A miserable day of weather at Wimbledon did nothing to stop Carlos Alcaraz and Andy Murray from storming into the second round.
Nor did it stop Roger Federer from making an appearance.
Federer, who has won a record eight Wimbledon titles, was part of the Royal Box on Centre Court along with his mom, dad, the Princess of Wales, Severin Luthi, and plenty of others. A brief ceremony that included a video tribute to Federer took place prior to the 41-year-old Swiss taking his seat.
The Centre Court gathering watched defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina overcome Shelby Rogers in three sets before Murray assumed the stage. In an all-British battle with Ryan Peniston, Murray rolled 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 in exactly two hours. The 36-year-old Scot fired five aces without double-faulting a single time and he never dropped his serve.
“Obviously it’s amazing to be back here playing on Centre Court,” Murray said. “I started off the match quite nervous at the beginning; I want to do well here. But once I got the break in the first set I played good tennis as the match went on…. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt physically this good coming into Wimbledon. I hope I’m fit and ready for a good run.
“It was amazing to have some royalty here–but also some tennis royalty, as well. It’s amazing to have Roger here supporting the tournament. The last time I played on this court and Roger was watching was at the Olympics against Stan Wawrinka and he was rooting against me! It was nice to have a few claps from him this time…. Hope you’re doing well, Roger.”
Alcaraz off to dominant start, Chardy’s career ends at Wimbledon
It was a similarly routine day at the office for Alcaraz, who eased past Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 53 minutes on Court 1. That match, of course, was also played under a roof as the entirety of Tuesday’s schedule on the outside courts was rained out.
“I think I played really well at the beginning of the match,” Alcaraz assessed. “In the third set he found his level. I was in trouble, but I like to play rallies; I like to play battles. I’m really happy to have played a great level–both of us in the third set. I’m really happy to get through this first round.”
For Chardy, his 18-year career comes to an end. The retiring Frenchman won a single ATP title (Stuttgart in 2009) and peaked at No. 25 in the world in 2013. Chardy, 36, has begun coaching Ugo Humbert–who was in attendance for the match.
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good draw for Andy
Boy there is something very overcast about Wimby this year!!! Sigh! 😩
Heard Andy and Nazarin Zaghari-Radcliffe on R4 this morning. She was so lovely about him and he was so moved by what she said. I watered up.
Next year they should consider playing Wimbledon late in the year or switch with another Grand Slam schedule.
They shouldn’t play it during raining season, every year the same exact thing rain, rain, rain .