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Top seed and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain thrashed Jeremy Chardy of France 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday, July 4. The match lasted for around two hours, as the 20-year-old Spaniard made a strong statement in his first match of the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz will play his second-round match on Thursday, July 6. On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match.
#1 Carlos Alcaraz blitzed past Jeremy Chardy in the first two sets
Carlos Alcaraz started the match in a great manner under the closed roof by breaking the Frenchman in the very first game of the match. He then went from strength to strength in the set, subjecting Chardy to a constant barrage of audacious strokeplay from the baseline.
Alcaraz kept hitting his crosscourt backhand with a sharp angle towards the Frenchman's backhand which kept the latter under pressure. On a few other occasions, the Spaniard hit an inside-out forehand toward Chardy's backhand to win points. The Frenchman was able to win only 8% of the points on his second serve in the first set and could hit only two winners.
The Spaniard then continued his dominance in the second set which saw him win a lot of points with his inside-in forehand. He typically hit that shot with a lower trajectory, as the ball traveled fast and beat Chardy's defense.
The Frenchman managed to win a couple of games in the second set, but Carlos Alcaraz still broke him twice in it. The Spaniard won every point on his first serve in the set.
#2 Jeremy Chardy went around his backhand more often in the third set
Judging that he was struggling with his backhand, the Frenchman started playing slices off it more often midway through the second set. In the third set, he went around his backhand more often to contend with Alcaraz with his forehand.
That tactic paid off as Chardy managed to break Alcaraz in the sixth game to go 4-2 up. However, his joy was short-lived as Alcaraz showed his class by breaking back and then getting another break in the 11th game once again. He then served out the match in the subsequent game to seal the deal.
Carlos Alcaraz had a whopping 14 break point opportunities in the match, of which seven were converted. Jeremy Chardy simply was not fast enough or powerful enough to make a match of it on a faster court against the formidable Spaniard.
