There was rain in London’s SW19 just an hour after Day 1’s tennis had gotten underway at the All England Club.
Centre Court has a retractable roof, though (since 2009), as does Court 1 (since 2019).
Court 1 was where the fierce battle in the Gentlemen’s First Round, between Carlos Alcaraz (19, Spain 🇪🇸) and Jan-Lennard Struff (31, Germany 🇩🇪) was taking place.
Struff’s coach must have instructed him to play gangbusters and go for the margins, hit two first serves every point, just to have a shot at beating Alcaraz. He did just that, with great effect.
Alcaraz had to pull a rabbit out of a hat in the must-have fourth set-tiebreaker, to be at 1-2 and not 0-3.
Struff followed his shot in the forehand corner to the net. Alcaraz got it back, then had to streak crosscourt like a cheetah, to pick up the volley from Struff. He made a scorching one-handed backhand winner out of it. (Under normal conditions the Alcaraz backhand uses two hands).
Final score: Alcaraz 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 after 4 hrs 11 mins.
The players look resplendent in their gleaming Wimbledon whites. Grass court tennis shoes have pimples on the soles to provide a little more grip.
Fast balls will skid a little and stay lower than on clay, so it’s a slightly different game and one that Alcaraz is still coming to grips with. One needs lightning-fast reflexes and a little luck, to catch a cannonball serve on one’s strings, which is why serve-and-volleyers do so well on grass.
[Photo of Alcaraz in action today, by Getty Images]