WIMBLEDON, England — Britons affectionately refer to the world's most hallowed tennis grounds as "SW19," after the All England Club's London postal code. So it seemed fitting that, as play at Wimbledon kicked off Monday, plenty of attention here in the city's southwest was focused on a pair of 19-year-olds.
On the women's side is homegrown sensation Emma Raducanu, who seemingly burst out of nowhere to reach the fourth round of last year's tournament and then went on to win the U.S. Open, sparking national jubilation in Britain. Despite some forgettable matches since, as well as a worrisome injury earlier this month, those achievements have propelled Raducanu to a career-high No. 11 ranking.
On the men's side, her fellow 19-year-old prodigy is Carlos Alcaraz, a Spaniard who has won four tournaments this year, including two elite Masters 1000 tournaments. At one of those Masters events, in Madrid, Alcaraz became the only player in history to defeat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same clay-court tournament.
