Wimbledon 2024: Defending champ Alcaraz opens campaign with win against Mark Lajal

Wimbledon reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his campaign with a  7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 win against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal. The Spaniard admitted he was surprised by the opponent as he had not seen him play.

The three-time Slam champion was delighted to get a win under his belt. The 21-year-old came up with fine hitting from the baseline to begin his title defense on a high.

“He surprised me a little bit because I had not seen him play too much,” Alcaraz said. “He is very young, he is my age. I am sure I am going to see him on the Tour and play him more often. I am really happy to get through and get my first win on Centre Court this year.”

The Spaniard admitted he still feels nervous while playing at the Center Court at SW19.

“Stepping onto this court at Wimbledon is the most beautiful court that I have played on. I am still nervous when I play here,” Alcaraz said. “I practised for 45 minutes on Thursday and it was the first time I have been nervous in practice and it is because it is for playing here.”

Alcaraz was able to wrap up the game in two hours and 22 minutes and came up with a fine performance. The Spaniard was pushed in the first two sets but he was able to grab the crucial stages of the match to go through to the next round.

Alcaraz will play the second round against Australian Aleksandar Vukic on Wednesday.

If Alcaraz defends his Wimbledon title, he will become the sixth player to win the double of Roland Garros-Wimbledon after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic.