LONDON: 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.

Second seed and the 2023 U.S Open winner, Coco Gauff advanced into the women's singles third round of the Wimbledon 2024 Championships, with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni. The 20-year-old American dropped just three games as she became the first woman to the third round.

Gauff needed just 1 hour and 6 minutes to defeat Todoni, who beat Olga Danilovic in the first round after qualifying for her Grand Slam debut, under the roof on No.1 Court, as rain delayed the start of play on the outside courts by nearly two hours.

Todoni, the rookie, was competitive with the US Open champion in the first four games of the match. But she failed to convert the only two breakpoints she had in the match, in the fourth game of the second set, which proved costly for the Romanian. In all, Gauff broke serve five times in nine chances, and her serve was never otherwise under threat.

Swaggering Italian Fabio Fognini rolled back the years with a dazzling display to knock out Wimbledon eighth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3 and reach the third round.

The 37-year-old former top-10 player, these days sporting peroxide blond hair, produced his trademark brand of languid shot-making to largely dominate Ruud on Court Two.

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev battled his way to a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 victory over 102-ranked Alexandre Muller to reach the third round.

In men’s section, Frances Tiafoe beat Borna Coric 7-6, 6-1, 6-3, Quentin Halys beat Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, Ugo Humbert beat Boticvande Zandschulp 7-6, 6-1, 6-3, Brandon Nakashima beat Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, Tomas Machac beat David Goffin 3-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6, Taylor Fritz beat Christopher O'Connell 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, Alejandro Tabilo beat Dan Evans 6-2, 7-5, 6-3, Lucas Pouille beat Laslo Djere 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the next round.

In women’s section, Bianca Andreescu beat Linda Nosková 6-3, 7-6, Jule Niemeier beat Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-1, Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-3, Sonay Kartal beat Clara Burel 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, Sonay Kartal beat Clara Burel 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, Barbora Krejcíková beat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, Elina Svitolina beat Magda Linette 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, Katie Volynets beat María Lourdes Carlé 6-2, 7-5 to reach the next round. Agencies

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