The last time Carlos Alcaraz failed to make it into the third round of a Grand Slam, Daniil Medvedev sent him packing at Wimbledon on Court One.
For Aleksandar Vukic to do likewise three years later, on the same Wimbledon court but against a very different model of the Alcaraz machine, felt mission improbable pre-match and, after a decisive missed opportunity, near enough impossible.
Vukic served for the opening set, having won four games in a row through some big serving and punishing forehands, but Alcaraz hit back, won the tie-break and from there stormed into the third round with a 7-6 6-2 6-2 win.
Alcaraz was an 18-year-old when he lost that 2021 match to Medvedev, without an ATP title to his name and playing in just his second professional match on grass. Now a three-time Grand Slam champion, the defence of his Wimbledon crown marches on to a clash with 29th seed Frances Tiafoe.
After a relatively low-key start to the match, with the pair exchanging routine holds, a familiar moment of Alcaraz magic burst things into life. He had nearly joined spectators in the front row when he somehow found room for a stunning backhand down the line and, despite Vukic saving two break points in the game, a missed smash gave the Spaniard a 4-2 lead.
Vukic had been holding his own, even if brute power, particularly from his forehand, was not proving enough to bludgeon his way through the Alcaraz defences. Coupled with luck, though, it became an effective combination, as two net cords in the space of a couple of points gave Vukic the break back and ignited an improbable charge.
He held serve for 5-5 and then suddenly found himself in the driver’s seat as an Alcaraz double fault gifted him another break. The Australian served for the set but Alcaraz immediately went through the gears, a string of stunning returns and typically deft touch at the net forcing the tie-break, which the Spaniard won on his second set point.
Mark Lajal, Alcaraz’s first-round opponent, kept Alcaraz honest for the first two sets of that particularly match, both going the distance, but Vukic was unable to respond to his first-set disappointment.
An absurdly good drop volley brought up a break point for Alcaraz in the third game of the second set and, with that advantage secured at 2-1, it turned into a procession. A break to love gave the Spaniard a 4-1 lead and he swiftly found himself serving to move another step closer to victory.
Only of the three set points brought up was required, a flat backhand winner down the line proving too good and it wrapped up the second set in a little under half an hour.
Alcaraz got the break early in the third set too, forcing the backhand error from Vukic after a bruising rally. Two more break points came in Vukic’s next service game and he sent another backhand long, Alcaraz in cruise control with a double break at 4-1 and within touching distance of victory.
Vekic pushed Alcaraz all the way in a 52-minute first set yet, exactly 52 minutes later, he was stepping up to serve to stay in the match. To his credit he did so, at least asking the question of Alcaraz, but it was an emphatic answer as the defending champion thundered down an 11th and final ace to seal victory.
