Carlos Alcaraz played a very difficult first match at Wimbledon on Monday. The young Spanish star won against Italian player Fabio Fognini in five long sets. The match lasted almost five hours in very hot weather. The final score was 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.
Alcaraz is the champion from last year and wants to win Wimbledon again. He just won the French Open last month. Now he tries to win both tournaments two years in a row. Only one player did this before – Bjorn Borg many years ago.
Nobody thought this match would be so hard for Alcaraz. His opponent Fognini is 38 years old and had lost his last 10 matches. But Fognini played very well and made Alcaraz work hard. Famous football player David Beckham watched the match from special seats.
The hot weather made the match even tougher. It was 31 degrees Celsius – it was the hottest first day ever at Wimbledon. Alcaraz looked tired but he kept fighting. He came back when he was losing in the third set. Then he played his best game in the fifth set to win.
This win keeps Alcaraz’s perfect record where he has never lost in the first round of any big tournament. He has now won 15 matches in a row at Wimbledon. His next match is against a British player named Oliver Tarvet. This is Tarvet’s first time playing at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz has already won five tournaments this year, including the French Open. He also won two important warm-up tournaments before Wimbledon. After the match, Alcaraz said he felt very tired but happy to win. He knows he must play better in his next matches if he wants to win Wimbledon again.
The crowd enjoyed watching this exciting match. Many people thought Alcaraz might lose, but he showed why he is one of the best players in the world. He never gave up, even when the match was very difficult. Now he continues his journey to try winning Wimbledon for the third time.