Top seed Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time reaching the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, soaring past Jeremy Chardy, who was competing in his final singles match.

Under the roof on Court 1, the Spaniard overpowered the 36-year-old Frenchman with his destructive groundstrokes, sealing a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory in one hour and 53 minutes.

“I think I played really well at the beginning of the match,” said Alcaraz in his on-court interview. “In the third set, he found his level. I was in trouble, but I like to play rallies, I like to play battles, and I’m really happy to have played a great level. Both of us in the third set. It was really close, but I’m really happy to get through this first round.”

The 2022 US Open champion Alcaraz is chasing his second major title this fortnight, and he could not have made a better start to his Wimbledon title bid, with his main scare coming at the start of the first set when he slipped on the slick court.

After shaking out his leg, Alcaraz quickly bounced to his feet and from there it was one-way traffic, with Chardy unable to deal with the Spaniard’s pace off the ground. The Frenchman struck seven double faults in the first set as he showed signs of nerves, but did play with more freedom as the match went on, breaking Alcaraz to lead 4-2 in the third set.

The 36-year-old was unable to sustain any serious pressure on Alcaraz in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, though, with the top seed rolling off five of the next six games to advance.

“[The roof] doesn’t change too much for me,” said Alcaraz. “I try not to think about it. Obviously without the roof, with sun, is much better for me, I think for everyone as well, but I have to be really focused. With the roof or not, I have to show my best level, but I think the sound of the ball with the roof is really beautiful as well. Even more beautiful playing on grass. I think we hit the ball really cleanly, and it’s so beautiful to play.”

Alcaraz, who holds a 41-4 record on the season, will next meet Arthur Rinderknech or Alexandre Muller. The 20-year-old arrived at SW19 in strong form, having lifted his maiden tour-level grass-court title at The Queen’s Club last month. He is making his third appearance at Wimbledon, where he advanced to the fourth round last year.

If Alcaraz clinches his sixth tour-level title of the season at The Championships, he will remain at No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Chardy’s storied 18-year singles career on Tour came to an end following his defeat. The Frenchman lifted his only tour-level trophy in Stuttgart in 2009 and reached a career-high No. 25 in 2013. The 36-year-old, who is now coaching countryman Ugo Humbert, also won seven tour-level doubles titles.

While he received blow after blow against Alcaraz on Court 1, the Frenchman enjoyed a special moment when he earned his first game of the match at 0-6, 1-2, receiving a standing ovation from the packed crowd. Chardy was also cheered on by his wife, Susan, and son, Stone.

Rain has interrupted the first-round action at Wimbledon for the second consecutive day, with play suspended at approximately 1:10 p.m. local time (BST) on Tuesday at the grass-court major.

Among those forced to return to the locker room were Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem. Thiem led the fifth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-3, 3-4 on Court 2 in the pair’s 10th Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting when the rain arrived in south-west London. Matteo Berrettini is also behind early: Lorenzo Sonego leads the 2021 finalist 7-6(5) on Court 12.

Ben Shelton is in a commanding position on his Wimbledon debut against Taro Daniel. The #NextGenATP American led 6-4, 4-2 against the Japanese when play was suspended. Another of the ATP Tour’s young stars, Holger Rune, leads home wild card George Loffhagen 7-6(4).

Centre Court and Court 1 at the All England Club each have a retractable roof, meaning the schedule on both is set to proceed regardless of the weather. Home favourite Andy Murray takes on fellow Briton Ryan Peniston second on Centre Court, while top seed Carlos Alcaraz faces Jeremy Chardy on Court 1 before British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, a semi-finalist at SW19 in 2022, takes on Tomas Machac in the final match of the day.

Jannik Sinner made an immediate statement on Monday at Wimbledon. The Italian overpowered Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round at the grass-court major.

One year ago, Sinner won the first two sets of his quarter-final at The Championships against Novak Djokovic before succumbing in five sets. Djokovic went on to win the title.

Sinner showed no ill effects from that devastating defeat, cruising past Cerundolo on Centre Court in just one hour and 29 minutes. The eighth seed was never in difficulty, dominating with his power from the baseline, crushing 28 winners to just 16 unforced errors.

“The walk on the court is a special moment obviously. Then starting Wimbledon on the Centre Court, knowing already before with the roof closed, I know today was very tough to play outdoors,” Sinner said. “Happy, happy about the win. Already motivated for the next one.”

With play suspended around the grounds due to darkness, Sinner wrapped up the day’s action under the Centre Court roof. The Italian thrilled fans with a Pete Sampras-like jumping smash in the last game and closed out his victory without losing his serve (2/2 break points saved).

Sinner will next play former Top 10 star Diego Schwartzman, who eliminated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3, 6-4. The Argentine is 9-16 in tour-level matches this year and is winless against Sinner (0-3, zero sets won).

A potential fourth-round opponent for Sinner is ninth seed Taylor Fritz, whose match against Yannick Hanfmann was suspended due to darkness with the American leading 3-2 in the fifth set.

Like Sinner, Fritz suffered fifth-set heartbreak last year at The Championships. The American fell to Rafael Nadal in a final-set tie-break in the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old appeared in jeopardy of another tough exit in London when he fell behind two-sets-to-one against the in-form Hanfmann, who is at a career-high No. 45 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Less than two months ago, Hanfmann defeated Fritz 6-4, 6-1 on clay in Rome.

But Fritz was able to claw his way to a deciding set, saving nine of the 13 points he faced. Play was suspended at the 3-2 changeover just after 8:40 p.m. local time due to darkness.

The matches that were suspended and will resume Tuesday are as follows:

• Ninth seed Taylor Fritz leads Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 3-2
• Quentin Halys leads 27th seed Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3
• Radu Albot leads 26th seed Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 2-2
• Harold Mayot leads Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 5-3
• 20th seed Roberto Bautista Agut leads Roman Safiullin 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(4)
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles leads 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(5), 7-5 3-6
• Guido Pella leads 13th seed Borna Coric 6-3, 4-4

When wild card Arthur Fery steps on Court No. 2 Tuesday to face third seed Daniil Medvedev, the 20-year-old will add his Grand Slam singles debut at the All England Club to his list of Wimbledon memories.

Fery grew up five minutes from Wimbledon and would often visit the major as a child. One of his highlights from attending the grass-court event came in 2010, when he witnessed part of the longest match ever played.

“I saw a bit of the [John] Isner versus [Nicolas] Mahut match. I want to say I saw the start of the fifth,” Fery told ATPTour.com recently at the NCAA championships in Lake Nona, Florida. “And then it was over three days, so I didn’t see the end of it. It was obviously packed at the end, that was great.

“I saw Roger on Centre Court a few times. I saw the final in 2014, Federer versus Djokovic. It was awesome just going there and seeing such good tennis players.

“Growing up around Wimbledon was awesome. It was obviously a great foundation for my tennis and I got to learn a lot about tennis really quickly. I have memories of being in primary school aged 7, 8, 9, 10 and going after school. My mum picking me up from school and just going to watch.”

Fery comes from a family with a sporting background. His father, Loic, is the president of FC Lorient and his mother, Olivia, is a former WTA professional. Fery’s mother, who played for the University of Arizona before turning pro, is who the Briton credits for his initial start in tennis.

“She kind of helped me get going. We had a club just up the hill from Wimbledon, called Westside, like 50 metres from our house,” Fery said. “They had hard courts and artificial clay. But there was a great coach over there and I played with my mum on the weekends. So that’s kind of how I started.

“I stayed in school until I was 16, I was just practising in the mornings before school and after school. I did my last two levels [of school] at home so I could travel more on the junior tour.”

Following high school, Fery moved from Great Britain to California, where he has since enjoyed a standout collegiate career at Stanford University. Working towards a degree in Science, Technology, and Society, Fery has reached the quarter-finals in the NCAA singles championships the past two years and finished the 2023 season as No. 3 in the ITA year-end rankings.

Arthur Fery celebrates his first ATP Challenger Tour main-draw win in Nottingham.” />
^{Arthur Fery in action at last month’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Nottingham. Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA}

During Fery’s sophomore year in 2022, he became Stanford’s first player to reach No. 1 in the ITA Rankings since Bob Bryan in 1998. Twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan spent three years at Stanford before embarking on an illustrious professional career, collecting 16 major team titles.

The Bryans, who often return to campus to support their alma mater, are following Fery’s journey.

“He’s really talented. He could turn pro if he wanted to right now, I think he’s good enough,” Mike said. “He’s already won some futures, and won a qualifying match at Wimbledon last year. And so that’s the trick, tempting to turn pro because I think he will be supported by the LTA for as long as he wants.

“I think he really values the education [at Stanford] and he’s having a great time under [head coach] Paul Goldstein. He’s a good frontman because he’s talented, he wins a lot up top. He’s really solid on both sides, a strong kid.”

Last month, Fery defeated former World No. 21 Steve Johnson to earn his first ATP Challenger Tour main-draw victory at the Nottingham Challenger. Tennis fans will continue to see the Briton on the Challenger circuit this year.

Fery is one of 21 men who qualified for the inaugural ATP/ITA Accelerator Programme, which gives select college players six to eight entries into main draw and qualifying at ATP Challenger Tour events. Players qualify for the programme by reaching the quarter-finals of the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships or via their ITA ranking.

One of Fery’s career highlights came at SW19 a year ago, when he earned a men’s doubles victory alongside countryman Felix Gill. Fast forward 12 months, the World No. 391 will now aim for the biggest win of his career against 2021 US Open champion Medvedev, in what could be a contrast of styles.

While the 6’6” Medvedev is renowned for his deep court position and all-court coverage, fans may find Fery hugging the baseline and taking the ball on-the-rise to try and upset the World No. 3.

“I was never big, so I learned those touch skills early in my development,” Fery said. “I have to take the ball early because I can’t really sit back and hit balls over my shoulder all day. [I try] to take time away, try to come in, and use my skills at the net to be successful. Taking the ball early [on] returns and early backhands, that’s kind of my trademark.”