Carlos Alcaraz Wins 1st set of Wimbledon Final against Novak Djokovic 6-2

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their men's singles semi-final tennis match on the twelfth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 12, 2024. (AFP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their men's singles semi-final tennis match on the twelfth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Carlos Alcaraz Wins 1st set of Wimbledon Final against Novak Djokovic 6-2

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their men's singles semi-final tennis match on the twelfth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 12, 2024. (AFP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their men's singles semi-final tennis match on the twelfth day of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 12, 2024. (AFP)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has taken the first set of the men's Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic 6-2.

Alcaraz broke Djokovic in an opening game that lasted nearly 14 minutes, converting his fifth break point, and then again for a 4-1 lead when the Serb double-faulted, The AP reported.

Sunday's final at the All England Club is a rematch from last year, when Alcaraz got past Djokovic in five sets.

Kate, the Princess of Wales, was sitting in the Royal Box at Center Court, a rare public appearance after her cancer diagnosis.

The 37-year-old Djokovic is trying to win his eighth Wimbledon title to equal Roger Federer for the most by a man at the grass-court major. A victory by Djokovic would also give him 25 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other player in tennis history.

It was only a little more than a month ago that Djokovic had surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee after getting injured during the French Open.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz wound up winning the trophy at Roland Garros in June for his third major championship. That made him the youngest man with a Grand Slam title on grass, clay and hard courts.

Barbora Krejcikova defeated Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon women's final Saturday.



Sinner and Alcaraz Breeze through Shanghai Masters Openers

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
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Sinner and Alcaraz Breeze through Shanghai Masters Openers

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during his Men's Singles match against Juncheng Shang of China at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, China, 05 October 2024. (EPA)

Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner showed no signs of fatigue from their China Open final earlier this week to advance with comfortable straight-set victories in their opening matches of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.

The second-ranked Alcaraz, who beat the Italian in Beijing on Wednesday for his fourth title of the year, recorded his 10th consecutive win with a 6-2, 6-2 result against 19-year-old Shang Juncheng of China.

The 21-year-old Spaniard won the first nine points of the match and four of seven break points as he rushed into a third-round meeting with another Chinese player, Wu Yibing.

“I’m not used to playing against players younger than me,” Alcaraz said. “He has been playing good tennis lately, lifting his first ATP (title in Chengdu), so I’m pretty sure he’s going to climb the rankings. I’m just happy to to be able to win these kinds of matches.”

Sinner, who is dealing with an ongoing doping case, had a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 outing against Taro Daniel of Japan for his 250th career win.

The Italian, who won the US Open last month for his second major of the year, fired 12 aces and 38 winners.

“I felt quite comfortable today,” said the 23-year-old Sinner, who next plays Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina. “I feel in good shape also physically, which is very important for me. Of course I will try to improve for tomorrow’s performance, but today I was serving really, really well, especially in important moments, and was moving well.”

No. 65-ranked Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic broke sixth-ranked Andrey Rublev seven times on his way to an upset 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Yosuke Watanuki also had a surprise win, beating No. 35-ranked Brendan Nakashima 7-6 (4), 6-3. The Japanese qualifier plays either seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz of the US or French qualifier Terence Atmane next.

Also, 24th-ranked Alexei Popyrin of Australia beat Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2.

Later Saturday, third-ranked Alexander Zverev began his campaign against Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci, while fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic faced Alex Michelsen of the United States.