Who did Carlos Alcaraz defeat at Wimbledon 2023 to win his first Grand Slam title?

Carlos Alcaraz is the third youngest Wimbledon title winner. The big four were dominating in the tennis world but now there is a young five. The Serb tasted defeat against the young Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz with a 5-set game and a score line of (1-6), (78-66), (6-1), (3-6), (6-4).
Novak shared some words on the new champion:
I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest. Roger and Rafa had their obvious strengths and weaknesses. Carlos Alcaraz is a very complete player.

Carlos Alcaraz was introduced to Roger Federer at a practice match by his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. Carlos Alcaraz’s first meeting with Roger Federer was in 2019. Alcaraz was a fresh face to Federer as he was not that popular at that time.
Carlos Alcaraz now has the 2023 Wimbledon title, one of the youngest to have this prestigious title. The Spaniard is very jocular about his win at the Wimbledon this year. Alcaraz made his commitment fulfilled that he will win. Also, he wanted to halt Novak Djokovic’s winning streak of 5 Wimbledon titles and 45 wins on the center court. Alcaraz, the World No.1 makes his ranking much more justified for him winning the title to Novak Djokovic.
In 2019, Roger Federer was revving up his throttle for the practice session at the Wimbledon tournaments. Prior to his quarterfinal match against Kei Nishikori, Federer enlisted the help of the Spanish tennis star Juan Carlos Ferrero for his warmup match. At the end of the warmup session, Carlos Alcaraz’s first meeting with Roger Federer was made by his coach. Ferrero introduced Roger to Spain’s fresh upcoming star “Carlos Alcaraz”.
This incident could be Alcaraz’s most exciting moment as a young teenager, meeting the Swiss legend. Alcaraz got much more will to pursue his dream to be the champion off this incident of playing against a living legend at a young age.
Carlos Alcaraz was first exposed to the public view in an interview with tennis majors in 2020. Carlos Alcaraz provided them with many answers including,
“It went extremely well, it was a unique experience for me,” Alcaraz said.
“I was very pleased afterwards and I learnt a lot.
“At the beginning I was a bit nervous since a lot of people were watching us, but as the practice went on I started to relax more and ultimately I enjoyed it very much”
Carlos Alcaraz’s win at the 2023 Wimbledon
This match was between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, the No.1 v/s the No.2. The match between them was the third-longest match in Wimbledon final history, lasting nearly 5 hours. Wimbledon now also has a new face for the title and a pretty young one at that.

Alcaraz had a week to remember at the Caja Magica. Entering the tournament as a top-10 player following his Barcelona triumph two weeks ago, the teenager downed two of the greatest players in the game's history - Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - in successive matches.
That made him only the seventh player, and the first on clay, to beat the two all-time greats in consecutive matches in the same tournament. Alcaraz then steamrolled defending champion Alexander Zverev in the final.
In a lopsided 62-minute match, the 19-year-old dropped only four games as he strolled to the finish line to secure a tour-leading 28th match win and fourth title.
With his victory over Zverev, Alcaraz achieved a few important milestones. Here's a look at five of them:
#1 Carlos Alcaraz becomes first teenager in more than 30 years to beat 3 top-5 players in the same tournament
Carlos Alcaraz had a giant-killing week in the Spanish capital. A day after turning 19, he beat World No. 4 Rafael Nadal, a five-time Madrid champion, in the quarterfinals. It was his first victory over his illustrious compatriot in three attempts.
Alcaraz proceeded to dump out World No. 1 and three-time winner Novak Djokovic in a pulsating third-set tie-break to move into his fourth final of the year. A day later, he returned to beat World No. 3 Zverev, becoming the first player to hand the German a straight-sets defeat in the Spanish capital.
In the process, Alcaraz became the youngest player, and first teenager, in 32 years (since the start of the ATP tour) to beat three top-five players in the same tournament. Before Alcaraz, Djokovic (2007 Montreal), Pete Sampras (1991 ATP Finals), Andre Agassi (1990 ATP Finals) and Lleyton Hewitt (2001 ATP Finals) were the youngest players to accomplish the feat.
Unsurprisingly, all five players went on to win the title.
#2 Carlos Alcaraz becomes youngest player to win Madrid Masters
It was a week to remember on many counts for Carlos Alcaraz. In a year of many firsts, Alcaraz added another with his victory at the Caja Magica.

Accomplishments: A Trailblazer Shattering Records
In his meteoric rise, Alcaraz has already etched his name in tennis history. Claiming four ATP Tour titles, including two illustrious Masters 1000 crowns, he defied the notion of age barriers. Stepping into the footsteps of his idol, Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz became the youngest player since 2005 to break into the coveted top 10 rankings.
His relentless pursuit of greatness led him to the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals of the US Open, announcing his arrival among the tennis elite. With every milestone surpassed, Alcaraz continues to redefine what is possible for a young prodigy with limitless potential.
Wimbledon 2023: A Historic Triumph for the Ages
The hallowed lawns of Wimbledon bore witness to a defining moment in tennis history. In 2023, the world stood in awe as Carlos Alcaraz claimed his maiden Grand Slam title, toppling the mighty Novak Djokovic in a gripping five-set battle.
The echoes of cheers resounded through the grounds as Alcaraz’s victory became one of the greatest upsets the tournament had ever seen. This resounding triumph solidified his place as one of the world’s finest athletes. With eyes fixed on the horizon, Alcaraz’s victory at Wimbledon served as a testament to his unwavering spirit, inspiring a generation of aspiring tennis champions.
Future Prospects: A Path Paved with Promise
As Alcaraz continues his tennis odyssey, the world awaits the unfolding of an extraordinary career. Though still in the dawn of his professional journey, his rapid ascent and exceptional talent have captivated fans and experts alike. Widely regarded as one of the most thrilling young players in the world, Alcaraz possesses the ingredients necessary to become the next luminary of men’s tennis. As he refines his skills and seeks greater consistency, the tennis realm eagerly anticipates the magnificent heights he will scale in the years to come. The sky’s the limit for this young maestro, and with every swing of his racket, he solidifies his status as the beacon of tennis’s glorious future.
Wrapping It Up
Carlos Alcaraz, a name destined to be etched in the annals of tennis history. At just 19 years old, this prodigious talent has already accomplished what many only dream of.

‘I don’t think he’s going to stop at 24 titles.’
US Open 2023 results: Novak Djokovic wins 24th major Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has won a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam…
The US Open winner hailed his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz.
‘His passing hurt me deeply.’
‘What are you still doing here?!’
The Serbian has now lifted THREE major trophies this year!
The 19-year-old lifts her first Grand Slam trophy!
He is one win away from a 24th Grand Slam title!
US Open 2023 results: Jack Draper wins, Dan Evans loses to Carlos Alcaraz, Cameron Norrie & Katie Boulter out Britain’s…
Mixed day for the British players at Flushing Meadows.
US Open 2023: Andy Murray calls VAR debut a ‘farce’ Britain’s Andy Murray has described Video Assist Review (VAR) as…
‘The smell, oh my gosh.’
Carlos Alcaraz can retain his title while Jessica Pegula can win a first slam.
A change of plan for Venus Williams.
‘I want her out. She needs to go.’
The Australian has missed all three Grand Slams so far this year.
‘The stories around me started to snowball.’
‘I’m actually shook by the level of disrespect…’
The fine will be taken out of Djokovic’s £1.17 million prize money.
Carlos Alcaraz won the prestigious British tournament Wimbledon for the first time, beating one of the all-time ‘greats’ of tennis: Novak Djokovic.
‘Probably he’s right!’
‘Maybe I should have lost a few finals!’
Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in an all-time classic.
‘I feel sorry for the guy!’
Will the Serbian ever get his hands on it?

An easy win over Nuno Borges was followed by trickier triumphs against Spanish compatriots Roberto Bautista Agut and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Chasing down his third title of the season after triumphs at Buenos Aires and Indian Wells, home favourite Alcaraz started impressively.
The 19-year-old top seed won the first game without dropping a point, sealing it with an ace, ominously for Evans, who was pulled all over the court.
Alcaraz broke for a 3-1 lead and the 2022 US Open champion showed little mercy from then on, winning six consecutive games before Evans broke for the first time, to trail 4-1 in the second set.
Alcaraz clinched victory after an hour and 20 minutes with another pinpoint winner past Evans.
Tsitsipas lost on both occasions he reached the Barcelona final against Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2021.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam title winner, pulled out this year as he recovers from a hip injury.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz beat Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 to win the Rio Open.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz overcame third-seeded Schwartzman in the final to the delight of Brazilian fans at the clay-court tournament.
The seventh-seeded Spaniard won his first professional match in Rio de Janeiro two years ago and his first tournament last year at Umag, Croatia, also on clay.
The 29-year-old Schwartzman said his younger rival is doing “an amazing job.”
“He is so young and is already achieving impressive things,” the Argentine said.
Alcaraz praised Schwartzman’s fighting spirit and thanked the crowd for its support.
“I have no words to describe what I had here from the first match until this final,” Alcaraz said.
The Spaniard converted five of his six break points overall and dominated with impressive baseline play.
Alcaraz’s path to the title included upsetting top-seeded Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals and then beating another Italian, Fabio Fognini, in the semifinals.
Fitness was a key element of Sunday’s final. Both players had their quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday due to heavy rain falling in Rio during the week.
Schwartzman had threatened not to play his semifinal match against countryman Francisco Cerundolo if he didn’t have enough time to rest after a lengthy quarterfinal against Spain’s Pablo Andujar.

The 2022 U.S. Open may go down in history as the arrival of Carlos Alcaraz.
At 19 years old, Spain’s phenom beat Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final to become the youngest Grand Slam men’s singles champion since Rafael Nadal won the first of his 22 majors at the 2005 French Open. Alcaraz also became the first teenager to ascend to No. 1 in the ATP rankings, which began in 1973.
Alcaraz earned his first major title the hard way, becoming the third man in the Open Era to win back-to-back-to-back five-set matches en route to a major title. He spent 23 hours, 39 minutes on court over seven matches, the most for any man in a single major since time records began being kept in 1999.
Nadal’s quest for his 23rd major — and to move two clear of Novak Djokovic for the most in men’s history — ended at the hands of American Frances Tiafoe in the round of 16. Tiafoe became the first American born in 1989 or later to beat Nadal, Djokovic or Roger Federer in a major in 31 tries and the first American to make the U.S. Open semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2006 before falling to Alcaraz in an epic.
Djokovic was ineligible for the U.S. Open because he is unvaccinated against COVID-19. U.S. rules required that any non-U.S. citizen must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to receive a visa to enter the country.
Federer, a 20-time major champ, hasn’t played tournament tennis since undergoing a third knee surgery in an 18-month span after a quarterfinal exit at last year’s Wimbledon. He is expected to compete at the Swiss Indoors, his home tournament, in October, and possibly at least Wimbledon next year.
Australian Nick Kyrgios followed his breakthrough Wimbledon runner-up by ousting defending U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round, then lost a five-setter to another Russian, Karen Khachanov. in the quarterfinals.
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2022 U.S. Open Men’s Singles Draw

With his victory over Zverev, the 19-year-old became the youngest player to win the Madrid Masters in the tournament's 20-year history. The previous youngest champion in Madrid was Nadal, who was 19 years and five months old in 2005 when he recovered from two sets down to beat Ivan Ljubicic in a fifth-set tie-break.
Back then, the tournament was held on indoor hardcourt in October.
The previous youngest player to win the Madrid Masters on clay was Alexander Zverev (21 years, one month) in 2018.
#3 Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest 5-time titlist on ATP tour in nearly 2 decades
Carlos Alcaraz's early success has inevitably evoked comparisons with Rafael Nadal, who had a banner (79-10) year as a teenager in 2005.
Alcaraz has won four titles this year, five overall, including his first ATP 500 title in Rio de Janeiro and his first Masters 1000 title in Miami. A little over a month after his Miami triumph, Alcaraz has become the youngest five-time titlist on the ATP tour in nearly two decades.
Back in 2005, Nadal won six titles (all on clay) before his 19th birthday. That included two Masters 1000 titles.
Alcaraz will now look to make his Grand Slam breakthrough this year, just like Nadal did while he was still in his teens.
#4 Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest player in 17 years to win multiple Masters 1000 titles
Carlos Alcaraz's Madrid success also meant he emulated his illustrious compatriot Nadal by becoming the youngest player in 17 years to win multiple Masters 1000 titles. Nadal was 18 when he won his first two Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carlo and Rome in 2005.
Earlier this year, Alcaraz made his Masters 1000 breakthrough in Miami. He could have done it a fortnight earlier at Indian Wells but fell to his compatriot in a bruising three-hour three-set semifinal.
Unfortunately, Alcaraz won't be the first teenager since Nadal to win Rome, as he has withdrawn from the tournament.
#5 Carlos Alcaraz is the sixth player in the Open Era to go 5-0 in his first 5 career finals
Carlos Alcaraz, who will ascend to a career-best ranking of World No.

Title holder in Rio, Carlos Alcaraz is the big favorite to succeed himself in this ATP 500. A real war machine on clay, the Spaniard crushed the competition last year and will want to achieve the same number. With the Buenos Aires tournament under his belt and already a title, the former world number 1 is in great shape. In the first round, he was opposed on Tuesday to the local wild-card Mateus Alves, 556th in the world. The match could not be completed due to heavy rain. Carlitos” was one game short of the round of 16, 6-4, 5-3. He won without surprise 6-4, 6-4 after the restart. The world number 2 will face Fabio Fognini this Thursday.
In a press conference, the Spaniard returned to the feelings after his return and his goal of 2023. “After four months off, I had a good week in Argentina, I’m confident. I want to have a great year, with a lot of tournaments. There is a little pressure because I have to defend several titles, but I want to enjoy it. The number one is a good goal, a goal that I would like to achieve this year, “he said. This week, Alcaraz is 590 points behind Novak Djokovic. Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé could have a title window in March, at the US Masters 1000, especially if Nole can’t participate. Not easy though, because Carlitos will have 1,360 points to defend out of 2,000 points to win. The margin is not thick.
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Defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan and Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas were both ousted from the US Open by 18-year-olds in epic matches today (Friday) at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Four-time Grand Slam champion, two of which were in New York, Naomi Osaka, ended her journey to defend her title in the third round after she was shocked by Canadian player Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. In his own turn, the third seed and this year’s French Open runner up, Stefanos Tsitsipas, was upset by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 0-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Alcaraz twice led Tsitsipas by a set and showed maturity well beyond his years, as he also recovered from failing to take a game in the fourth. Encouraged by the roaring crowd, the talented Spaniard survived a breakpoint at 3-2 down in the deciding set and showed no sign of tension as he held serve to force the final tie-break. In a dazzling display, Alcaraz landed 61 winners and, after more than four hours of play, clinched his third match point with an assured forehand winner. Alcaraz will face German player Peter Gojowczyk in the fourth round.
“I think without this crowd I haven’t the possibility to win the match,” said Alcaraz. “I was down at the beginning of the fourth set so thank you to the crowd for pushing me up in the fifth… It’s an incredible feeling for me. This victory means a lot to me. It’s the best match of my career, the best win, to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas is a dream come true for me.” Alcaraz is the youngest man in the US Open fourth round since 17-year-old American Michael Chang in 1989 and at any Slam since Ukraine’s Andrei Medvedev in the 1992 French Open.
In the Women’s Singles, Fernandez, who will turn 19 on Monday, upset the world No. 3 and defending champion Naomi Osaka at Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas has defeated young gun Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the final of the Barcelona Opne for the third time.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz swept past Dan Evans 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a final clash with Tsitsipas.
World number five Tsitsipas needed three sets to beat Musetti, who put up a decent fight.
“We had to cover lots of metres on the court and he had some incredible defensive shots that I really didn’t expect at all, it was such a mental challenge,” said Tsitsipas.
“I had to go out there and fight it all through (with) the determination of a lion, and just (went) out there to do the best I can.”
Musetti twice went a break up in an entertaining first set, but Tsitsipas, runner-up at the Australian Open in January, battled back immediately both times.
The Italian saved match point in the second set at 5-4 down to force a decisive third set, but was outplayed by his opponent, who showed more focus than earlier on.
Tsitsipas survived a break point in the first game of the third set and then broke himself for 2-0, applying pressure on Musetti’s serve.
Musetti did not have to play his quarter-final clash after Jannik Sinner withdrew through illness, but Tsitsipas was the stronger in the third set.
Tsitsipas wrapped up the win after two hours and 28 minutes, seeing out his final two service games without dropping a point.
World number two Alcaraz beat Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals at Barcelona last year in three sets in what was the Spaniard’s third win in three meetings against the Greek.
“I feel really comfortable playing here in Barcelona and (I’m) playing well,” said Alcaraz, who has not dropped a set in the tournament this year.
“Stefanos is playing great matches as well. Last year we had a spicy match, let’s say.
“I know he’s a really nice guy off the court, so I’m going to try to forget everything that has happened in the matches before, try to focus on my game tomorrow, and try to get the win.”
Alcaraz missed the Monte Carlo Masters last week because of hand and back problems and has not been at his most consistent on his way to the final.

Tough road ahead for Alcaraz in French Open title quest
Carlos Alcaraz and the man he just replaced atop the world rankings, Novak Djokovic, have been placed in the same half of the French Open field and could face each other in the semi-final.
Alcaraz is seeded No.1 at a grand slam for the first time and was automatically placed in the top section of the bracket.
Djokovic is No.3 and so could have ended up on either half. Had he landed in the bottom, he and Alcaraz only could have met in the final at Roland Garros, where injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal is missing for the first time since his 2005 debut.
Typically, the previous year's singles champions are invited to appear at the draw, so 2022 women's winner Iga Swiatek was present in Paris on Thursday, but Nadal was absent.
Swiatek did not appear to show any ill effects from the hurt right thigh that caused her to stop playing in the third set of her quarter-final in Rome last weekend and indicated that the issue would not prevent her from competing in Paris, where she has won two of her three major trophies.
"It's like my favourite tournament in the whole year, so I'm always excited to come back," said Swiatek.
"Before the tournament, I get this extra motivation to practice harder, to make everything better."
The draw put her in a potential quarter-final against Coco Gauff in what would be a rematch of last year's final.
Alcaraz, who just turned 20, and 36-year-old Djokovic have played each other just once previously, in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open in May 2022, which the Spaniard edged in a tough three-setter.
This year, the men's quarter-finals by seeding would be US Open champ Alcaraz, against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Djokovic against Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev against Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud, runner-up last year, against Holger Rune.
The women's match-ups in that round are scheduled to feature Elena Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, against Ons Jabeur, Australian Open champ Aryna Sabalenka against home hope Caroline Garcia and Jessica Pegula against Maria Sakkari.

6 on Monday, has won his first five career finals.
He became only the sixth player in the Open Era to do so, joining Ernests Gulbis, Martin Klizan, Thomas Enqvist, Andrei Medvedev and Sjeng Schalken. Unlike the quintet, Alcaraz hasn't dropped a set in his first five finals.
If he wins his next final, Alcaraz will join Gulbis and Klizan as the only players to go 6-0 in their first six title matches. The earliest that could happen for Alcaraz is at Roland Garros.

In the doubles, Argentina got a consolation win, with Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos getting up over Italian pairing Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini. The Argentinians won 7-5 2-6 6-3 to ensure they got at least one match in the tie, but will need to belt Croatia in the final match in order to have a chance of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament, having lost to Sweden on the opening day.
CANADA (2) defeated SPAIN (1)
Pool B | Valencia
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) defeated Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 3-6 6-3 6-3
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 6-7 6-4 6-2
Felix Auger Aliassime / Vasek Pospisil (CAN) defeated Marcel Granollers / Pedro Martinez (ESP) 4-6 6-4 7-5
Canada spoiled the party against Spain to set itself up in prime position for a place in the knockout stages of the event. The Canadians won in another thriller 2-1 to move to the top of Pool C, but must still beat Serbia to ensure guaranteed qualification. It was the Spanish who got up early, as Roberto Bautista Agut took care of Vasek Pospisil in three sets, coming from behind to win 3-6 6-3 6-3. It was a battle of two styles, with Pospisil hitting 24 winners – including 11 aces – to nine, but also having 20 unforced errors to five. Bautista Agut’s consistency saw them claim the win in three sets.
After a shock loss in the opening tie of the tournament to Soonwoo Kwon, Felix Auger-Aliassime bounced back to take down US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz in three sets. The world number 13 won 6-7 6-4 6-2 to outwork Alcaraz in the end, serving a whopping 16 aces to three and winning 81 per cent of his first serve points. Auger-Aliassime produced 23 total winners to 18, and hit three less unforced errors (17-20) in another come-from-behind victory.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates winning a point against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini during the men’s singles final on day thirteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Steve Paston/Pool Via AP)
WIMBLEDON, England — Novak Djokovic tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by claiming his 20th Grand Slam title Sunday, coming back to beat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final.
The No. 1 -ranked Djokovic earned a third consecutive championship at the All England Club and sixth overall.
He adds that to nine titles at the Australian Open, three at the U.S. Open and two at the French Open to equal his two rivals for the most majors won by a man in tennis history.
The 34-year-old from Serbia is now the only man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the first three major tournaments in a season. He can aim for a calendar-year Grand Slam — something last accomplished by a man when Laver did it 52 years ago — at the U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 30.
This was Djokovic’s 30th major final — among men, only Federer has played more, 31 — and the first for Berrettini, a 25-year-old from Italy who was seeded No. 7.
It was a big sporting day in London for Italians: Their national soccer team faced England at Wembley Stadium in the European Championship final at night.
With Marija Cicak officiating, the first female chair umpire for a men’s final at a tournament that began in 1877, play began at Centre Court as the sun made a rare appearance during the fortnight, the sky visible in between the clouds.
The opening game featured signs of edginess from both, but especially Djokovic, whose pair of double-faults contributed to the half-dozen combined unforced errors, compared with zero winners for either. He faced a break point but steadied himself and held there and, as was the case with every set, it was Djokovic who took the lead by getting through on Berrettini’s speedy serve.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic returns to action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but the two-time champion will have to negotiate a difficult path if he wants to add a third Monte-Carlo title to his collection following the release of the draw Friday.
The 34-year-old could face #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarter-final at the ATP Masters 1000 event, with Indian Wells titlist Taylor Fritz also in his quarter. A potential Monte-Carlo rematch with Daniel Evans looms in the third round, one year after the Briton upset Djokovic in the fourth round in Monaco – though Evans must first navigate an opening-round meeting with 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Djokovic, who opens against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or American Marcos Giron, has never played Alcaraz, who arrives in Monte-Carlo high in confidence following his title run at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The eighth seed is making his debut at the clay-court event and will begin against Sebastian Korda or Botic van de Zandschulp. Alcaraz is 18-2 on the season, having also triumphed on clay in Rio de Janeiro.
American Fritz earned the biggest title of his career when he ended Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten start to the season to win the trophy in California last month. The 10th seed will play wild card Lucas Catarina in the first round, with French wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Croatian Marin Cilic awaiting next.
In the bottom half of the draw, reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will start his title defense against Italian former champ Fabio Fognini or Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime seeded to meet the Greek in the quarter-finals.
Third seed Tsitsipas downed Andrey Rublev to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 crown last year and will be aiming to regain top form this week after losing to Alcaraz in the fourth round in Miami at the end of March.
Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime has won just one match since he clinched the title in Rotterdam and reached the final in Marseille at the end of February. The sixth seed, who is making his fourth appearance in Monte-Carlo, will play #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti or Benoit Paire in his opening match.

Novak Djokovic has been drawn in the same half of the French Open men's singles draw as Carlos Alcaraz, meaning the pair could meet in the semi-finals.
World number one Alcaraz, playing his first major as a Grand Slam champion, starts against a qualifier.
Djokovic is seeded third as he goes for a record 23rd men's major title and plays American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Cameron Norrie, one of only three British players in the singles, starts against France's Benoit Paire.
Former world number one Andy Murray withdrew last week to focus on the upcoming grass-court season.
Emma Raducanu, who would have received a place in the main draw, is also not playing following operations on both her wrists and an ankle.
As a result, no Britons feature in the women's singles after six players lost in the qualifying rounds.
It is the first time the nation is not represented in a Grand Slam main draw since the 2009 US Open.
The French Open, which is the second major of the season, starts on the Roland Garros clay on Sunday.
What else happened in the men's draw?
There is an unfamiliar feeling to this year's event with the absence of 14-time men's singles champion Rafael Nadal because of a hip injury.
Spain's Nadal, 36, announced last week he would not be playing at Roland Garros for the first time in 19 years and he was not present at Thursday's draw, with tradition dictating the defending champion is usually there.
Instead, all eyes were centred on which half of the draw Djokovic would land.
The Serb, who turned 36 last week, ended up in the same half as 20-year-old Alcaraz, who won the US Open last year but missed the season-opening major at the Australian Open through injury.
Russia's Daniil Medvedev is seeded second after winning last week's Italian Open and starts his campaign against a qualifier.
Who plays who in the women's singles?
Defending champion Iga Swiatek, who is the top seed and bidding for a third French Open title, starts against Spanish world number 67 Cristina Bucsa.
The 21-year-old from Poland is optimistic a recent thigh injury will not prevent her from trying to claim a fourth Grand Slam title.

Marin Cilic won his very first Grand Slam title. The towering 25- year-old from Croatia dominated Kay Nishikori in straights sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Serena Williams dominated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-3 in a match that took only an hour and 15 minutes. Serena smacked over 7 times the number of winners (29 winners to Wozniacki’s 4).
Serena Williams ended a difficult-for-her Grand Slam season in the best way possible, winning her third consecutive U.S. Open title by beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.
Roger Federer could not pull off another big escape at the U.S. Open, losing 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals Saturday against Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Kei Nishikori became the first Asian man to advance to a Grand Slam final. The 24-year-old from Japan ousted the top-ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori became the first man from Asia to reach a Grand Slam final, stunning top-ranked Novak Djokovic in four sets at the U.S. Open.
Federer was broken only once, part of a three-game run for Bautista Agut that took the score from 5-1 to 5-4. But Federer had no trouble the second time he tried to serve out that set, which he ended with a pair of aces.
Carlos Beltran hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as the New York Yankees broke out to support improbable fill-in starter Esmil Rogers and beat the sloppy Cleveland Indians 10-6 on Friday night for their sixth win in seven games.
Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci became the fifth duo to complete a career Grand Slam in women’s doubles together, winning Wimbledon for the first time Saturday.
Taylor Teagarden hit a grand slam in his Mets debut, Daniel Murphy had a two-run shot and New York beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Tuesday night to snap a six-game skid.
The earliest real signs of trouble for Andy Murray came in the 10th game of his U.S.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie suffered a heart-breaking defeat by seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the final of the Estoril Open.
Norrie was bidding to win his first ATP title and continue a brilliant season by claiming silverware, but he was edged out 4-6 6-3 7-6 (3) by Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas after two hours and 44 minutes.
The 25-year-old, whose previous final came in his home city of Auckland in 2019, had battled past second seed Cristian Garin and former US Open champion Marin Cilic in his previous two matches.
He now found himself up against a clay-court specialist in Ramos-Vinolas, who had won two previous titles on the surface.
The Spaniard responded well to an early Norrie break of serve and piled the pressure on the British number two.
But, as he has done so impressively all season, Norrie stayed calm, weathered the storm and seized his moment to claim the opening set.
Ramos-Vinolas took an injury time-out for an apparent groin problem after dropping serve to go 2-1 down in the second set, but Norrie was unable to convert a 40-0 lead in the next game and was made to pay as his opponent levelled the match.
It was Norrie’s turn to call the trainer down a break after three games of the decider, taking painkillers for a left foot issue, and he immediately got back on level terms.
Both men looked to be feeling the physical effects of a gruelling battle, but it was Ramos-Vinolas who emerged victorious, coming from 3-1 down to claim the tie-break.
Nikoloz Basilashvili won his second title of the season at the BMW Open in Munich without dropping a set.
The Georgian, who had been in dreadful form before winning the title in Doha in March, defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 7-6 (5).
On the first day of play at the Madrid Open, 11th seed Denis Shapovalov was a confident 6-1 6-3 winner over Dusan Lajovic, while there were also victories for Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik and Alex De Minaur.

Indian Wells, the 1,000 Masters of the golden retirement of millionaires from Palm Springs (California), returns after two years of hiatus due to the pandemic. Without the Big Three (Nadal, Federer and Djokovic). Without Serena Williams or Asleigh Barty. And in it, Carlos Alcaraz (18 years old) takes another step in his fledgling and promising career. It debuts as seeded in a tournament of this category (30th and 38th in the ATP ranking), thanks to his quarterfinals at the US Open, which is why he is excluded from the first round and will make his debut directly in the second round towards the weekend … before the winner of the Adrian Manarino-Andy Murray. All a Grand Slam winner and former number one can be in front in his premiere. The third round is not easy either, as he could meet Alexander Zverev.
The Murcian has also signed up for the doubles draw with Pablo Carreño, which may give clues about his likely presence in the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid (from November 22). Roberto Bautista has also signed up with Alejandro Davidovich. With the absence of Nadal, the four have all the ballots to be in the appointment in which they defend their title.
For its part, Garbiñe Muguruza, who has just won the WTA 500 in Chicago, will face Alja Tomjanovic in the second round or a player from the previous one.
OTHER SPANISH CROSSES
Pablo Carreño vs Facundo Bagnis or previous
Roberto Bautista vs Guido Pella or Soonwoo Kwon
Carlos Taberner vs Jaume Munar
Feliciano Lopez vs Tommy Paul
Alejandro Davidovich vs Stevie Johnson
Pablo Andújar vs previous
Pedro Martínez vs previous
Roberto Carballés vs previous
Albert Ramos vs Lorenzo Musetti
Paula Badosa vs Dayana Yastremska or Elsa Jacquemot
Sara Sorribes vs Claire Liu or previous
Nuria Párrizas vs Lauren Davis

Vondrousova Completes Stunning Run At Wimbledon, Wins First Grand Slam Denying Jabeur
“I think everything is sinking in, Vondrousova said. “It’s unbelievable. It was very tough match, and I was so nervous before. I’m just so grateful and proud of myself.
“It was really tough in some moments. I think it was just a great match. We had some great rallies. She’s amazing player. She’s amazing person. That was the tough part also. We know each other very well.
“I’m just very happy that I kept fighting in the important moments.”
The 24-year-old lefty had just four career wins on grass courts entering the event, yet after five wins over seeds she leaves with the Wimbledon title.
“I didn’t play well before on grass. When we were coming here, I was like, Okay, just play without stress, just try to win couple of matches. Then this happened,” she said.
Playing in her first final since the Tokyo Olympics, Vondrousova came out behind in a nervy start for both players on Centre which had the roof closed due to high winds. But with Jabeur in command at 4-2, then bottom dropped out for the Tunisian.
Vondrousova would run off 16 of the next 18 points and four straight games to take the opener.
Jabeur, in her third Slam final, would leave the court in disarray.
Vondrousova would hold but Jabeur would up her game to go up 3-1. Vondrousova again stormed back, this time for good taking advantage of a failing Jabeur backhand to win five of the last six games.
Vondrousova wins just her second career title, first since 2017 Biel in Switzerland. She had come up short in the 2019 French Open as a 19-year-old.
“Winning, it’s amazing feeling,” Vondrousova added. “I have my husband here. My little sister came also on Friday. Yeah, I’m just very happy to share with the people I have here ’cause in Paris it was a bit sad. I couldn’t go there to hug them. Now this happened.

Carlos Alcaraz is playing a lot of matches lately with 8 matches in 11 days but he's not worried about any injury despite feeling pain at times.
The Spaniard missed tennis a lot during his 4-month absence and it's clear by the way he's performing in South America. Having to play many matches is not a concern for him even as he won his 8th match in 11 days.
I'm so proud of myself. To be in a final again in my second tournament is a really special moment for me... I couldn't ask for a better start of 2023.
Alcaraz did seem in discomfort at times during the match with his leg giving him pain at times. Asked about that, Alcaraz brushed it aside saying that it's normal to play with some pain, it's just the life of an athlete at times.
I don't worry about that. It's a tennis player's life. Playing with some pain is normal for a tennis player. Even more if we are playing win by win, no break for almost 14 days in a row. It's normal. I'm going to take care of that and go into the final 100 per cent.
After beating Nicolas Jarry in the semifinals, Alcaraz will play his second consecutive ATP final as he'll meet the same opponent again, Cameron Norrie. If the Spaniard wins, he will match Novak Djokovic's 6980 points, but won't move to world no. 1 spot.

Were he to achieve all three, he would become the first man, and only the second player after Steffi Graf in 1988, to win the so-called Golden Slam.
Djokovic’s long-time coach, Marian Vajda, believes it is a distinct possibility, saying with tongue in cheek: “We said with (fellow coach) Goran (Ivanisevic) that if he accomplishes the year (all) the Grand Slams that we’re going to quit.
“I think it’s possible, much more possible. He loves to play in Wimbledon and the US Open. I was worried a little bit more about clay court because for a long time, in the past 10 years let’s say, he had great results and he could have done much more at the French Open but he just couldn’t make it.
“As much as Novak is healthy – and he’s healthy right now, he’s in great shape – I think he has the ability to win the Grand Slam for this year. I’m pretty sure.”
It was a difficult defeat for Tsitsipas to swallow after leading by two sets but, in his first Grand Slam final, the Greek proved that he is very likely to be a slam winner in the near future.
Tsitsipas’ best result at Wimbledon was a run to the fourth round in 2018, and he is hopeful of performing strongly on the grass.
He said of his showing in Paris: “I’m happy with the way I performed, the way I tried things, even if they didn’t work. I don’t think I have regrets. I could have easily cried, but I see no reason for me crying because I tried everything. I couldn’t come up with anything better.
“I’m looking forward to the grass-court season. I see there is opportunities there for me. I like playing on grass. I didn’t have the best results a few years ago, before Covid, when I last played on grass.
“I think I have the game to play good on grass, too. I just need to be open-minded and adapt my game to this new, exciting surface.”
Heather Watson gets the job done after eight minutes of play on Thursday
Heather Watson moves along after victory over Wang Qiang.
Alastair Gray’s Wimbledon singles journey ended by Taylor Fritz in the second round
The Twickenham ace battled well against the world No 14.

Indian Wells, California. , Carlos Alcaraz He is three wins away from returning to the world top by reaching the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday.
Alcaraz, ranked No. 2, when upgraded jack draper Retired after 46 minutes of play with the Spaniard up 6–2, 2–0. It was Alcaraz’s 101st ATP Tour win.
Alcaraz said, “I would say I made a good comeback, I hit great shots.” “I finished the match confident in my shots, so that I can go into the next round with more confidence.”
Draper was affected by an abdominal injury that first surfaced in his win against Andy Murray one day before. The injury affected Britt’s serve, which dropped below 100 mph, and his movement. An athletic trainer visited him between sets and Draper won just one point in the first two games of the second set before leaving.
Coco Gauff Rallyed from break down in third set to defeat Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.
Down 4–2, Gauff came back and saved three break points in the next game while serving at 4–all before closing out the match.
Four years earlier, Peterson had defeated the then 14-year-old Gauff at a Challenger tournament in Michigan.
Gough said in court, “He beat me pretty badly.” “I think today was really a mental thing, just staying in the match. I wasn’t playing my best in some moments and I wasn’t serving like I wanted to, but I think my The mindset kept me in.” ,
Sixth-seeded American next plays No. 2 seed Aryan Sabalenkawho beat 16th seed Barbora Krejcikova6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 3 jessica pegula lost to 15th seed Petra Kvitova American drops four match points after 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (11)
“It’s very tiring when it’s a match like this,” Kvitova said. “Up and down. Definitely one of the best matches I have played.”
sorana cristia number 5 drawn Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, No.

He joins Sebastian Korda in the last 16 as the first qualifiers to reach that stage at Roland Garros in nine years.
Altmaier has yet to drop a set in the tournament and will face 17th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the last 16.
The US Open semi-finalist was the winner of an all-Spanish meeting with 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, seeing off his compatriot 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-4.
Carreno Busta, who was a break down in the fourth set, hit 65 winners to make it through in three hours and 22 minutes.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 22, was racing into the next round when Slovenian opponent Aljaz Bedene was forced to retire at 6-1 6-2 3-1 with an ankle problem.
Tsitsipas will play Grigor Dimitrov after Roberto Carballes Baena retired when the Bulgarian 18th seed was leading 6-1 6-3.
Russian 13th seed Andrey Rublev breezed past Kevin Anderson to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time.
Rublev hit 27 winners and did not face a single break point as he dominated the South African to win 6-3 6-2 6-3.
The 22-year-old, who had never won a French Open match before this week, will play Marton Fucsovics for a place in the quarter-finals.
Hungarian Fucsovics beat Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 7-5 6-1 6-3.

Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic win Men’s Doubles Title
Croatian Pair of Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic defeated Marcel Granollers (Spain) & Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) to win the Men’s Doubles Title of Wimbledon.
- With this, they became the 1st Croatian Pair to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title.
Elise Mertens, Hsieh Su-wei win Women’s Doubles Title
Elise Mertens (Belgium) & Hsieh Su-wei (Chinese Taipei) defeated Russian pair of Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina to win the Women’s Doubles Title of Wimbledon.
Neal Skupski & Desirae Krawczyk win Mixed Doubles Title
Neal Skupski (UK) & Desirae Krawczyk (US) defeated Joe Salisbury (UK) & Harriet Dart (UK) to win the Mixed Doubles Title of Wimbledon.
Indian-origin Samir Banerjee wins Boys Singles Title at Wimbledon
India-origin Samir Banerjee who represents US defeated Victor Lilov (US) to win the Boys Singles Title of Wimbledon 2021. He is the 1st American Junior Champion at Wimbledon since Reilly Opelka in 2015.
- Till now, 4 Indian players have won Junior Grand Slam Titles – Yuki Bhambri (2009 Australian Open), Leander Paes (Wimbledon 1990 and US Open 1991), Ramesh Krishnan (French Open and Wimbledon 1979) and Ramanathan Krishnan (Wimbledon 1954).

Jannik Sinner lined up a forehand, drilled it down the line and dropped to the court on his back, giving himself a few moments to process how he’d managed to come back from two sets down to win his first Grand Slam title.
The 22-year-old Sinner found a way to turn defence into attack in his first major final and take the Australian Open title from Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.
“I still have to process it, because ... beating Novak [Djokovic] in the semis and then today Daniil in the final, they are tough players to beat,” Sinner said. “So it’s a great moment for me and my team. But in the other way, we also know that we have to improve if we want to have another chance to hold a big trophy again.”
It was his third straight win over a top 5 player after his quarter-final victory over Andrey Rublev and his semifinal upset that ended No. 1 Djokovic’s long domination of the tournament. Only Djokovic and Roger Federer have done that previously in a major played on hard courts.
He’s in great company.
Sinner is the first Italian to win the Australian Open and the youngest winner in a men’s final here since Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title in 2008.
With Carlos Alcaraz winning Wimbledon and Sinner winning the season-opening major, a generation shift is arriving.
Jannik Sinner of Italy. Photo / Getty Images.
He thanked his parents for not forcing anything on to him and for letting him make big life choices, including moving away from home at 14.
“It’s been a hell of a journey,” the 22-year-old Sinner said, wiping his long, orange fringe out of his eyes, “even though I’m only 22.”
For 2021 US Open champion Medvedev, the loss was his fifth in six major finals. The third-seeded Medvedev set a record with his fourth five-set match of the tournament and time on court at a major in the Open era, his 24 hours and 17 minutes surpassing Carlos Alcaraz’s 23:40 at the 2022 U.S. Open.

She won 56% and 31% of her first and second serve points respectively during that match, and those numbers simply don't cut it..
yorkshire cricket players,After clarifying that he won against all members of the Big 4 in his career (the interviewer said three), Tsitsipas proceeded to note the strengths of each one, saying that they will "remain probably one of the best in our sport.",The tournament will be held from Friday, September 23 – Sunday, September 25 at the O2 arena in London. Additionally, an Open Practice Day will be held on Thursday, September 22..
When Federer's children arrived on the court and cried as they hugged their father, Djokovic was moved by what he saw and he started sobbing as well.,But she experienced a steep decline in her performances thereafter. This year, Raducanu has managed to accumulate just 17 wins against 18 losses. Her best results have been quarterfinal finishes at the Stuttgart Open and the Citi Open, and most recently, reaching the semifinals of the Korea Open.,The Spaniard beat Djokovic on grass in the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals and in the Queen's Club final a year later..
Furthermore, the Spaniard defeated Soonwoo Kwon in straight sets in the Davis Cup Finals to secure Spain's victory over South Korea and help his country qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament.,22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will join his compatriot and World No.1, Carlos Alcaraz, in securing a Spanish 1-2 in the ATP rankings on Monday.,In the third match of the day, Tiafoe lost the first set 6-1 to Tsitsipas before mounting a stunning comeback. He saved two match points in the second-set tie-breaker to win it 7-6(11), before clinching the match tie-breaker 10-8.

Verdasco hammered four aces and saved six of seven break point chances in the match that lasted one hour, 52 minutes.
Verdasco has won seven of 10 career meetings with Almagro.
“I am so tired I don’t know if I can talk so much,” said Verdasco, who also reached the doubles final in Casablanca.
Almagro made Verdasco work for the victory as he hit eight aces, won 72 percent of his first serve points and saved seven of nine break points.
It marked the second year in a row Almagro finished runner-up in Houston, losing last year to John Isner.
Almagro was handed a free pass into the final when the US’ Sam Querrey was cut down by a back injury in the semi-finals.
“He played a really good match today, and he’s the winner,” Almagro said of Verdasco. “It was a battle today, and he really concentrated on his serve. I had many chances and I didn’t [take them] and that’s the key of the match.”
GRAND PRIX HASSAN II
AP, CASABLANCA, Morocco
Eighth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won his first title in nearly four years after rallying to beat fourth seed Marcel Granollers 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Spanish final on clay at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Garcia-Lopez’s previous title was on indoor hard courts in Bangkok in 2010 and he had lost his previous two finals — last year on clay at Bucharest and on indoor hard courts in St Petersburg, Russia.
Granollers, who was bidding for his fifth career title, dropped his serve five times and was less consistent in Casablanca, Morocco.
The 28-year-old won only 60 percent of first-serve points, compared with 76 percent for Garcia-Lopez, who won their only previous meeting in the second round of the same tournament in 2010.
Garcia-Lopez continued the recent dominance of his countrymen at the tournament, becoming the fourth Spaniard to take the title over the past six years after Tommy Robredo won it last year, Pablo Andujar in 2011 and 2012, and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2009.

Third seed Jessica Pegula became the latest top-ranked player to bite the dust at the US Open on Monday as Carlos Alcaraz looked to keep his title defence on track.
A day after world number one and reigning women’s champion Iga Swiatek was sent crashing out on Sunday, Pegula found herself heading for the exit as she slumped to defeat against American compatriot and close friend Madison Keys.
Pegula had gone into the US Open dreaming of a first ever Grand Slam title, buoyed by victory in last month’s WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Montreal.
But the 29-year-old’s US Open campaign came to an abrupt halt in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium as 2017 US Open finalist Keys recorded a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win in just 61 minutes.
Pegula was left with no answer as Keys unleashed a stream of 21 winners to her six.
Keys also punished her friend’s shaky serve, breaking her five times en route to victory.
“It’s always tough having to play a friend but we’ve been doing it our whole lives at this point,” Keys, 28, said.
“When we get on the court it’s all business and when we get off the court we go back to being friends.”
The 17th-seeded Keys will now face Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Ninth seed Vondrousova booked her place in the last eight with a battling win over unseeded American Peyton Stearns, coming from a set down to win 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.
Vondrousova made history in July after becoming the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, her first Grand Slam title.
The 24-year-old has never been past the fourth round at the US Open, and admitted after her win on Monday she had surprised herself by advancing to the last eight.
“She was playing great from the beginning, and I just tried to stay in the game,” Vondrousova said of Stearns.
“I’m very happy. I actually didn’t expect it after Wimby — it was a lot of pressure.

LONDON (Reuters) - Stan Wawrinka met stiff resistance from American teenager Taylor Fritz before he finally asserted his dominance in a 7-6(4) 6-1 6-7(2) 6-4 first-round victory at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The Swiss fourth seed was far from his best, with his groundstrokes uncharacteristically erratic, but his fearsome one-handed backhand and experience were enough to see off the 18-year-old making his tournament debut.
Wawrinka, who will play Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in the next round, said he and other players needed to get used to grasscourt conditions.
“I know if I can start to win few matches, I can be dangerous to go far,” he told reporters.
Fritz, the youngest man in the draw, showed few nerves in the first set as he matched the twice grand slam champion shot-for-shot in a punishing baseline battle on Number One Court.
But his confidence seemed to evaporate after he lost the tiebreak. He won just one game in the second set as Wawrinka found his range and bossed the exchanges.
Wawrinka struggled for concentration in a scrappy third set in which he made a string of unforced errors and he lost the tiebreak. Visibly angry with himself, the 31-year-old stepped up his game to close out the match in the fourth.
He had encouraging words for Fritz.
“He has a big potential,” Wawrinka said. “For sure he is the future of tennis.”
Editing by Ed Osmond

Eight-time champion Roger Federer recovered from a first-set wobble to record his 96th win at Wimbledon and advance to the second round with victory over South African debutant Lloyd Harris.
As verbal sparring partners Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios set up the first men's blockbuster of the tournament, Swiss legend Federer started slowly as he began his bid for a record-extending 21st grand slam title, struggling to find his rhythm against an opponent who had never won a match on grass.
It was only the second time anyone had taken a set off Federer in a first-round match in his last 17 Wimbledon appearances.
But if 22-year-old Harris, ranked 86 in the world, harboured any hopes of a famous win his dreams were crushed brutally over the next three sets as the second seed won 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.
"I just struggled. As my legs weren't moving," admitted Federer.
"In defence you're weak. The next thing you know you're struggling."
The Swiss now plays Britain's Jay Clarke, who won his first grand slam match against American qualifier Noah Rubin 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-4.
More from Wimbledon:
- Australia's queen of tennis leads batch of big guns at Wimbledon
- Ash Barty's Wimbledon campaign off to a flying start
- Nick Kyrgios battles back to win first set against compatriot Jordan Thompson
- Ash Barty's candid response when asked whether she can win Wimbledon tournament
Third-seeded Nadal, bidding to claim the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year for a third time, beat qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-3 6-1 6-3 to seal a showdown with Kyrgios, who beat fellow Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-6 (12-10) 0-6 6-1 and criticised the Spaniard recently in a podcast, branding him "super salty".
Also on Tuesday, fifth-seeded French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem crashed out in the first round after having to retire at the same stage last year, losing 6-7 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-0 to American Sam Querrey.

Britain's Andy Murray has secured his second Wimbledon title after beating Canada's Milos Raonic in straight sets in Sunday's men's singles final.
Murray won 6-4, 7-6 [7-3] and 7-6 [7-2] to add to the title he won back in 2013 against Novak Djokovic.
The 29-year-old surpassed Fred Perry and Bunny Austin’s record after reaching his 11th grand slam final.
Present in the final between Murray and Raonic was the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who watched from the Royal Box.
His victory in three sets means he has now won his third Grand Slam.

While his tournament is over, two of his long-time rivals at the top of tennis set up a semifinal showdown: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Nadal, who’s won two of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, edged 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a wildly entertaining match that featured diving shots by both and lasted 4 hours, 48 minutes. Djokovic, whose 12 major championships include three from the All England Club, got to his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2016 by beating No. 24 seed Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
The thin line between victory and defeat.Until today, Roger Federer had never lost at #Wimbledon having held match point… pic.twitter.com/GXtjW8Dkr7 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2018
In Friday’s other men’s match, Anderson will face No. 9 John Isner, the 33-year-old American who reached his first major semifinal in his 41st try by eliminating 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-3. Isner hit 25 aces, saved the only break point he faced, and has won all 95 of his service games in the tournament.
Now Nadal or Djokovic can inch closer to Federer on the all-time Majors list:Federer – 20 Nadal – 17 Sampras – 14 Djokovic – 12 pic.twitter.com/UcFgZbXUiH — Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) July 11, 2018

Whether or not Novak Djokovic takes to the court for his fourth-round clash against Milos Raonic will be the big talking point of Sunday’s action.
A blockbuster schedule begins with a clash between women’s title favourite Naomi Osaka and last year’s finalist Garbine Muguruza before Serena Williams takes on big-hitting Aryna Sabalenka.
Iga Swiatek will attempt to beat Simona Halep at a second successive grand slam while Dominic Thiem faces Grigor Dimitrov.
Carlos Alcaraz reveals severity of his injury and when he will return to action
Carlos Alcaraz has divulged the results of an MRI scan on the injury he suffered in Rio.
Holger Rune reunites with Patrick Mouratoglou as he reaffirms his huge goals
“With him I have achieved some of the greatest triumphs of my career so far.”
Andy Murray set for ranking drop as he declares ‘this game isn’t for me anymore’ in brutal loss
Andy Murray’s ranking is set to suffer after his painful, marathon loss in Doha.
Novak Djokovic secures astonishing ranking milestone involving Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic is set to achieve a staggering ranking statistic.
Stan Wawrinka gives telling Novak Djokovic verdict as he answers GOAT question
“I know how hard it was to win with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in the draws.”
‘Jannik Sinner shares champion’s mentality with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal’, feels former world No 8
“That’s the champion’s mentality. These guys are always looking to get better.”
What Carlos Alcaraz’s Rio misfortune means for Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner in ATP Rankings race
Novak Djokovic set to stay at No 1 while Jannik Sinner is breathing down Carlos Alcaraz’s neck.
Andy Murray issues ‘huge apology’ to his wife ‘for whatever I was doing to her mouth’
Trust Andy Murray to pipe up with a funny comment about his first-ever ATP title win.
WATCH: ATP player suffers incredible meltdown – A racket smash, a point penalty and ‘a bit of fortune’
Botic van de Zandschulp had a second set to forget in Qatar.
WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz has a ‘ball on his ankle’ after unfortunate Rio Open incident
It was a painful one for Carlos Alcaraz in Rio.

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Roland-Garros Day 3 men’s recap – Djokovic, Nadal, Monfils win but Rublev and Auger-Aliassime go down
Your guide to the biggest stories from the men’s side at 2021 Roland-Garros as the first round continues in Paris on Tuesday 1st June
• Seeds winning on Tuesday at Roland-Garros (1st round): Novak Djokovic (1), Rafael Nadal (3), Matteo Berrettini (9), Diego Schwartzman (10), Gael Monfils (14), Alex de Minaur (21), Aslan Karatsev (24)
• Seeds losing on Tuesday: Andrey Rublev (7), Felix Auger-Aliassime (20), Ugo Humbert (29)
• Yesterday’s coverage about Federer and Medvedev winning among others results is available here.
• To follow our full coverage of the 2021 French Open, please visit this page.
• To follow live results and to see the men’s draw and women’s draw, we recommend you follow the official Roland Garros website.
• Tomorrow’s programme at Roland-Garros will be available here. For today’s schedule, you can click here
• All the practical information – how to watch the tournament, how to buy tickets and everything else you could possibly need to know – are hopefully on this page.
MONFILS GETS SECOND WIN OF SEASON
Gael Monfils picked up his second win of the year and his second win since February of 2020 when he defeated an in-form Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4. The Frenchman treated the crowd at Court Suzanne-Lenglen to an emotional victory after three hours and two minutes.
Monfils will next meet Mikael Ymer, a five-set winner over Roberto Carballes Baena.
RUBLEV OUT IN FIRST ROUND
In one of the two biggest upsets of the men’s tournament so far (also No 4 Dominic Thiem losing to Pablo Andujar), Andrey Rublev lost to Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-6(6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 after three hours and 46 minutes.

Carreno Busta takes it to deuce though, with a forehand winner. Match-point saved.
Carreno Busta's sliced backhand lacks the power to make it across the net. Advantage and set point to Zverev. Another mistake from Carreno Busta, and Zverev is through to his first Grand Slam final! What a comeback win for the German!
Fourth Set: Alexander Zverev 6-4
Zverev serves for the set. Good start with an ace. Zverev shanks a backhand and it hits the net. 15-15. Double fault after he tries to go for the gusto on the second serve. Excellent drop volley from Zverev. 30-30. Good serve and he has set point. Ace and we go to the fifth set!
Third Set: Alexander Zverev 6-3
Ace and 15-0. 30-0, after Carreno Busta can't make the return. Another ace and it's 40-0. Three set points. He's done it, he's won the third set! Incredible serving from the German!
Second Set: Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2
Alexander Zverev wins the first point after Carreno Busta hits a forehand wide. Another forehand goes wide and Zverev is up 0-30. Carreno Busta gets his first point of the game after Zverev misses up a return. Excellent forehand winner from Carreno Busta and it's 30-30. An ace and he's on set point. Poor shot from Carreno Busta, we go to deuce.
Another mistake from Zverev. Advantage and set point to Carreno Busta! Another vamos and another set in the bag for the Spaniard!
First Set: Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3
For the second time, Carreno Busta serves for the set. Zverev wins the first point, Carreno Busta the second. 15-15. Zverev makes an error after a little rally, it's 30-15. Ooh, Carreno Busta tries to go heavy on the forehand, and miscues it. 30-30. Carreno Busta is adjudged to have hit a backhand long, but he challenges.

Indian-American Samir Banerjee performed brilliantly at Wimbledon to win the Junior Grand Slam title. Sameer defeated compatriot Viktor Lilov in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
In this one-sided match, Samir was completely overwhelmed by Viktor Lilov and the pressure of the big final did not reflect on his game. Victor tried to fight somewhat against Sameer, but in the crucial moments, Banerjee displayed good serve and return shots to win the first set 7-5. Victor was greatly affected by the victory of the first set. He made some inexplicable mistakes against Sameer. Sameer, on the other hand, took full advantage of this to raise the level of his game point-by-point, with Victor succumbing to the pressure as time passed. And Sameer won the second set 6-3 to win the junior title.

I think most of the time I spend on tour. I practice in Slovakia between the tournaments. I had camps in Dubai. So I don’t live anywhere, to be honest.”
She said after her quarterfinal win: “I just want the war to end as soon as possible.”
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has an abdominal injury and says he won’t play his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios on Friday.
Elena Rybakina defeated 2019 champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court to set up a Wimbledon final against Ons Jabeur.
Both the 17th-seeded Rybakina and third-seeded Jabeur are first-time Grand Slam finalists.
Rybakina is the first Kazakhstan player to reach a major final. Jabeur is the first Arab woman to reach a major final and the first African woman to do so in the Open era.
The 23-year-old Rybakina is the youngest Wimbledon finalist since 2015 when Garbiñe Muguruza lost to Serena Williams.
Halep, the 2018 French Open champion, had reached the semifinals without dropping a set but was broken early in both sets.
The 30-year-old Romanian wasn’t able to defend her Wimbledon title last year — after the 2020 edition was canceled — because of a calf injury.
The second women’s semifinal match between Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina has started on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Halep won the title at the All England Club in 2019. Rybakina has never been this far at a major tournament.
The winner will play Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final.
Ons Jabeur advanced to her first Grand Slam final by beating Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 on Centre Court at Wimbledon in a victory that is also a first for Arab and African women.
The Tunisian is the first Arab woman to reach a major final and the first African woman to do so in the Open era.
The third-seeded Jabeur will face either 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep or 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final.

Carlos Alcaraz says he has grown so much as a player in the last year that he is now comfortable playing at the highest level alongside the best players in the world.
Alcaraz has had an astonishing rise to the top ten, ranked only 120 less than a year ago, the young Spaniard has come through the ranks and has won an impressive three tournaments already this year.
The 18-year-old has scooped titles at Rio de Janeiro, Miami and Barcelona and has an impressive 23 – 3 win loss record so far.
With his Madrid Open challenge about to start, Alcaraz reflected on how far he has come since he last played the tournament.
"I think that as a player I have grown a lot, [and also] as a person," Alcaraz said in his pre-tournament press conference. "
"Last year I came here to live these kinds of matches, to be able to gain some experience, to be able to level myself against the best players in the world. Now I consider myself one of them."
Alcaraz thinks although he has clearly grown in physique and strength, it is actually his mental strength that has been the biggest factor in his progress.
“I would say my fitness has been important but definitely the most important part has been the mental game. I feel I have grown up so much in that part," said Alcaraz.
"That is why I am the world number nine right now and that is why I am playing at a good level. That is why I have been able to win great matches, so I think [my mentality] is the most important thing.”
Alcaraz will be performing in his home country in front of an expectant crowd and he admits it does add extra pressure but he's excited.
"It's not easy to play at home. There is a lot of expectation, a lot of people that want to see you doing it well," Alcaraz said.
"But I'm a player that turns things around. I take that as a motivation, as an extra punch, extra help.
“I am really excited to be competing here. It is great to play in Spain in front of my home crowd. I try not to think about the pressure.
"I just try and think about myself and play my best on court. I am trying to have a great time with the crowd pushing me up.

* Del Potro and Ferrer through to second round
* Wins also for promising players Raonic and Dimitrov (Adds quotes, details, other results)
By Sonia Oxley
LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Juan Martin del Potro provided some encouragement for the rest of the chasing pack in the men's game at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Apart from single triumphs by the Argentine and Britain's Andy Murray, the trio of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won every one of the last 33 slams.
The Argentine, who reached the second round with a 6-2 7-5 6-1 victory over Spain's Albert Ramos, is in a group of players always waiting to capitalise on slip-ups by the triumvirate.
Nadal has already tumbled out at the All England Club, suffering a shock first-round loss to Steve Darcis on Monday, which spells good news for the cluster of 'best of the rest' players.
Murray, who has reached three of the last four grand slam finals, has also opened up a gap with the chasing pack.
"All the players can beat the top 10 players, the top four, the top five," said Del Potro, whose 2009 U.S. Open victory and Murray's 2012 win at the same tournament are the only times a non-'Big Three' name has won a major since 2005.
"I knew after three or four years they win every grand slam, the same players... It's really difficult (to) break that name on the big tournaments," he told a news conference.
"But, of course, I'm trying. I like to play the grand slams. They are (the) longest tournaments, and you can play maybe a bad match and survive and that gives confidence for the next rounds. In the grand slam during 15 days, everything can happen."
Eighth seed Del Potro, who missed the French Open because of a virus, will face Canadian Jesse Levine in the second round after shaking off the rust to beat left-handed Ramos.
Having sailed through the first set, he made hard work of the second when, having broken and established a 5-2 lead, the net-shy Argentine was caught out by some drop shots.

It was an efficient victory for 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal over Botic van de Zandschulp, winning over the Dutchman, 6-4 6-2 7-6 (8-6) at the All England Club.
The proceedings on the Centre Court went on for 2 hours and 20 minutes, which ended before the 11 pm curfew. It almost left defending champion Novak Djokovic in limbo on Sunday. The victory ensures that Nadal is on course for the Grand Slam this calendar year.
Nadal now is set to reunite with American Taylor Fritz, who beat him in the Indian Wells final in March. The Spaniard was then playing with a stress fracture of a rib. Last month, Nadal had undergone radio-wave treatment for a nerve in his left foot so he could compete in SW19.
Constant discussions about his fitness has been wearing down Nadal though.
“I am a little bit tired to talk about my body. Sometimes I am tired about myself, all the issues that I am having. I prefer to not talk about that now. Sorry for that,” Nadal said.
“But I am in the middle of the tournament and I have to keep going. All respect for the rest of the opponents. I am just trying my best every single day. For the moment I am healthy enough to keep going and fight for the things that I want.
“It takes a lot of mental and physical effort to try to play this tournament after the things that I went through the last couple of months. But as everybody knows, Wimbledon is a tournament that I like so much.”
“I have been three years without playing here. I really wanted to be back. That’s what I am doing. So that’s why it means a lot for me to be in the quarter-finals,” he added.
The 11th-seeded Fritz easily defeated Australia’s Jason Kubler 6-3 6-1 6-4 to make it to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
“My first Grand Slam quarter-final, that’s really a big deal,” said Fritz, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“Part of the final eight and… I’m glad I could get the win on the Fourth of July, being American.”
The victory was Fritz 8th straight on grass after winning the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Eastbourne.

Then, with Muguruza serving to stay in the first set at 5-4 down, came a 19-shot rally that changed everything.
Williams lost it as she dumped a forehand into the net, and was never the same player again.
It was all Muguruza after that, taking nine straight games to win her first Wimbledon crown, 7-5 6-0, and become the first player in history to defeat both Williams sisters in grand slam finals.
What looked like a classic Wimbledon final after the first set turned into an anti-climax when Muguruza won the second, and the championship, 6-0 in 26 minutes on a challenge in front of a stunned Centre Court crowd.
"It was my hardest match today," said Muguruza, as former Spanish king Juan Carlos watched from the royal box. "I grew up watching her play."
Williams' stunning collapse in the second set capped an emotional few weeks for the former top-ranked American, who had been involved in a car crash last month at home in Florida in which a man eventually died.
On July 8, Florida police said a newly surfaced video showed Williams "was acting lawfully" when she steered her car into a crossing before the fatal collision with another car on June 9, the Reuters news agency reported at the time.
"I try to do the same things you do, but I think there will be other opportunities" Venus said at the trophy ceremony, when asked if she missed her sister and last year's winner, Serena Williams, who is at home awaiting the birth of her first child.
Muguruza's triumph comes two years after she lost to Serena in her maiden grand slam finals at the All England Club.
Six weeks ago, Muguruza crashed out of the French Open in tears, losing her Roland Garros crown in front of a hostile crowd rooting for her opponent and not many people would have bet on her winning the title on the Wimbledon grass.
For her temporary coach, Conchita Martinez, it must have been a case of deja-vu. In 1994, Martinez spoiled the party for Martina Navratilova, who had been trying to win her tenth Wimbledon crown at the age of 37.
"She just told me to go out there and forget about all of this," Muguruza said in a news conference. "Try to think it's another match."

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Argentina Open had plenty of upsets and intense matches on Tuesday. In the first round action, the 5th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo battled against Yannick Hanfmann in a thrilling three-setter, ultimately coming out on top 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Cerundolo’s aggressive play saw him tally four aces and win 61% of his first serve points, while also breaking Hanfmann’s serve five times. Although Hanfmann put up a tough fight and broke Cerundolo three times, it wasn’t enough to secure the win. In the end, it was Cerundolo’s resilience and determination that helped him take the victory.
The match came to a nail-biting conclusion when Cerundolo broke Hanfmann’s serve in the twelfth game of the third set, securing his place in the second round. This was the first tour-level meeting between the two players, and Cerundolo was undoubtedly pleased to have come out on top.
In other matches, there were plenty of upsets as Dusan Lajovic upset 6th-seeded Sebastian Baez in three sets 3-6, 7-6(7-5), 6-3, and Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain stunned the 8th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas in two sets 7-5, 6-4. It was clear that the competition was fierce, and any player could come out on top.
Two-time tournament champion Dominic Thiem collected his first win of the season topping Alex Molchan 7-6(4), 6-3.
“It was a good match,” said Thiem to the ATP. “I like it a lot here in Buenos Aires. Already the last days in practice I was feeling well.
“I won my first match of the season against a very good opponent. I stayed focused throughout the whole match, as well in the difficult moments. So I’m happy and I’m trying to focus fully on the second round now.”
Wednesday’s slate promises more intense matches, including a highly anticipated match between Laslo Djere and No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, and No. 2 Cameron Norrie’s match against Facundo Diaz Acosta.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz will make his 2023 debut after a leg injury forced his withdrawal from Australia.

Update: Rafael Nadal struggles at times in Aussie opener but prevails in 4 sets
MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal never really looked in danger of becoming the first defending Australian Open champion to lose in the first round since his current coach Carlos Moya defeated Boris Becker a quarter of a century ago.
Still, it wasn’t a peak performance for Nadal, who entered Monday’s match against 21-year-old Jack Draper 0-2 in 2023 with six losses in his last seven matches. After almost two hours of so-so play, Nadal found himself in the set.
He appeared to be pulling back, taking advantage of his opponent’s bout with cramps on an 85-degree-Fahrenheit afternoon when suddenly Draper went up a break in the fourth set. From there, however, Nadal did not drop another game and began his pursuit of a record 23rd Grand Slam championship with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory that took more than 3.5 hours in Rod. Laver Arena.
“I need a win, so that’s the main thing,” Nadal said. “The method doesn’t matter.”
That’s a good thing, because the 36-year-old Spaniard from Spain has not been in top form. Overall it was a bit of a struggle. However, he tried to turn things around with a silver lining, given his recent record and the knowledge that he has torn his abs twice in the past six months.
In Kyrgios has pulled out of the Australian Open with a knee injury
8 a.m. Jake Michaels
Gauff, Pegula into Australian Open 2nd round
AO Live Blog: Swiatek No. 1, Nadal after first-round win
“I was humble enough to accept that there will be little fluctuations during the match,” Nadal said. “[That’s] a typical thing when you’re not in a winning mood.”
Both men are left-handed, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end, whether it’s style or age or experience or accomplishments.
Nadal, who is the No. 1 seed with top seed Carlos Alcaraz sidelined with injury, will be making his 67th Grand Slam appearance. Draper, who entered this week at a career-best No.

Faced with this new challenge, Rafa looks “good, very happy to be in the semifinals.” “I know it was a good victory and that I gave a good level of tennis in the quarterfinals, but now there is another big challenge ahead. Zverev is playing great, he had a great tour on clay and he beat Alcaraz because he did a lot things well, so I have to play 100% again,” he said on Thursday in statements to the Roland Garros website. On Wednesday he reassured fans by saying on TVE that he will try to return to the French major next year. “I accept things as they come. In no way do I intend this to look like a goodbye. We are going to work to find a solution for the thing down there (the left foot). And I am confident that I will be able to return, although this last year things have been difficult. My dream is to continue,” she assured.
Oblivious to these tribulations, Zverev will try to achieve something that is pending in his career, win a member of the Big Three in a Slam. He has already beaten Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in other tournaments, but… “I haven’t beaten them in majors, although I was very close. I had tough, tough matches against them. But there is a big difference between being even and beating them. It’s still a big difference. So I hope to be able to use the energy of this victory (against Alcaraz) on the court on Friday (for today).” The prize is big: the final on Sunday.
Roland Garros ATP Draw Results

70... Reached 2nd RD at five straight events, including three on grass...
2004 -- Made Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Roland Garros and reached 2nd RD (d. Reid, l. to Robredo)...Reached first ATP SF at Umag, defeating Hanescu, Saretta and Novak before falling to Canas...Compiled a 5-7 ATP record...Reached final at Rome Challenger...Posted 23-13 Challenger record...Claimed one Futures title in Portugal...
2003 -- Made ATP debut in Valencia as a wild card (l. to Ferrero)...Reached first Challenger final in Seville (l. to Horna)...Was 11-9 in Challengers...In Futures, claimed one title while finishing as a runner-up four times...Had a Futures record of 23-16...Won a pair of Futures doubles titles...
2002 -- Reached two Futures finals in Spain and compiled a 29-14 Futures record...
Reached Chennai SFs (w/Carreno Busta)...Reached the Australian Open 4R for the first time in 11 appearances, losing to Wawrinka 76(8) in fourth set...
On 8 February, became the first Spaniard to win the Zagreb title by beating Seppi in final…It was his fourth ATP World Tour title…
Fell in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami 3R (l. to Monaco)...
On 26 April, became the first player over 30 to win Bucharest title since 2010 (Chela); was the first Spanish to win the title since 2009 (Montanes)...Improved to 5-3 in ATP World Tour finals, beating Vesely in two TB sets...
Reached Estoril SFs, losing to Gasquet 76(1) in third set...

Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish tennis phenom, has taken the tennis world by storm, currently holding the coveted world No. 1 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). At just 19 years old, he has already broken records set by the legendary Rafael Nadal, becoming the youngest player to break into the top 10 since Nadal’s breakthrough in 2005. Discover more about the Tennis Phenom Carlos Alcaraz.
Furthermore, Alcaraz’s triumph at the Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid in 2022 made him the youngest player since Nadal to achieve such a feat. His aggressive playing style, lightning-fast court coverage, and thunderous groundstrokes make him an exhilarating player to watch, evoking comparisons to his fellow countryman Nadal.
Early Life and Career: A Tennis Prodigy Emerges
In the charming town of El Palmar, Spain, in 2003, a future tennis legend was born. Carlos Alcaraz’s passion for the sport ignited at the tender age of four, and his remarkable talent quickly became evident. By the time he was eight, Alcaraz celebrated his first tournament victory, foreshadowing the extraordinary journey that lay ahead.
A mere 12 years old and already ranked among the world’s top 100 junior players, his ascent seemed unstoppable. In 2018, Alcaraz made the pivotal decision to turn professional, captivating audiences with his youthful exuberance and fierce determination. The tennis world braced itself for the meteoric rise of this prodigious young player.
Playing Style: The Nadal-like Force to be Reckoned With
On the hallowed courts, Alcaraz’s playing style reverberates with echoes of greatness. An aggressive baseline player, he showcases lightning-fast speed, unleashing devastating groundstrokes that leave opponents reeling. With a two-handed backhand and a single-handed forehand, Alcaraz’s technique embodies both power and finesse.
His remarkable footwork grants him a masterful command of the court, while his deft volleying skills elevate his game to new heights. Many experts draw comparisons to the legendary Rafael Nadal, acknowledging Alcaraz as the heir apparent to his throne. As spectators marvel at his explosive energy and fearless approach, the tennis world braces itself for the extraordinary feats this young phenom will undoubtedly accomplish.

Carlos Alcaraz hits out at the fairway during his fourth-round victory over Peter Uihlein
U21s World Amateur Championship
Venue: Royal St George’s, Brighton Date: 27 May-7 June 2017 Coverage: Listen live to every round of the event on the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live
Mexico’s Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest player to reach the quarter-finals of a men’s US Open event on Friday.
He beat Peter Uihlein of the United States 3&2 to set up a last-eight clash with Spaniard Jon Rahm.
The 15-year-old saved four match points against Uihlein and also beat 2013 champion Bubba Watson in his previous round.
Alcaraz is the first Mexican ever to play in the US Open, which starts on Thursday, but has been tied on 45th place at the Open Championship this week.
By winning the U21s world amateur title, he qualifies automatically for the Masters and, if he finishes 12th or better at Royal Birkdale, will earn automatic entry into next year’s Open at Royal Troon.
Since claiming the world amateur title, Alcaraz, who already has a US Open and PGA Tour card, has said he would like to be ready to play on all the big tours in 2018.
He plans to use the tournament at Royal Birkdale to help him achieve that goal.

The American knew the match was there for the taking however placing Nadal away was a special story.
He pulled again to steer 5-4 just for Nadal to get his forehand going and declare three video games in a row to power an unlikely decider.
Fritz was an image of frustration, which solely elevated when Nadal broke to steer 4-3, however the Spaniard was nonetheless struggling to seek out dominance on serve and again got here his opponent right away.
Nadal seized management of the deciding tie-break by profitable the primary 5 factors and, though Fritz briefly threatened a comeback, he couldn’t deny the exceptional Spaniard as he clinched victory after 4 hours and 20 minutes.
Kyrgios, in the meantime, reached the primary Grand Slam semi-final of his chequered profession with a snug 6-4 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Chile’s Cristian Garin.
The unseeded 27-year-old misplaced the opening 9 factors on Courtroom One however finally had an excessive amount of firepower for Garin who had hoped to turn into Chile’s first Wimbledon semi-finalist.
In surpassing his earlier greatest Wimbledon run to the quarter-finals eight years in the past, Kyrgios turns into the primary Australian man to succeed in a Grand Slam semi-final since Lleyton Hewitt on the 2005 US Open.
“A tremendous environment once more,” world quantity 40 Kyrgios, the lowest-ranked semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Marat Safin (75) and Rainer Schuettler (94) in 2008, stated.
“I by no means thought I would be within the semi-final of a Grand Slam. I believed that ship had sailed — that I could have wasted that window in my profession.
“I am actually completely happy I used to be in a position to come out right here with my group and placed on a efficiency.”

Austrian qualifier Dominic Thiem scored the biggest victory of his young career on Tuesday when he rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over third-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka at the Madrid Open.
The 20-year-old Thiem showed composure beyond his years in knocking the Australian Open champion out of the clay court event to reach the third round.
Thiem called on a thunderous array of baseline strokes and soft net touches to oust the third-seeded Wawrinka, who reached the final at Madrid’s Magic Box last year.
Thiem looked out of his depth as he struggled to find his rhythm early on Manolo Santana center court.
“I didn’t have many matches against these top guys, so I wasn’t really used to his pace. He had an unbelievable start and I didn’t really know what happened,” the 70th-ranked Thiem said. “I started to get used to more and more his pace and angles and his game. I played unbelievable the second and the third set.”
Wawrinka may have dropped his guard after the easy opening as Thiem pulled even after bombarding his opponent with powerful backhands.
Wawrinka, coming off a clay court win in Monte Carlo, gathered himself for the final set — with both players holding serve until the 10th game when Thiem slapped another strong backhand across Wawrinka and down the line for 30-15. A gentle drop shot from Thiem following a long rally of ground strokes set up match point on Wawrinka’s serve.
“I was in this famous ‘zone’ during the match. I was really unbelievably concentrated,” said Thiem, who scored his first victory over a top 10 player in his third attempt.
Thiem converted his third break point to win the match as Wawrinka sent his crosscourt backhand wide.
“I had some chances in the third set (and) I should have played better when I had some opportunity,” said Wawrinka, who slipped to his fourth defeat of 2014. “But I was hesitating with my game and he went for it and deserved it.”
Wawrinka wasn’t the only Swiss player to exit the tournament on Tuesday.
Roger Federer pulled out due to the birth of his second set of twins, this time boys — named Leo and Lenny.

The draw for Wimbledon 2021 has been confirmed, with defending champion Novak Djokovic opening up against British wildcard Jack Draper….
The draw for Wimbledon 2021 has been confirmed, with defending champion Novak Djokovic opening up against British wildcard Jack Draper.
The 134th edition of the grass court show-piece takes place at the All England Lawn Tennis Club from June 28 to July 11.
The tournament returns in 2021 following an enforced hiatus last year due to the global health crisis.
Reigning Men’s Singles champion Djokovic is bidding to claim his sixth Wimbledon title and has been drawn to face 19-year-old Draper in Round One, the world number 250 making his debut.
Two-time champion Andy Murray has been drawn to face Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili as the Scot prepares to make his Wimbledon return for the first time since 2017.
Murray, who is now ranked 119th after battling injury, has been given a wildcard entry into the main draw.
Eight-time champion Roger Federer has been placed in the bottom half of the draw and will potentially have to overcome Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev if he wishes to reach a 13th Wimbledon final.
The Swiss superstar, who boasts a record of 101-13 at the All England Club since making his debut in 1999, will meet France’s Adrian Mannarino in Round One.
Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, starts out against Frances Tiafoe, while Nick Kyrgios marks his first appearance since the Australian Open with a clash against recent Halle Open winner Ugo Humbert.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev will take on Jan-Lennard Struff, while Alexander Zverev plays Tallon Griekspoor and Queen’s Club champion Matteo Berrettini faces Guido Pella.
In the Women’s Singles draw, seven-time champion Serena Williams has been drawn to face Aliaksandra Sansovich in the opening round.
World number one Ashleigh Barty faces an emotional First Round tie against Carla Suárez Navarro – who recently received the all-clear from cancer.
Another stand-out tie sees tenth seed Petra Kvitová face world number 69 Sloane Stephens, while 2017 semi-finalist Johanna Konta will take on Katerina Siniakova.

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With hard court game clicking, Francisco Cerundolo’s Cinderella story continues in Miami
After making his mark alongside brother Juan Manuel, the 23-year-old ATP Masters 1000 debutant will next face No. 6 seed Casper Ruud for a place the Miami final.
Published Mar 31, 2022
WATCH: Francisco Cerundolo speaks with Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel Live following his 2022 Miami quarterfinal victory.
Francisco Cerundolo had never played an ATP Masters 1000 event or won a hard court match in his ATP career before the Miami Open. Now the No. 103-ranked Argentine is the tournament’s lowest-ranked player ever to reach the semifinals, and he’s almost guaranteed a spot in the Top 50 when the tournament is done.
It’s been a career-changing few weeks for the 23-year-old, who began the tournament drawn into the same quarter as his younger brother Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

3 seeded Colombian pair Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah in a tough three-set contest.
The pair last competed in the Cincinnati Masters in 2020, where they advanced to the semifinals. They reached the final of the 2021 Winston-Salem Open and won the 2022 ATP Lyon Open with Ivan Dodig as their partner.
He achieved his first Grand Slam final in his career at the 2022 French Open, partnering with Dodig and defeating World No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram, as well as saving five set points in the quarterfinals. As a result, he broke into the top 25 and overtook Rajeev Ram as the American No. 2 player.

Rublev’s 20 wins this season have come courtesy of a quarter-final at the Australian Open, victory with Medvedev in the ATP Cup, and a run of semis in Doha, Dubai and Miami.
Medvedev, however, has one of the most formidable quarters in the draw: first 36-ranked Filip Krajinovic or the 37-ranked Doha champion Nikoloz Basilashvili, with his first seed coming in the shape of defending champion Fabio Fognini, and either Marbella champion Pablo Carreno Busta or Buenos Aires champion Diego Schwartzman in the quarters.
More pretenders to the throne
With 17 23-and-under players in the main draw, there is plenty of potential among this burgeoning young generation, many of whom have already proved their worth against top-flight opposition: Rublev, along with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, are all in the top eight.
Three more are teenagers, and the best of them thus far, Sinner, started 2021 with the Great Ocean Road title in Melbourne, and then made that stand-out run to the Miami final.
Wild card Lorenzo Musetti reached his first ATP500 semi-final in Acapulco but faces another high-flying Russian, Aslan Karatsev, in the first round, in what is a tough segment of the draw topped by Tsitsipas that also includes an unseeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will have Nadal’s uncle and near life-long coach, Toni, in his box.
And another intriguing first-round match features junior No1, 17-year-old Holger Rune, who made the Santiago quarter-finals as a qualifier earlier this year, and has been training with Djokovic this week. He faces 22-year-old Casper Ruud, another former No1 junior.

7 Maria Sakkari beat 17th seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 and No. 10 Elena Rybakina Defeated Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 6-0.
Defending champion in men’s category taylor fritz Reached the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Marton Fuksovics,
number five Daniil Medvedev overcame a swollen right ankle and was seeded 12th alexander zverev6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5.
“When I twisted my ankle, I twisted it too hard,” he said. “The moment I rolled it out, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to stand up and it’ll be fine,’ but then I continued to stay on the ground because the pain was building up. It was definitely insane.” match.”
Medvedev took a medical timeout in the second set to tape his ankle before recording his 17th consecutive match win and improving to 22-2 this year.
“It was definitely the hardest,” he said in court.
Zverev added to the drama by saving a match point and breaking at 5-5 in the final set. Medvedev made a perfect comeback and won.
he plays spain next time Alejandro Davidovich Fokinawho beat Christian Garin 6-3, 6-4.
number 10 Cameron Norrie2021 champion beats sixth seed Andrey Rublev, 6–2, 6–4. Nori improved to 21-3 this year.
Advances to quarterfinals against Nori Frances Tiafoewho beat the qualifiers alejandro tabillo6-4, 6-4.
number 11 genetic sinner Defeated stan wawrinka 6-1, 6-4.

Olympic champion Andy Murray, still seeking his first Grand Slam title after four losses in finals, eked out a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 30 Feliciano Lopez, who led in each of the three tiebreakers before faltering.
"Could have gone either way," Murray acknowledged. "It was very hot and humid in the middle part of the match. I was struggling a bit with that."
The man he beat for the gold at the Summer Games, and lost to in the Wimbledon title match, Roger Federer, is also Murray's potential semifinal opponent in New York. Federer, as is often the case, barely was bothered Saturday while dismissing No. 25 Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
At The USTA Billie Jean King
National Tennis Center
Purse: $25.5 million (Grand Slam)
Surface: Hard-Outdoor Third Round
Men's Singles Third Round
Nicolas Almagro (11), Spain, def. Jack Sock, United States, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Marin Cilic (12), Croatia, def. Kei Nishikori (17), Japan, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Martin Klizan, Slovakia, def. Jeremy Chardy (32), France, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, def. Fernando Verdasco (25), Spain, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Andy Murray (3), Britain, def. Feliciano Lopez (30), Spain, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4).
Milos Raonic (15), Canada, def. James Blake, United States, 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (3).
Tomas Berdych (6), Czech Republic, def.

Ons the road to maiden Grand Slam title
TUNISIAN Ons Jabeur has become the first female player to reach the Wimbledon and US Open finals in the same year, after the fifth seed bulldozed her way into the Flushing Meadows decider. Decimating the red-hot Caroline Garcia in an unbelievable performance, Jabeur dropped just four games and did not face a break point on her way to a comfortable 6-1 6-3 victory in just 66 minutes. She will now take on world number one Iga Swiatek, who was less convincing in her win over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, needing three sets to reach the final, 3-6 6-1 6-4.
After earning a day’s break, Jabeur came out firing to repeat her effort at Wimbledon where she made, and eventually lost the final to Elena Rybakina. Up against the most in-form player on Tour in Caroline Garcia, Jabeur showed no mercy as she completely destroyed the Frenchwoman, restricting Garcia’s usual power and getting on the front foot herself. The Tunisian served eight aces and hit 21 winners to only 15 unforced errors, not facing a break point for the first time in 2022.
Though her serve percentage was terrible (43 per cent), Jabeur’s ability to somehow scrape through at win not only 83 per cent of her first serve points but 57 per cent of her second serve points, proved vital. It allowed her to stay on top, not face a break point and break her opponent four times from only the four chances.
“She comes in the court and puts a lot of pressure on my second serves. I’m really glad she didn’t break me in the end … would have been really tough to go to 5-4,” Jabeur said post-match.
Despite Garcia’s good run of form, the Frenchwoman has never been able to work out Jabeur, losing all seven times the pair have gone head-to-head. Jabeur said she used that mental strength to get through, and is looking forward to the huge US Open final on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST).
“After Wimbledon, a lot of pressure on me,” Jabeur said. “I’m really, really relieved that I backed up my result.

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Defending champion Novak Djokovic won a third Wimbledon title and a ninth Grand Slam crown Sunday, ruthlessly shattering Roger Federer's bid for a record eighth All England Club triumph.World No. 1 Djokovic won 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (10/12), 6-4, 6-3 to add this year's Wimbledon title to the Australian Open he captured in January.Federer had his opportunities but he could only convert one of seven break points in the match and as he pressed, he committed 35 unforced errors to Djokovic's 16 .In a rollercoaster rematch of last year's final, Federer was 4-2 up in the first set and had two set points.However, Djokovic, five years Federer's junior, stepped on the gas and raced away to the title.Federer wasted two break points in the fifth and 11th games of the second set having saved a first set point in the 10th.Djokovic was strangling the life out of Federer's game and another break gave him a 3-2 lead in the fourth set.
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Showing a great level of play and a very good mental attitude, German Alexander Zverev beat Serbian Novak Djokovic in two sets to be crowned champion in the Finals of the ATP, which were played in London.
Zverev, 21 years old, overcame a defeat to "Nole" in the group stage to not leave him any options in the final game of the tournament, which would end up being imposed with sets of 6-4 and 6-3.
With the number one position in the world insured for the end of the season, Djokovic wanted to close with a flourish the year of his return to tennis elite, but a boy ten years younger than him would be responsible for making him bite the dust.
For this he would do something that nobody else could do during the week: break the Serbian’s service, which has become his most powerful weapon after his elbow operation, since he has chosen to use a lighter racket and Make specific routines for that aspect of the game.
This Sunday, Zverev did not waste the four opportunities he had to break Djokovic’s service, appealing to attack the player born in Belgrade, and then finish him off with his own serve, with which he managed to impose up to 10 aces.
Alexander Zverev wins his fourth title of the season, after taking the trophies in Munich, Madrid and Washington, and closes the season as the top winner with 58, four more than the Austrian Dominic Thiem and five more than Djokovic himself.
More importantly, with the victory he ends up confirming that there is emerging talent that should not be lost sight of, capable of defeating players with much more experience than them, such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

- Andy Murray describes last year's Wimbledon defeat as "worst of his career"
- Murray beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Sunday to win 2013 men's tournament
- The world No. 2 becomes the first British male to win singles title in 77 years
- Murray defends his U.S. Open title when the tournament begins next month
You can be forgiven for losing track of time the morning after a night 77 years in the making.
"Oh sorry, that's my alarm," says an apologetic Andy Murray as his alarm trills while being interviewed. "That was the finals day time for getting up, 915am ... just for yesterday."
Yesterday was Sunday July 7 and the day which saw Murray secure his place in British sporting history.
In the 24 hours between those two alarms going off, Murray's world irrevocably changed with his 6-4 7-5 6-4 win over over Novak Djokovic in straight sets ensuring he became Britain's first men's singles champion at Wimbledon since 1936.
It had been the most energy-sapping three sets of his career, with the world No. 2 eventually beating the world No. 1 following three hours of brutal battle, but Murray didn't want to go to sleep.
After waiting his entire career to win the title Britain had so wanted for nearly eight decades, the Scot was scared of waking up to discover it was all a dream.
"That's the one worry you have when you go to bed," Murray told CNN after becoming the first male British singles champion at Wimbledon since Fred Perry.
"You wake up and it's actually not true, so I was obviously very happy and relieved that I had done it."
Twelve months ago Murray had sobbed on Centre Court after losing his first Wimbledon final to Roger Federer.
Redemption came a month later on the same court against the same opponent, only with a different outcome.
The Scot won to clinch Olympic gold at London 2012 and the hearts of a jubilant British public began to soften towards a man that had arguably come up short in the popularity stakes when compared to another British tennis star -- the now retired -- Tim Henman.
In September a first grand slam title promptly followed at the U.S. Open, as Murray beat Djokovic in five sets in New York.

Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka, a former top three player currently ranked 284 following knee surgery in 2017 and tendon problems in 2021, produced some impressive tennis to beat former world number one Daniil Medvedev for his first top-10 win since 2020.
It’s for moments like this that I did everything to come back Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka, who came through qualifying to join the main draw where he cleared his first-round opponent Joao Sousa in straight sets, missed a match point in the second set before clinching a 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3 victory to reach the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open in Metz, France.
“I’m very happy with the level of play that I managed today,” Wawrinka, said after claiming his first win since 2020 over a top ten player.
“It’s for moments like this that I did everything to come back.”
But the top seeded Medvedev, who has slipped to three in the world rankings and is keen to return to the No.1 spot, fought hard especially in the second set.
The 37-year-old Swiss saw the two break points which would have given him a 4-0 lead in the decider slide by as the Muscovite pulled himself back into contention to level at 3-3.
Wawrinka however, held his nerve and broke again, wrapping up the victory on his third match point.
“Stan was better than me and he won,” Medvedev said. “I tried to hang on. I had opportunities but it wasn’t good enough.
“But respect to Stan, I didn’t think he was 37!”
Wawrinka will next face Sweden’s Mikael Ymer in his first ATP quarter-final since January 2021.

Darcis shocked Nadal...and himself
Wimbledon has witnessed some seismic shocks down the years but few could top twice champion Rafa Nadal's elimination at the hands of Steve Darcis, a Belgian ranked 135th in the world, in the first round on Monday.
A year after losing to Czech Lukas Rosol in the second round, Nadal was outplayed by the 135th-ranked Darcis on Court One, losing 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 in front of a disbelieving crowd.
Image: Steve Darcis of Belgium shakes hands at the net with Rafael Nadal of Spain after their first round match
Photographs: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Swiss journeyman George Bastl beats Pete Sampras
Sampras, with seven Wimbledon trophies in his possession, endured one of the worst defeats of his career, losing 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round to a player ranked 145th in the world and who was a lucky loser from qualifying.
American Sampras recovered to win the U.S. Open a few weeks later before retiring.
Image: George Bastl of Switzerland celebrates after his victory over Pete Sampras of the USA in 2002
Photographs: Al Bello/Getty Images
Karlovic shocks champion Hewitt
Hewitt, the defending champion, won the first set 6-1 before unheralded Karlovic, ranked 202, wheeled out the big guns and battered the Australian into submission with a devastating display of serving.
Karlovic won 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 and for only the second time in the history of the event, the top seeded male was toppled on the first day.
Image: Ivo Karlovic of Croatia shakes hands at the net after beating defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in 2003
Photographs: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Peter Doohan upsets Boris Becker
Becker, the top seed and twice defending champion, seemed invincible on the Wimbledon grass but ran into 70th-ranked Doohan in the second round.

London, July 2 (IANS) Top seed Novak Djokovic was in cruise mode as he handed a battling American qualifier Denis Kudla a straight-sets defeat in the men’s singles third round of Wimbledon Championships on Friday.
Djokovic defeated the Ukraine-born American Kudla 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) in two hours 17 minutes to secure his place in the fourth round of the championships.
Djokovic, gunning for his sixth Wimbledon title, was too strong for the 114th ranked Kudla and though the American did put up a fight in the third set, the 34-year-old Serb was relentless and sealed victory in third set tiebreaker.
On his way to victory, Djokovic, who won his fifth title here in 2019, sent down eight aces and 34 winners. He committed 28 unforced errors to 35 by Kudla.
Earlier on Friday, fifth seed Andrey Rublev defeated Fabio Fognini 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in under three hours to lead a Russian charge into fourth round.
Rublev converted five of the 13 break-points, fired 13 aces and won 73 per cent of first service points.
The 23-year-old, who is world No. 7, won the first set in 43 minutes. The Italian came back in the second set after having conceded early lead. He won three straight games after being 2-4 down to clinch the set.
However, the Russian took the third set and in the fourth, he simply cruised winning five straight games after being 0-1 down.
Earlier, Rublev’s fellow countryman Karen Khachanov defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes. Tiafoe’s straight-sets loss was a surprise considering he had beaten third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round in straight sets.
The 25th seed Khachanov converted three of the six break-points and won 81 per cent of the first service points.
If world No.

A clinical display
A spellbinding display of brutal hitting and raw speed from Rafa Nadal secured the Spaniard his second Wimbledon title on Sunday with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over 12th seed Tomas Berdych.
Nadal, who has not lost here since the 2007 final after victory in 2008 and injury prevented his defence last year, completely nullified the 1.95m Czech's biggest weapons to storm to an eighth career Grand Slam and open up a cavernous lead at the top of the world rankings.
The win, which completed a second French Open-Wimbledon double in three years for Nadal, came after two hours and 13 minutes when his 20th forehand winner left Berdych stranded at the net on his first championship point.
Image: Rafa Nadal with the winners trophy
'To have this trophy in my hands, amazing'
He celebrated by slumping on to his back on the baseline, holding his face in his hands before embracing Berdych at the net and performing an impromptu roly poly and double fist pump towards his entourage.
"More than a dream for me, always a dream to play in this final," Nadal said in an on-court interview.
"To have this trophy in my hands, amazing. You're (Berdych) doing an amazing season, sorry for today but I wish you luck for the rest of the season," he added.
Image: Rafa Nadal with the winners trophy
Nothing could derail the Mallorcan
From the moment Nadal bounced, weaved and stretched his way down the corridors of the All England Club to Centre Court like a fired-up prize fighter, there was a sense nothing could derail the 24-year-old.
Both held their opening service games to love on a bright and breezy day, and neither was under early pressure, and even a male fan bellowing "I love you Rafa" could not throw the Spaniard's focus.
Game seven turned the tone of the match though, as Nadal stepped up a gear and Berdych's first serve deserted him.
Nadal's forehand was starting to eat up the Berdych serve, and the Mallorcan brought the crowd to life with a searing forehand pass down the line to bring up three break points.

Re: ATP Finals
World No. 20 Nicolas Almagro captured his sixth ATP World Tour title Sunday as he defeated top seed and defending champion Robin Soderling 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in the final of the SkiStar Swedish Open, an ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament in Bastad.
Almagro, who improved to a 6-2 record in ATP World Tour finals, earned 250 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points and €72,150, while runner-up Soderling received 150 points and €37,900 in prize money.
“It’s a great feeling to win here,” said Almagro. “It’s always amazing to win a final and I’m very happy with the week. I’m going to enjoy this moment and then prepare for next week in Hamburg.”
Victory gave Almagro his first ATP World Tour title since triumphing at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in 2009 with victory over Gael Monfils. All six of the Spaniard’s titles have come on outdoor clay, beginning with victory at the Valencia Open 500 in 2006 before it was moved to indoor hard court. The Murcia native is the seventh different Spaniard to win an ATP World Tour title this season and the sixth Spanish champion in the past 10 years in Bastad.
The fourth-seeded Almagro fell short in the 2007 Bastad final against David Ferrer but has impressed throughout the week with his smooth progress through the draw and carried his high-level into the final against Soderling, whom he defeated in their previous meeting on clay in Madrid.
After saving two break points in the second game of the match, Almagro took his fourth opportunity to break Soderling’s serve in the 12th game and seal a one-set lead. Soderling hit back strongly, though, racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set before going on to level the match, saving one break point as he served out the set in the ninth game.
With the match finely poised on serve in the third set, Almagro lifted his level to win the final four games from 2-2 to seal victory in just less than two hours. Victory saw him level his career series with Soderling at 3-3, avenging the defeat he suffered to the Swede in the 2009 Bastad quarter-finals.

When Rosol broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set with a cross-court backhand, he had a 24-9 edge in winners.
Nadal broke back to 4-all, whirling around and throwing a celebratory uppercut, but again was in trouble at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. On that set point, Nadal whipped a winner he called "a perfect forehand for that moment" to get to 6-all. Two points later, Rosol plopped a second serve into the net for a double-fault that ceded the set, and said later: "In the end, he was more lucky."
Nadal probably would not agree with that assessment. He did agree about the significance of that sequence.
"The difference maybe is one point," said Nadal, who collected two of his 14 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon but exited in the first round last year. "Maybe if I lose that set point in the second set — if that forehand down the line went out — maybe (I) will be here with a loss."
Instead, he raised the level of his play. He won 22 consecutive points on his serve, and moved better, bending so low his knee touched the grass on backhands. Nadal broke for a 2-1 lead in the third set, and again for a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
"If I had played the first set the way I did the last two, I would have won it, too, I think," Nadal said.
Three seeded men lost, including No. 13 Richard Gasquet, who wasted nine match points and was beaten by 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios of Australia 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8. Winners included No. 5 Stan Wawrinka, No. 8 Milos Raonic, No. 9 John Isner and No. 10 Kei Nishikori among the men, and past champions Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova among the women.
Nadal's longtime rival, seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, turned in a far more straightforward performance, delivering 25 aces in a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 win over 103rd-ranked Gilles Muller of Luxembourg to get back to the third round, too.

With all 8 fourth-round suits used Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open, Felix Auger-Aliassime as well as Tommy Paul may have conserved the most effective for last. In a couple of three-setters on the day– the various other an exhilarating win for Daniil Medvedev versus Alexander Zverev– Auger-Aliassime eliminated 6 suit factors to border the American 3-6, 6 -3, 7-6(6).
Next up for the 8th seed in his very first Indian Wells quarter-final: a Thursday face-off with Carlos Alcaraz, that passed Jack Draper by means of a second-set retired life previously in the evening.
With the magnificent triumph, Auger-Aliassime has actually currently gotten to the quarters at each of the previous 6 ATP Masters 1000 occasions, including his present run. He has actually progressed to that phase at 7 of the 9 Masters 1000s on the schedule, with Monte Carlo as well as Shanghai the single exemptions.
“I always stayed positive, I kept my hopes up, I kept thinking, ‘OK, I’m not that far, I can come back,'” an eased Auger-Aliassime stated of his wonderful retreat versusPaul “At completion, when you’re down 0/40 on your offer, you recognize that … ‘OK if I win this very first one, offer well, however, however, we’re back on also terms.’
“You just kind of take it one by one. It’s very cliche to say but it still works; that’s the proof. I’m really happy to get through. It’s a crazy feeling.”
In his very first ATP He ad2He advertisement conference with the rising American, Auger-Aliassime was fighting from behind all night, going down the very first collection as well as routing 0-3 in the 3rd. After levelling the decider at 3-3, he gazed down 3 suit factors at 0/40 while offering at 5-6
Behind some prompt large offers, the 22-year-old won 5 straight indicate compel a tie-break. But some passionate play from Paul raised 3 even more suit factors at 6/ 3 after he racked up 5 straight factors of his very own.

7 seed Roger Federer is bounced in the opening round of Wimbledon by 18-year-old Croat Mario Ancic by a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 margin. Says the No. 154-ranked Ancic, “I came first time to play Centre, Wimbledon, they put me on Centre Court for my first time. I qualified, nothing to lose, I was just confidence. I knew I could play. I believe in myself and just go out there and try to do my best. Just I didn’t care who did I play. Doesn’t matter…I knew him (Federer) from TV. I knew already how is he playing. I don’t know that he knew how I was playing, but that was my advantage. And yeah, I didn’t have any tactics, just I was enjoying.” Following the loss, Federer goes on to win his next 40 matches at Wimbledon – including five straight titles – before losing in the 2008 final to Rafael Nadal of Spain.
1996 – “Hen-mania” begins at Wimbledon as 21-year-old Tim Henman wins his first big match at the All England Club, coming back from a two-sets-to-love deficit – and saving two match points – to upset No. 5 seed and reigning French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 7-5 in the first round in what Jennifer Frey of the Washington Post calls “a cliffhanger that enraptured the winner’s countrymen in the Centre Court seats.” Henman goes on to reach the quarterfinals, where he is defeated by American Todd Martin 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2), 6-4, but remains a threat to win the title of much of the next decade, thrilling British fans in the excitement of the possibility of a home-grown player becoming the first player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon since Fred Perry won his last of three titles in 1936.

In preparation for Wimbledon, Agut played in the Topshelf Open. He was the tournament's third seed. Agut won the title, his first ATP title, defeating former champion Benjamin Becker in the final in three sets.
Roberto then played in the Wimbledon Championships. After defeating Steve Johnson and Jan Hernych, Agut took on the defending champion, Andy Murray, in the third round. Agut put up a great fight, but Murray's class on grass was just too difficult to beat. This was his best Wimbledon result.
After Wimbledon, Roberto went back to playing on the clay surface in Germany. Roberto was the third seed in the Mercedes Cup based in Stuttgart. In the semifinal, Agut recorded an upset, beating defending champion Fabio Fognini for only the second time in his career. This result led Agut to take on Lukáš Rosol in the final. This was Roberto's third professional ATP tournament final. Agut won the final in three sets, claiming his second 250-level title.
In the last slam of the year, the U.S. Open, Roberto reached the fourth round after defeating Andreas Haider-Maurer, Tim Smyczek, and Adrian Mannarino on the way to taking on the no. 2 seed Roger Federer for the first time. Despite Agut's hard efforts, he could not stop Federer winning points at the net, and he therefore lost in straight sets. This was Agut's best ever US Open campaign and he equaled his best career Grand Slam result (2014 Australian Open).
Agut would then head off to Russia to play in the Kremlin Cup tournament held in Moscow. Agut advanced all the way to the final where he took on the 2014 US Open champion, Marin Čilić, in the final. His brilliant tournament ended with a tight straight-set defeat.
After his outstanding season, Agut won the ATP's Most Improved Player award.
At the end of the best season in his career so far, Agut finished 2014 with a singles ranking of world no. 15, and a doubles ranking of world no. 255.2015: Drops out of top 20
Agut began his new season, as the third seed, in the 2015 Aircel Chennai Open. Agut progressed to the semi-final where he would lose to British qualifier Aljaž Bedene.

LONDON -- Rafael Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title Sunday, defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the Queen's Club final to become the first Spaniard to win on grass in 36 years.
It was the French Open champion's third win in the last three tournaments over the second-seeded Djokovic, following semifinal victories in Hamburg and at Roland Garros.
Andres Gimeno was the last Spaniard to win on grass, at Eastbourne in 1972.
Nadal is also the first player to win at Roland Garros and Queen's Club in the same year since Ilie Nastase in 1973.
"This week was amazing for me," Nadal said.
The win should give Nadal a confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon.
Especially considering it follows his resounding straight-sets win over No. 1 Roger Federer in the French Open final.
"Wimbledon is (a) very, very important tournament, and the motivation is 100 percent," Nadal said. "Doesn't matter if I am tired mentally. Physically is a little bit more important, but I think physically I'm fine."
Gerry Weber Open
HALLE, Germany -- Roger Federer just wanted to survive a couple of rounds at the Gerry Weber Open after his painful French Open loss to Rafael Nadal.
The top-ranked Swiss did much more, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday's final for his 10th grass title.
That matches Pete Sampras' total on the surface and takes his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches.
To further boost his confidence, Federer sailed through the Wimbledon warmup tournament without dropping a set or his serve.
"I'm really excited; I think that's the first time in my career I won a title" without losing serve, Federer said. "That was very special and I'm very proud to keep my streak going."
In fact, Federer also won a tournament in Doha in 2005 without being broken.
He restored some momentum after one of his worst defeats a rout in the French Open final last Sunday at the hands of Nadal.
Federer took just four games.
"I didn't want to lose in the first and second round," Federer said.
"It would have been really tough for me losing on grass again for the first time and having just lost in Paris the final."

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Carlos Alcaraz, 19, officially became the youngest No. 1 player in ATP rankings history, while Ons Jabeur climbed to No. 2 in the WTA rankings and Serena Williams jumped 284 spots, the tennis organizations said Monday.
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime dropped out of the Top 10, falling from No. 8 to No. 13. American Frances Tiafoe moved inside the Top 25 due to his run to the semifinals at the U.S. Open. Tiafoe moved from No. 26 to No. 19.

It was Federer’s earliest exit from Roland Garros since he was beaten in the third round by Gustavo Kuerten in 2004. Since then, Federer had reached the quarterfinals in a record 36 consecutive major tournaments, a streak that ended at Wimbledon last year when he was ousted in the second round. The Swiss master also has Grand Slam tournament streaks of 10 consecutive finals and 23 straight semifinals. Even Gulbis was humbled by his victory over the 32-year-old Federer. “I’m sorry I had to win,” Gulbis told the crowd following the match. “I know all of you like Roger.”
With the top two players, Serena Williams and Li Na, sitting on the sidelines, the road to the Roland Garros women’s singles title appeared to be wide open for the tournament’s number three seed, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. But those earlier upsets proved to be the boost the 21-year-old Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia needed. “After seeing the two first seeds go out, you kind of feel you can do this too,” Tomljanovic said after knocking off Radwanska 6-4 6-4. “I grew up with these girls who are beating them. I went into the stadium for the first time, and she (Radwanska) kind of feels like home there, because she’s been there a lot more than I have. I went out there and inside I really thought I could win. I think that showed and it is why I won.”
STUMBLE BY STAN
He is the reigning Australian Open champion, a player who has posted victories over the top two players in the world this year. But the brilliant playmaking that has taken Stanislas Wawrinka to number three in the world was missing when he took to the court for his first-round match at Roland Garros. Two hours and 23 minutes later, Wawrinka had fallen to unheralded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-0. Wawrinka became the highest seeded man to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros since third-seeded Andy Roddick lost to Igor Andreev in 2007.

Rosol stuns crowd by beating Nadal at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England It was Lukas Rosol and not Rafael Nadal who looked like a two-time Wimbledon champion used to pummeling opponents into submission on tennis' biggest stage.
It was Rosol, and not Nadal, who sprinted to and from his chair during changeovers like he had a never-ending supply of energy, pumped his fist and shouted to his entourage in the player's box. And it was the 100th-ranked, little-known Czech player making his first Wimbledon appearance - and not the 11-time Grand Slam winner - who got better and stronger as the second-round match on Centre Court progressed into the night.
He hit ace after ace to complete one of the biggest upsets tennis has seen in years.
As surprising as Rosol's five-set victory over Nadal was, the manner in which he completed it Thursday was perhaps equally stunning.
"In the fifth set he played more than unbelievable," Nadal said.
He wasn't the only one who struggled to believe what they were seeing.
Rosol, who had lost in qualifying for Wimbledon in each of the last five years, simply outclassed Nadal with his powerful serving and booming ground strokes. He hit cross-court backhand winners that measured 99 mph, he stepped up to whip scorching forehand returns, and he served so well that Nadal hardly tried to get to them by the final game. The last one he hit was his 22nd, and it wrapped up a 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory that no one had seen coming.
Least of all Rosol himself.
"I'm not just surprised; it's like a miracle for me," he said. "Like just some B team in Czech Republic can beat Real Madrid (in) soccer."
But Rosol fully earned the win, bouncing back from wasting three set points in the first set to win the next two. After Nadal leveled the match in the fourth, organizers then decided to slide the retractable roof out over Centre Court to allow the match to finish under the lights. That forced a 45-minute break that had Nadal agitated, but seemingly just made Rosol stronger.
He came out and broke Nadal in the first game, and never gave the Spaniard a chance to get back into the match.

The Serbian, who recently split from his long-term coach Marian Vajda, is trying to regain his best form again ahead of the French Open.
Streaking forward, Novak Djokovic caught up to the drop shot sliding into a soft-angled answer that left a bemused Feliciano Lopez applauding the second-seed's speed and slick racquet skills.
He was broken three consecutive times in the first set, and once in the second to give Coric a 5-3 lead that he converted to close out the match.
It almost paralleled his first match at Monte Carlo, against Gilles Simon: take a first set against a risky but ultimately much less skilled player, lose the second, and go down a break of serve in the third before coming back to win, aided by some critical gaffes on his opponent's part (Almagro's wild baseline errors, and Simon's poor serving with the match on his racket).
"When I started to control the points more towards the end of the first set and second set, I was hitting the ball pretty clean, creating a few chances", Murray said. "I've been playing at a high level during many weeks". It was first win over a top-100 player this season for the 273-ranked Indian, who outplayed the Ukrainian 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 10 minutes.
The Spaniard takes on Fabio Fognini of Italy for the right to face Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who beat American Ryan Harrison 6-3 6-3. In their two previous encounters at Madrid, Nadal saved three match points to overcome Djokovic in a classic 2009 semi-final, before the Serb returned the favour in the 2011 final.
Nishikori will play in the third round against Spaniard David Ferrer, who advanced after 10th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France withdrew before the match because of a shoulder injury.
'That's why I chose not to play today'.
Nadal is now 13-0 on clay this year as he swept aside Belgian ninth seed David Goffin 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 much to the delight a boisterous home crowd under the roof on the Manolo Santana centre court.
"It's the first match without my team that's been with me for 10 years", he said. "I'm expecting the best Djokovic tomorrow".

He won his third title in his home country by defeating Damian Patriarca, who forfeited the match, at the ITF Circuit event in Buenos Aires.
Del Potro turned professional after the Italy F17 event in Bassano, and in his first professional tournament, the Lines Trophy in Reggio Emilia, he reached the semifinals, where he lost to countryman Martín Vassallo Argüello in three sets. Two tournaments later, he reached the final of the Credicard Citi MasterCard Tennis Cup in Campos do Jordão, Brazil, where he lost to André Sá in straight sets. After turning 17, he won the Montevideo Challenger by defeating Boris Pašanski in the final in three sets. That same year, he failed in his first attempt to qualify for his first Grand Slam, at the US Open, losing in the first round to Paraguayan Ramón Delgado. Throughout 2005, del Potro jumped over 900 positions to finish with a world ranking of no. 158, largely due to winning three Futures tournaments. He was the youngest player to finish in the year-end top 200.
In February, del Potro played his first ATP tour event in Viña del Mar, where he defeated Albert Portas, before losing to Fernando González in the second round. Later, seeded seventh, he won the Copa Club Campestre de Aguascalientes by defeating the likes of Dick Norman and Thiago Alves, before beating Sergio Roitman in the final.
Del Potro qualified for the main draw of his first Grand Slam in the 2006 French Open at the age of 17. He lost in the opening round to former French Open champion and 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero. Having received a wild card, he reached the quarterfinals of the ATP event in Umag, Croatia, where he lost in three sets to the eventual champion, Stanislas Wawrinka. In Spain, he participated in the Open Castilla y León Challenger tournament held in Segovia, defeating top seed Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and Benjamin Becker in the final.
Del Potro qualified for his first US Open in 2006, after being seeded ninth in the qualifying stages, where he beat Brian Vahaly, Wayne Arthurs, and Daniel Köllerer in straight sets.

A new tennis king was crowned at Wimbledon on Sunday, with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz dethroning Novak Djokovic, but the centre court style in the stands was both regal and relaxed. Here are M.J. Bale’s top two picks from 2023, and the reigning Wimbledon style champion from 2016.
Known for his power and finesse on court, Swiss legend Roger Federer displayed similar grace and authority at the All England Lawn & Tennis Club with this classic ensemble: the beige/sand-coloured suit with stripe shirt and dot tie.
M.J. Bale version: The Robertson Suit
William Bradley Pitt is unimpeachable when it comes to style, so if the two-time Oscar winner decides it’s ok to wear a knit polo to No. 1 court, then who are we to judge?
M.J. Bale version: Dickie Knit Polo
Still unbeaten at Wimbledon in eight years (in terms of courtside style), Bradley Cooper proves that nothing ages better, nor serves a bigger tailoring ace, than the timeless navy suit, sky blue shirt and navy tie combo.
M.J. Bale version: Harvey Kingston Suit

ATP Erste Bank Open Day 1 Tennis Odds and Picks: Best Bets for Murray and Alcaraz Matches (Oct. 25)
Credit: Grant Halverson, Getty. Carlos Alcaraz eyes up a forehand in the Winston-Salem Open.
After Jannik Sinner and Aslan Karatsev secured titles in Antwerp and Moscow respectively, the tour moves to new locations in Vienna and St. Petersburg.
The draw in Vienna is ridiculous for a 500-level event, featuring five players ranked among the top 10 in the world. It will be a banner week for Wiener Stadthalle as it plays host to a high-quality event, and we should be in store for some great tennis.
Without further ado, here’s how I’m betting the first day of main draw action.
Match times are subject to change. Read here for tips on how to watch matches.
Carlos Alcaraz (-128) vs. Dan Evans (+106)
9:20 a.m. ET
Alcaraz has not played a significant amount of tennis since the US Open, only participating in the BNP Paribas Open since then. In Indian Wells, he suffered a disappointing loss from a set-lead against Andy Murray. Nevertheless, he looked solid in that battle, but a 20% break point conversion rate doomed him.
Evans had an up-and-down Indian Wells experience, pulling out a three-hour win in his first round matchup with Kei Nishikori but falling to Diego Schwartzman from a set and a break up.
The duo hasn’t met before, but the matchup projects to be an intriguing one. Alcaraz plays a heavy style of tennis that combines power off of both wings with an incredible athleticism. Evans prefers a more complex game that consists of a large dosage of backhand slices and attacking off the forehand.
For Evans, the question becomes how can he break down Alcaraz? The biggest weapons on the court belong to the 18-year-old, who is strong enough mentally to deal with the charismatic Evans. I don’t believe that the disparity in experience will play a big role between the two, and Evans won’t be able to get under Alcaraz’s skin as he does with many players.
Trust Alcaraz to get by an inferior opponent.
Pick: Carlos Alcaraz -128 via FanDuel
Hubert Hurkacz (-172) vs.