By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
World no. 1 male tennis player Carlos Alcaraz just kicked off his Wimbledon campaign with a dominant victory over Jeremy Chardy of France- 6.0, 6.2, 7.5- to march to the second round of the Grand Slam tournament last July 4, 2023.
It was a walk in the park for the young Spanish sensation after imposing his will on Chardy for three-straight sets, bullying his French opponent with his thundering forehand strikes while keeping his heavy service game on point.
Alcaraz recorded 10 impressive service aces on Chardy during the match built from an 84%-win rate on his first service possessions.
Aside from his consistent service game, Alcaraz also tallied a jaw-dropping 104 points won in just three sets including a chunk of his signature down-the-line winners that wowed the crowd in his first-round match.
Alcaraz was brimming with confidence after breaking all Chardy’s service possessions in the opening set to head to the second frame without a single set dropped.
Despite Chardy gaining a little rhythm in the second set when he held his service twice, Alcaraz came back and stuck with his power play to gain more points on board.
Alcaraz was all over the grass court and did it all to keep his momentum after going up 2-0 and was eager to finish the match early when he dominated the net area.
However, Chardy showed signs of life in the third and final set when he finally recovered in the baseline game and went toe-to-toe with Alcaraz’s groundstroke strikes.
Chardy won several crucial points to reach the fifth game but Alcaraz smelled blood in the last three sets and decided to flip the switch when he targeted the French’s no-man’s land area.
Alcaraz then iced the match with back-to-back booming backhands to put the first round in the bag and advance to the next stage of the Wimbledon tournament.
