Carlos Alcaraz Sets Sights on Wimbledon Defense Amidst Tough Competition

Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz (REUTERS/Matthew Childs)

Carlos Alcaraz will begin his defense of the Wimbledon title, third Grand Slam of the season, this Monday against the Estonian Mark Lajal. The Spaniard will advance on the same side of the draw as Jannik Sinner, whom he could face in a hypothetical semifinal, emulating those at Roland Garros, in which the Spaniard managed a comeback after five sets to end up winning the title at the Philippe Chatrier.

The Spaniard lands in the English Slam after having failed to defend his title in Queens’, but with the intention of becoming the first Spaniard who can achieve a consecutive victory at the All England Club headquarters, as well as becoming one of the five tennis players of the Open Era who have achieved the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, along with Bjorn Borg, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Of this select group, Alcaraz would become the youngest tennis player to achieve this. Alcaraz said that he wants to “be on the list of tennis players who have won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year” and that it is “an important challenge.”

To do so, the Spaniard will first have to overcome a seemingly uneventful path through the tournament. If he beats Estonian Lajal, Alcaraz would face Austrian Sebastian Ofner or Australian Aleksandar Vukic in the second round. In the round of 16, he would face Argentine Sebastian Báez or Frenchman Ugo Humbert. In the quarterfinals, he would face Casper Ruud or American Tommy Paul. In the semi-finals, he would be met by Jannik Sinner. If the Italian does not overcome all his obstacles to the semi-finals, his possible rivals would be German Yannick Hanfmann or Russian Daniil Medvedev.

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Two high seeds in sync 👀#Wimbledon @carlosalcaraz | @janniksin pic.twitter.com/YScXQRUOWf

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2024

“Sinner, of course. And Djokovic, despite the knee issue, I take him as a favorite too. There are many players who can play well here. For me there is also Zverev, although in previous years he has not had great success here at Wimbledon. I still take him as a rival to keep an eye on,” Alcaraz analyzed about his potential rivals.

“After last year, maybe they will take me as the favourite, but I am trying not to take it that way. I lost in the round of 16 at Queen’s and that shows how difficult it is to play on grass. There are also many players who are much more adapted and anything can happen,” warned the player from Murcia.

The match that will inaugurate the third Grand Slam of the year between Carlos Alcaraz and Mark Lajal will be held this Monday, July 1 at 2:30 p.m. peninsular time. The center court of the All England Club will be the setting to host this first round match between number three and number 262.

The Spaniard’s debut at Wimbledon can be followed on the Movistar+ platform, with prior subscription. In addition, the #Vamos network will also be in charge of broadcasting the matches of the third Grand Slam of the season.

2024-06-30 17:28:00
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