In Carlos Alcaraz’s first match of the grass season against France’s Arthur Rinderknech at Queen’s Club, the Spaniard found that he was distracted. Still not entirely comfortable with his turbo-powered movement on the slick lawn, he was so focused on maintaining his balance that the rest of his game suffered. Alcaraz was pushed to the brink, barely surviving a third-set tiebreak.
There is still so much room for Alcaraz to improve on grass and growth takes time but, after nearly three weeks on the surface and counting this year, that discomfort is a long way away. Alcaraz began his first Wimbledon title run as the No 1 seed with a comfortable win, dismantling Jérémy Chardy of France 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 under the No 1 Court roof.
“I’m really happy with the level that I play, with the performance today. I think I played a really good game today. It’s something that I am going to take to next round,” Alcaraz said.
Like a true Gen Z athlete, Alcaraz immediately jumped on his phone after the victory and, while checking out all the social media posts he missed, he learned that Roger Federer was present on Centre Court as part of the celebrations of the eight-time champion’s career.
“I saw that Roger Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous,” he said, smiling. “Honestly, I want Roger Federer to watch one of my matches obviously. I wish to talk a little bit with him. For me [that] would be amazing. I hope to see him around more than once.”
As the 20-year-old continues to gain valuable experience at the start of his career, across the net Chardy began his tournament knowing this was the end. Chardy had announced his intention to retire from singles after Wimbledon and the draw had afforded him one last occasion on the big stage, but with an extremely low chance of victory.
Chardy, a top 100 player for most of his career, returned to competition this year after knee surgery. Although the 36-year-old won his first-round match at the Australian Open in January, he has not won a single set in his four matches played since and the Frenchman was forced to retire from his final match at Roland Garros due to further knee issues. Now ranked No 542 and facing the No 1 player in the world in full flow, the gulf between them was immediately clear.
In the opening set Chardy was painful to watch. As he sprayed errors off the ground, his ball toss on serve was atrocious, leading to a stream of double faults as he kept on throwing the ball too far behind him. Shortly after serving three double faults in succession, one dreadful first serve bounced before the net, leading Chardy’s wife, Susan, to jump to her feet and energise the crowd. Seconds later, Chardy double faulted again. When he finally won his first game, he beamed.
Against his weakened opponent, Alcaraz performed as expected. He moved excellently, sweeping from side to side across the baseline, changing direction with ease and pulling himself back into points that seemed lost. He took the ball earlier than usual, unloading on forehands that provoked gasps from his audience, and his trademark drop-shots were effective as ever on the low-bouncing grass.
Still, as Alcaraz gains more experience, it would be wise to use these matches against outmatched opponents as an opportunity to throw in a few more serve and volley attempts or a couple more backhand slices than usual and work on his long-term grass game.
Midway through the third set, Alcaraz’s focus seemed to briefly wane as Chardy found some rhythm. After a lengthy service game at 2-3 on Alcaraz’s serve, presented with a slow second serve on break point, Chardy produced a vintage inside out forehand return to break serve. The danger of a potential fourth set spurred Alcaraz into action. He immediately retrieved the break and won five of the last six games as he sealed his victory.
Alcaraz will next face another Frenchman, either Alexandre Müller or a rematch with Rinderknech, as he continues to grow in these early days of his grass-court career. Müller was leading Rinderknech by a set before play was suspended.
For Chardy, this is it. Everything began for him on these grounds as a junior Wimbledon champion in 2005 and he has enjoyed an underrated career. He has reached the fourth round of every grand slam tournament and a career-high ranking of No 25.
With his heavy, unorthodox forehand, Chardy has always been capable of pulling off a few big upsets each year, registering wins over Federer, a good friend, and Andy Murray in his career. At some point, though, time catches up with everyone.
