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World number one Carlos Alcaraz gained his first victory on Centre Court as he defeated France’s Alexandre Muller to move into the third round of Wimbledon.
The 20-year-old Spaniard won 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 against the world number 84.
Alcaraz lost to Jannik Sinner in the last 16 on Centre Court in 2022, but defeated a battling Muller on Friday.
Elsewhere, there were wins for third seed Daniil Medvedev and sixth seed Holger Rune, but 15th seed Alex de Minaur was beaten by Matteo Berrettini.
The unseeded Italian, a finalist here in 2021 when he lost to Novak Djokovic, gained a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory to eliminate Australian De Minaur, who will also be involved in mixed doubles action later on when he teams up with girlfriend Katie Boulter, the British women’s number one.
This is Alcaraz’s third year of playing at Wimbledon and in 2021 he won on court six, before losing on Court One. His three wins in 2022 included two victories on Court One and another success on court two ahead of the loss to Sinner.
He won his opener this year on Court One on Tuesday, with today’s win over Muller surely the first of many on the sport’s most famous stage.
“I’m really, really happy,” said Alcaraz. “It’s my second match on Centre Court and I lost the first one last year, so I’m really happy to play here again.
“It’s something I wanted to enjoy every single second of and I did.
“I think I’m playing really, really well on grass. I’m not as experienced as other but I’m playing at a great level, getting more experience and getting better each match.
“Playing at Wimbledon is something special, you feel different compared to other tournaments. I try to enjoy playing tennis and make people enjoy watch tennis.”
Alcaraz struggled early on with the pace of the Centre Court turf, repeatedly sending forehands from the baseline long. That gave his opponent – who has only won two Grand Slam matches in his career – three break points early on, but Muller was unable to convert his chances.
As the match went on, Alcaraz – showing superb touch, technique and pace of shot – produced a number of superb cushioned volleys and drop shots, gaining the vital break in the seventh game.
Alcaraz smashed away the opening point off the Muller serve in the second set tie-break, then produced an ace to give himself control which…
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