Poor old Jeremy Chardy. Go out against the best in the business, they said. What match is experience for youthful exuberance, they said. Announcing his retirement from singles ahead of Wimbledon, the 36-year-old journeyman had the sort-of glamour match-up athletes in their final years either love or loathe. Sadly for Chardy, world number one Carlos Alcaraz gave him little choice in the matter.
For a long while, it seemed set to be a demolition job on Court 1. In fact, it seemed genuinely plausible that a triple bagel – which has not been achieved in a main-draw Grand Slam match since 1993 – was on the cards. Alcaraz, tennis’ next star prodigy turn dominant force, wrapped up the first set in just 22 minutes. The Roger Federer fanfare over on Centre Court had not even started.
