The oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world begins today at the all England lawn tennis and croquet club. Carlos Alcaraz won the men’s category last year and Marketa Vondrosouva was the winner among the ladies. Alcaraz will open the play on the centre court today.
Carlos Alcaraz had a magnificent run at Wimbledon last summer crowned by defeating Novak Djokovic, in a well played and dramatic final. Today his title Defence begins against the Estonian Mark Lajal. The players are both 21 years old but when it comes to experience on the tour Alcaraz could be 10 years Older than Mark. Let me give you a sample. Carlos have won 181 matches on The main tour and lost 49. Mark has in total played five matches on the main tour and won three of them.
So there is something of a David vs Goliath vibe in this matchup today. In his career to date Carlos has won as many Grand Slams as Lajal has won matches on the tour. So to say that Carlos is a huge favourite in this match is something of a very big understatement, to say the least. Today Lajal is playing hisfist Grand Slam match in his career. This is the first meeting ever between Lajal and Alcaraz.
Carlos is currently ranked at the 3rd position in the world and he just won the French Open at Roland Garros a couple of weeks ago. Lajal is ranked at the 269th position in the world at the moment. His highest ranking ever was 191th. Lajal is in the main draw through the qualifications and so far in his career grass is his best surface if we look at the challengers and qualifications. He is surely looking forward to the challenge and has no pressure on him at all.
Sabalenka is one of the major favourites to win the title at Wimbledon. The two time Grand Slam champion (both titles at the Australian Open) has never reached the final at the all England lawn tennis and croquet club. This time around she has some injury woes as well. It's her shoulder that troubles her since German Open in Berlin a few weeks ago (she withdrew from the event in the semis. Probably that will not affect her too much the first week with weaker opposition and hopefully she will be better in the second week of the event.
Sabalenka is ranked at the 3rd position in the world and Emina Bektas is ranked at the 186th position. Shea has mostly played on the Challenger tour and working her way up through the tennis ladder at her own pace. For example she did not qualify to the main event at the German open in Berlin recently, for example. This would be her second appearance at Wimbledon.
