Carlos Alcaraz es first Wimbledon exam with flying colors against Chardy

On grass, the small details decide the matches. There are not as many breaks as on other surfaces due to the serve being more difficult to counter because of the low and slippery bounce of the ball.

But Carlos Alcaraz broke those theories in his 2023 Wimbledon debut on Tuesday against Jeremy Chardy. The Murcia-born player had less than ideal preparation for the tournament after suffering a small injury in the adductor of the right leg, but he still managed to begin his Wimbledon journey with a break and continued it with a bagel. There are few better starts.

The power of his shots could be heard on court one because of the echo caused by the retractable roof. It was raining in London, and the forecast was not good for the rest of the day. Fortunately, The All England Club has the option of covering the two main stadiums and that gives an advantage to the best tennis players on the planet.

While Alcaraz advanced to the second round with a comfortable score of 6-0, 6-2 and 7-5, in 1 hour and 53 minutes, his next opponent, who will come out of the duel between the French Arthur Rinderknech and Alexandre Muller, will not be known just yet due to the weather and stoppages in play.

Carlos slipped in the third point of the third game. That's what the treacherous grass has in store, and even more so when it is wet, and indeed for a tennis player who is still wearing a protective bandage on his adductor. The gray in the beard of Chardy, a player of 36 years, contrasted with the youth of his young executioner.

The Murcian has made a rapid adaptation to the green carpet, helped by his aggressive game plan and his shots that travel equally fast on land, air and sea. He has already won 10 times on this surface in only 12 matches.

The first favorite of the draw collected his tenth bagel as a professional, helped by the carousel of unforced errors (10 with seven double faults) of an opponent who surrendered to his fate during his farewell to tennis as professional.

Alcaraz previously scored another 6-0 in his Roland Garros debut against Italian Flavio Cobolli.

The El Palmar tennis star continued to move quickly on the silky grass, and it was a continuation of his brilliant performance at Queen's, which ended with his first title in an unnatural habitat for him.

Jeremy had given up Roland Garros to be competitive in his farewell. Age and the best tennis player on the planet do not forgive. At 36 minutes, he scored the first game and the crowd celebrated with the sort of noise they dedicate to a Wimbledon champion. The Frenchman was left smiling.

Timid reaction

Chardy will still always be able to explain to his children that he got ahead of Alcaraz. It was after winning the first game of the third set. He was ahead until 3-2 and had four 4-2 balls. He took advantage of the last one. In his last ball, he wanted to continue to battle until the end.

Alcaraz, who had gone down a gear, went up again to finish on the fast track and not give more quarter than necessary to his rival.