Alcaraz coasts into Wimbledon third round

LONDON (Agencies): Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from an early stumble to sweep into the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, dispatching Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets.

The third seed dug deep to take the opening set against his 69th-ranked opponent before shifting impressively through the gears to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2. From 5-2 up in the first set, the Spaniard briefly lost his way to trail 5-6.

However, with the pressure on, Alcaraz broke back to force a tie-break and from then on it was one-way traffic. The 21-year-old broke twice in the second set and repeated the feat in set three, pounding a total of 42 winners. Alcaraz, who beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, wrapped up victory in one hour, 48 minutes. Vukic defeated then 17-year-old Alcaraz in qualifying at Roland Garros in 2020 but could not repeat the feat on the grass at the All England Club.

“I’m really happy about my performance today,” said Alcaraz. “The first set was the key for me. He served for the set, then I played a really good tie-break. “In the second set and third set, I played a really high level so I’m really happy about it.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back. He next faces Frances Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.

The Spaniard said he would “put on a show” against Tiafoe, ranked 29th. “I’m going for him,” he said. “We played a really good match in the US Open. “I know he is a really talented player, a tough one, even tougher on grass with his style. Good volley, good slices. It is going to be a very difficult match for me. “I’m ready to take that challenge.”

Gauff storms past qualifier to reach third round: Coco Gauff stormed past Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni to move into the third round of Wimbledon.

The second seed entertained the crowd under the roof on Court One with big hitting to earn a 6-2 6-1 victory in 66 minutes. Gauff will play British qualifier Sonay Kartal, who claimed the biggest win of her career with victory over France’s Clara Burel later on Wednesday. A second convincing win this week marks progress for American Gauff at SW19 after a surprise exit in the first round last year.

“Overall, I just learned about life a lot. I guess you do as you get older,” the 20-year-old said. “I realised what I do, yes I’m passionate about, but it’s not that serious and sometimes the world can make you feel like there’s so much pressure, so much expectation.

“At the end of the day, it’s a game, it’s a sport and I’m very privileged to be playing out here.” Todoni, 19, came into Wednesday’s match on the back of a dominant win – and her first victory in a Grand Slam – over fellow qualifier Olga Danilovic, of Serbia.

But she faced a tougher opponent in US Open winner Gauff, who is among the favourites to go the distance at Wimbledon. After dropping serve early, Todoni couldn’t make the most of any chances to break back. It was an uphill task from there for Todoni, who struggled to absorb Gauff’s powerful ball striking and won just three points on her opponent’s serve. American 11th seed Danielle Collins returned to complete a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win over Denmark’s Clara Tauson after their match was paused on Tuesday evening because of fading light and a slippery surface. Elina Svitolina, the 21st seed from Ukraine, moved past Poland’s Magda Linette with a hard-fought 7-5 6-7 (9-11) 6-3 win.