Alcaraz says staying calm is the secret to SW19 success

Carlos Alcaraz turned to his box, clenching his fist in delight with that familiar intensity.

- JACK RATHBORN

This remains relatively new ground for the Wimbledon champion, who is still just 21, but after improving his record on grass to 19-3, yesterday’s straight-sets victory (7-6 6-2 6-3) over Aleksandar Vukic appeared ordinary. Yet a closer inspection revealed a crucial habit that could enable the Spaniard to defend his title and move to four career grand slams.

A defiant Novak Djokovic, gritting his teeth through the lingering effects of surgery, and the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, pose obvious threats to this promising title defence. And his blossoming rivalry with the Italian appears well-balanced on the surface, with the head-to-head currently standing at 5-4 in the Spaniard’s favour. Wimbledon, too, appears to be sitting on the fence after flipping both contenders on that side of the draw from Centre to No 1 Court between their first and second-round matches.

But Alcaraz is on a mission and a fourth slam – to make him just the sixth man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic – would ensure separation between himself and Sinner’s one slam to date in the compelling battle to seize Djokovic’s men’s throne, when the Serb eventually calls time on his career.

Vukic, in his first meeting with his illustrious opponent, would prove stubborn, though. The world No 69 rattled off four successive games to move from 5-2 down to the brink of a oneset lead at 6-5. But here was the moment for Alcaraz to snap out of a brief slump. Having dozed off momentarily, he illustrated just what separates the very good and great players.