Carlos Alcaraz, world number three and reigning champion of Wimbledon, must now try to defend the crown in the third major of the year.
He will make his debut against the Estonian player, Mark Lajal, the 262-ranked 21-year-old who is coming from the qualifiers. Despite being the same age, there are no precedents between the two.
Alcaraz has fallen from the top of the draw, so he would have a hypothetical semifinal with Jannik Sinner, world number 1 and who he already beat in the same round at the recent Roland Garros.
Carlitos could face Casper Ruud or Tommy Paul, who comes from winning the Open 500 at Queen’s, in the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz’s potential road to the Wimbledon final
- Second round: Sebastian Ofner
- Third round: Frances Tiafoe
- Round of 16: Ugo Humbert
- Quarter-finals: Casper Ruud/Tommy Paul
- Semi-Finals: Jannik Sinner
- Final: Novak Djokovic
Alcaraz is looking to become only the sixth player in the Open Era to win on the Roland Garros clay and Wimbledon grass in the same season.
It was achieved by a handful of racquet legends: Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Australian Laver was the first in 1969. Borg was later the one who showed the best adaptation to the change of surfaces, as he won three consecutive crowns, from 1978 to 1980.
Almost three decades later, Nadal joined that select club in 2008. He finished off Federer twice in the finals in Paris and London. The grass at the All England Club had changed and allowed for trouble-free play from the back of the court.
Rafa was followed by Federer a year later. The Swiss had resisted Roland Garros and finally lifted the Musketeers’ Cup against Robin Soderling. The Swede had been Nadal‘s executioner in the round of 16. The last to successfully complete the connection between clay and grass at the two majors was Djokovic.
Three-week gap
The Serb joined that prestigious club in 2021. He could not repeat in 2023 because of Carlitos.
It should be recalled that the hierarchs of the All England Club delayed the start of Wimbledon by one week in 2015, which since then allows players to have three weeks and not two between the end of the second major and the start of the third on totally opposite surfaces.