Carlos Alcaraz had never won a Grand Slam match in so little time as this Friday. The Spaniard defeated Oscar Otte (6-3 6-1, 6-1) in just 39 minutes. He also recorded his fastest win in a major to get into the Wimbledon round 16 for the first-time in his career.
After his best performance at the tournament, the Murcian will make his debut in week two of the London Grand Slam. Ante Otte proved that he isn’t too confident when he said that he can play on grass and that it was his favorite surface. The match against the German was nerve-wracking and he was matched up with one of the greatest players in the world. However, the game was flawless. It took an hour and a quarter to beat the German, who was considered to be a danger on these tracks. He is also one of the men to avoid in a draw because of his form.
Semi-finals in Halle, Stuttgart and a meteoric climb since the start of the year for an individual who stands at 1.93m tall but has now reached the peak of their career at 28. Alcaraz was nervous about the service sheet, as he was coming in ‘in crescendo’ but still lacks or has not many grass boards. It was at least paper. Otte started serving Alcaraz, and his youth and inexperience disappeared on the surface.
He was a master of the rest, almost incontestable. With 50% of the points winning to the rest and more than 70% being put into play, he was simply amazing. This is remarkable against an Otte server. This is in addition to breaking his serve seven more times and forcing 20 break balls. He also committed only seven unforced mistakes.
This victory is his fastest Grand Slam win, surpassing the one against Juan Ignacio Londero a few weeks back in an hour and 54 minutes.
Alcaraz will face Jannik Sinner from Italy in the first round at Wimbledon. He beat John Isner and will be facing the Spaniard for the second time in his career. Alcaraz beat him last season at the Masters 1000 in Paris.
Novak Djokovic followed Alcaraz’s lead and was a great exhibition. In his typical manner, the Serbian was aggressive against his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round. He has taken well to him and he disintegrated him (6-0,6-3, and 6-4).
Djokovic has already reached the second week of the tournament with his match winning performance confirming his favoritism. His racket can make the fourth Wimbledon in succession a breeze because grass is his only opponent. He is the only player who can match him at the level of the first round, where he suffered his first bagel of tournament play.
Djokovic is just four games away to signing his 21st Grand Slam. He has won 24 consecutive Wimbledon matches and 35 on Center Court. Next up is Tim Van Rijthoven, who has eight consecutive wins and the s’Hertogenbosch title. The Dutchman was ranked below the top 170 world players two weeks ago and won the title in his home country. He was also invited to Wimbledon. He has now left Federico Delbonis and Reilly Opelka, as well as Nikoloz Basilashvili, behind.
