LONDON (Reuters) – Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz made a shaky start against unseeded Australian Aleksandar Vukic but moved through the gears to seal a 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 win and reach the third round on Wednesday.
Alcaraz broke for a 4-2 lead as Vukic miscued an overhead smash at the net but the Spaniard handed the advantage back to his 69th-ranked opponent three games later and was broken again in the opening set.
He recovered to force a tiebreak, where he took a healthy 5-1 lead, but allowed Vukic to win three straight points only to raise his level again and take the set as Spanish fans breathed a sigh of relief on Court One.
The French Open champion, who is bidding for a fourth Grand Slam title, did not give Vukic any more opportunities and closed out the second set quickly before easing through the third.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
