Alcaraz Dodges Fognini's Spell

Carlos Alcaraz briefly peered into an abyss that only two players in history have fallen into. Manolo Santana in 1967 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 were the only men to exit Wimbledon in the first round as defending champions. For much of the match against Fabio Fognini, Alcaraz flirted with becoming the third, but he overcame a daunting challenge against a tennis genius and cleared his first hurdle at the All England Club (7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1).

It took the player from El Palmar four hours and 37 minutes, the fourth longest match of his career, to bid farewell to Fognini, who played his last Wimbledon at 38 years old in 2025. "I don't know why it's his last Wimbledon, because with that level he could keep playing for three or four more years," Alcaraz said once the tension, nerves, and fear of a historic defeat had left his body.

Few could have anticipated that a 38-year-old Fognini, without an ATP victory since October last year, could be the obstacle he was this Monday.

The Italian unsettled Alcaraz with a rhythm-less match, played with few strokes, where the Spaniard was particularly error-prone. It's unusual for him to commit 62 unforced errors or face 21 break points against him. Fognini created more problems on serve than Alcaraz did. The serve wasn't working, many shots lacked precision, and there were even signs that something wasn't physically right.

His frustration was more than visible on the court. He got angry with a spectator, snapping, "Do you have a problem? With me?", with himself: "I can't serve or return, it's pathetic," and even with his opponent's level: "With this level, he'll keep playing until he's fifty," he told Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The match swung back and forth. Alcaraz saved the first set but lost a break in the second and disappeared in the tiebreak. He re-emerged in the third but unraveled in the fourth.

Seeing him in a fifth set in the first round of Wimbledon isn't unusual, as it happened in 2021 and 2022, but back then he wasn't a Grand Slam champion, let alone a two-time winner in London. He has never lost a first-round Grand Slam match (18-0).

The record was in jeopardy, but Alcaraz shook off the nerves to be the first to strike in the fifth set. He set a 3-0 lead that was halted when a spectator suffered an issue in the stands, likely related to the sweltering heat in London, where temperatures soared above thirty degrees.

For fifteen minutes, the match was paused, increasing the uncertainty about its outcome. Fognini and Alcaraz agreed not to warm up after the break, and the Spaniard didn't suffer for it. From 3-0, he moved to 5-0. Without hesitation, without further complications, without getting into more unnecessary trouble, he saved a first round that seemed straightforward with the draw but became treacherous when a player like Fognini, fluid without the pressure of being a favorite, decided to play one of his best matches in recent years.

Applauded by the Centre Court and with his family present in the stands, the Italian left proud after delivering a great show. "It was a great match, but I can play better," Alcaraz explained. "Playing the first round is never easy, I've trained very well, but Wimbledon is special. I've tried to fight my nerves the best way I could," he added.

On Wednesday, he will return to the court to face Oliver Tarvet, a 21-year-old Briton who surprised by passing the qualifiers as the world number 719 and who defeated Swiss Leandro Riedi in the first round with a triple 6-4.