Wimbledon: Alcaraz delights with classy win over Vukic, moves into third round

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2 to move into the third round of Wimbledon.

The third seed was tested in the first set as he came up against a thoroughly impressive display from the Australian.

Alcaraz surged into a 5-2 lead, before the Australian broke back in the ninth game and then striking again in the eleventh to stun the defending champion in a run of four straight games that saw him serve for the opening set at 6-5. But the Spaniard lifted his game when he needed it most, breaking the Australian for a second time to force a tiebreak.

From there, Alcaraz looked comfortable, ripping winners and powerful returns to seal an entertaining breaker on his second set point.

The final two sets were a much more straightforward affair for the world No 3, who broke twice in each of the second and the third to run out an eventual comfortable winner after a testing start.

Alcaraz, ranked No 3, will face American Frances Tiafoe, the No 29 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the 21-year-old Spaniard beat Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal (7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2).

Vukic, ranked No 69, won against Austrian Sebastian Ofner (6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8)) in the previous round of The Championships.

London (Grand Slam), other second-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50.000.000, most recent results first):

• Marcos Giron vs. Alexander Zverev
• Jack Draper vs. Cameron Norrie
• Jacob Fearnley vs. Novak Djokovic
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Alexei Popyrin
• Holger Rune vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild
• Jaume Munar vs. Alex De Minaur
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Arthur Fils
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• Luciano Darderi vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Francisco Comesana vs. Adam Walton
• Stan Wawrinka vs. Gael Monfils
• Lloyd Harris vs. Ben Shelton
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Daniel Altmaier
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Juncheng Shang
• Jannik Sinner vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Tommy Paul vs. Otto Virtanen: wednesday
• Lorenzo Sonego vs. Roberto Bautista Agut: wednesday
• Arthur Cazaux vs. Alexander Bublik: wednesday
• Alexandre Muller vs. Daniil Medvedev: wednesday
• Ugo Humbert (16) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 7-6 (9), 6-1, 6-3
• Brandon Nakashima beat Jordan Thompson: 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
• Frances Tiafoe beat Borna Coric: 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3
• Fabio Fognini vs. Casper Ruud: wednesday