Wimbledon 2024: Carlos Alcaraz begins title defense with straight-set win
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz began his title defense at Wimbledon with a win over Mark Lajal. The Spanish star claimed a 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 victory after over two hours. Alcaraz, who won the 2024 French Open, is vying for his fourth Grand Slam title. He entered the grass-court Slam after losing to Jack Draper at Queen's Club. Here are the key stats.
A look at match stats
Alcaraz won a total of 108 points and 44 winners throughout the match. He served four aces compared to Lajal's seven. Alcaraz had a win percentage of 84 and 55 in the first and second serves, respectively. He won 43 of his 102 receiving points. Notably, both Lajal and Alcaraz had 28 unforced errors. Alcaraz recorded four double-faults.
Alcaraz attains these feats
Alcaraz has become the seventh man in the Open Era to win his first 14 singles Grand Slam first-round clashes. Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Wayne Ferreira, Andrei Medvedev, and Rafael Nadal, are the others. He is the third-youngest man to record eight consecutive wins at Wimbledon in the Open Era, after Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker.
Alcaraz defeated Djokovic to win 2023 Wimbledon
Alcaraz entered the record books after winning Wimbledon last year. It was his second Grand Slam title. The youngster defied all odds and overcame Novak Djokovic in a nerve-wracking final after four hours and 42 minutes at the All-England Club. With a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory, Alcaraz became the first man outside of the 'Big Four' to win Wimbledon since 2002.
Already a superstar!
At 21, Alcaraz already has three Grand Slam titles under his belt. At the 2022 US Open, he became the youngest Grand Slam champion since Rafael Nadal, who won the French Open in 2005. The former has 14 career ATP titles, including six in 2023. All these mind-boggling numbers and titles also catapulted him to the top of the ATP Rankings (men's singles).
