Third seed Carlos Alcaraz has endured an early test in his Wimbledon title defence, but the Spaniard has quelled the challenge of Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6(3) 7-5 6-2 and moved into the second round.
Bidding to add a fourth Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet, after his maiden French Open triumph last month, Alcaraz, 21, dropped serve midway through a high-quality opening set, before battling back to clinch it in a tiebreak.
Lajal broke Alcaraz again early in the next set, but the dreadlocked world No.269 was unable to make the advantage count and his opponent broke back to love immediately, before pouncing again in the 11th game.
With momentum swinging, Alcaraz continued to reel off the points for a two-set lead and raised his game further in the third to break with a superb backhand crosscourt winner, and he never looked back from there to close out the victory.
"He played a good match," said Alcaraz. "Obviously, he surprised me a little bit, because I didn't have the chance to see him play a lot.
"He has a great level, he's really young, my age. I'm sure I will play against him even more on the tour and I'm really happy to get my first win on Centre Court this year."
Alcaraz says he still felt a touch jittery at the venue, where he beat Novak Djokovic in the final 12 months ago.
"Stepping on this court, it's the most beautiful court I've played on," he added. "I still get nerves when I'm playing here.
"I played for 45 minutes here on Thursday and it's the first time I get nervous practicing. I'm glad and I'm a privileged guy to play on this court.
"This is a new year, a different tournament, I have to be focused on my game. When I walk around, I get goosebumps.
"I remember last year and that was a great feeling."
Belatedly hampered
Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner has wobbled midway through his first-round clash with unseeded German Yannick Hanfmann, but the world No.1 recovered to seal a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 win and book a meeting with fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.
The Australian Open champion used his powerful serve and forehand to good effect against Hanfmann, as he breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break and got his nose in front early in the next.
Hanfmann hung on and heaped pressure on Sinner's serve, but was unable to find a way through, and the top seed moved two sets ahead.
The world No.110 flipped the script to go 4-0 up in the third set, as Sinner appeared belatedly hampered by a nasty fall, and the German cupped his ear amid huge cheers, after forcing a fourth set with a neat volley.
There was to be no comeback, as Sinner, 22, rediscovered his rhythm under the lights on Court One to break for a 3-1 lead and held firm from to close out the match.
Sinner, who lifted his first title on the sport's slickest surface at Halle two weeks ago, could face another tricky test against Berrettini, after the 2021 runner-up beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(3) 6-2 3-6 6-1.
Reuters
