Kid Alcaraz and the Joker sweat a bit in Wimbledon openers

WIMBLEDON, England—Thrills and some up-the-spine chills on day one at the All England Club.

Most especially for — and from — Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz.

The No. 5 seed, a breakout hotshot this season, had to bring all his skill and perseverance to bear in prevailing over veteran Jan-Lennard Struff in their opening-round five-set wrangle on Monday afternoon.

In fact, not until the match had passed the four-hour mark did Alcaraz — youngest man in the draw — manage to take the lead at 4-all in the fifth set by breaking his unseeded and 155th-ranked German opponent. As his energy soared and Struff’s vigour dwindled, Alcaraz finally imposed superior command on the encounter, closing it out on his second match point with a long backhand return.

It was the second year in a row that Alcaraz began his Wimbledon campaign with a five-set decision. This one lasted four hours and 11 minutes.

Of course, a year ago Alcaraz was a tennis unknown to most people, ranked No. 75 and playing on a back court. This time out, the French Open finalist — where he really made his tennis bones — was granted the prestige of Court 1.

Even though he’s been telling everyone who’ll listen that no way, no how, should he be considered a front-runner to dethrone reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic. Grass a largely alien surface for him, the 19-year-old repeatedly points out, and not particularly well suited to his high-octane, fast game.

“Obviously if I play well, I have the level to win the tournament,” he told reporters on the weekend. “But there are a lot more experienced players on grass, more players better on grass than me.” Upside? “I don’t feel the pressure because I rank myself not one of the favourites to win this tournament.”

Singing a rather different tune after his 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory. “Great battle. For me (playing) on grass is so beautiful. I like to play on grass.”

The turning point was the fourth-set tiebreaker. Ahead two sets to one, Struff was seven points from upsetting the new kid and the 32-year-old began strongly, earning a mini-break followed by an ace. Serving a 2-0, the six-foot-four slashing German looked in comfortable control of a rally that he attempted to polish off with a drop shot. Alcaraz, however, deployed his trademark foot speed to giddy-up across the court and flick a backhand winner that brought him back on serve. A brace of aces right after, securing seven out of eight points, levelled the match. Even then, the fifth frame was no walk in the park until that 4-all juncture, when Alcaraz pulled away.

Meanwhile, over on Centre Court to launch the rain-delayed proceedings, a mini-wobble barely caused a frisson of anxiety in Djokovic, in pursuit of his fourth straight Wimbledon crown and sixth overall. Losing the second set to Kwon Soon-woo didn’t put the Serb off his stride as he disposed of the South Korean in four sets: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 27 minutes.

“I’ve said this before, but this court is truly special,” Djokovic told the audience in his on-court interview afterwards. “For me, it has always been the court I dreamed of play and winning (on) and all my childhood dreams came true here. So it’s an honour and a privilege to be back on Centre Court.”

The win extended Djokovic’s unbeaten record at Wimbledon to 22 matches.

The world No. 2 — fallen behind Daniil Medvedev, absent from this affair because Russian and Belarusian players aren’t welcome (blame warmonger Vladimir Putin) — hasn’t played a whole lot of tennis this year. He was unceremoniously booted out of Australia in January, prevented from competing in the Aussie Open because he famously (infamously) refuses to get the COVID vaccine. At the French Open last month, he lost a riveting quarterfinal faceoff with Rafael Nadal. And because vaccination is required to enter the United States, Djokovic will likely not be seen at the upcoming U.S. Open, either.

“I guess that motivates me more to try to make the most out of this tournament,” he acknowledged. “I’m hoping that some things can change and that I’ll be able to go and compete (in Flushing Meadows). I would want to, but it is what it is at the moment.”

Don’t bet on anything changing.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno

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