run as the No 1 seed with a comfortable win, dismantling Jérémy Chardy of France 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 under the No 1 Court roof.