China's men follow Alcaraz, Sinner by winning Wimbledon openers

LONDON — Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world No 1 Jannik Sinner reached the Wimbledon second round on Monday, as Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the women's event with an injury.

As Alcaraz and Sinner, two of the men at the vanguard of tennis' new generation progressed, 37-year-old Andy Murray kept his fans guessing over his participation at the All England Club.

Alcaraz defeated dread-locked 269th-ranked qualifier Mark Lajal of Estonia 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2, recovering from breaks down in the first two sets.

The Spaniard, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles.

"He played a really good match, he obviously surprised me a little bit, because I didn't have the chance to see him play a lot," said Alcaraz after opening the program on Centre Court.

This time last year, Lajal was losing a first-round match at a second-tier Challenger event in the United States and earning a paltry $780 — on Monday, he banked $75,000.

Sinner overcame a mid-match wobble to see off the challenge of Germany's Yannick Hanfmann 6-3,6-4, 3-6, 6-3, setting up a match against 2021 finalist and compatriot Matteo Berrettini.

"He played really well, he was serving well, I missed a couple of shots," said Sinner, a semifinalist last year.

Murray, champion in 2013 and 2016, had been expected to make a decision over whether or not he will play in the singles competition at his farewell Wimbledon.

The former world No 1 underwent surgery to remove a cyst on his spine last week, and admitted he still has not fully recovered feeling in his leg.

Murray will, however, now make a decision on Tuesday, with schedulers giving him the final slot on Centre Court for his match against Tomas Machac to allow him more time to make up his mind.

Two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Sabalenka, ranked third in the world, is one of eight players to have pulled out since the draw was made.

She admitted she was not 100 percent fit after suffering a shoulder injury at the Berlin Open.

"I'm heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won't be able to play the Championships this year," the 26-year-old wrote on X.

China's world No 8 Zheng Qinwen, the Australian Open runner-up, was the biggest casualty of the day, losing in the first round for a second successive year.

Zheng went down 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun, who celebrated her first Grand Slam match win.

Two of Zheng's countrymen, however, achieved breakthrough victories on Monday.

China's No 32 seed Zhang Zhizhen, grabbed his first Wimbledon main-draw win by beating French qualifier Maxime Janvier 7-6 (4),6-3, 6-2, and his 19-year-old countryman Shang Juncheng achieved the same breakthrough, knocking out Chile's Cristian Garin 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Both Sabalenka and Zheng were potential semifinal opponents for US Open champion and second-ranked Coco Gauff, who eased past compatriot Caroline Dolehide 6-1,6-2.

Four-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka claimed her first win at Wimbledon since 2018, recovering from a going break down in the final set to defeat Diane Parry of France 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

The former world No 1 fired 34 winners in the tie, which was decided when Parry served up her 10th double fault.

Victory was extra special for Osaka, as it comes a day before her daughter Shai celebrates her first birthday.

"It feels like a dream, because I haven't played here many times," said Osaka, whose last appearance at the All England Club was in 2019, when she exited in the first round.

Russian men's fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, a semifinalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.

"I've still never lost on Court One, so, hopefully, I can play a lot more on this court," said Medvedev.

"Last year, I said it was unfortunate that I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost."

Eighth seed Casper Ruud saw off Alex Bolt of Australia in straight sets, and revealed that he had been laid low by a parasite since reaching the French Open semifinals.

"I was mostly in bed for 10, 11 days, which was not what I was hoping for," said the Norwegian.

Three-time Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka won his Wimbledon opener at the age of 39, beating British wild card Charles Broom 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

"I think there is enough reason to keep playing. I don't want to go home," said Wawrinka.

AFP