LONDON: Third seed Carlos Alcaraz endured an early test in his Wimbledon title defence but the Spaniard quelled the challenge of Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 and moved into the second round on Monday.
The 21-year-old, bidding to add a fourth Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet after his maiden French Open triumph last month, dropped serve midway through a high-quality opening set before battling back to clinch it in a tiebreak.
Lajal broke Alcaraz again early in the next set but the dreadlocked world No 269 was unable to make the advantage count and his opponent broke back to love immediately before pouncing again in the 11th game.
With the momentum having swung, Alcaraz continued to reel off the points for a two-set lead and raised his game further in the third to break with a superb backhand crosscourt winner and he never looked back from there to close out the victory.