At Roland Garros in early June, Marcelo Arevalo made history. In lifting the trophy on the Parisian clay alongside Jean-Julien Rojer, the Salvadoran became the first Grand Slam men’s doubles champion from Central America, an unprecedented moment in the story of tennis in the region. Arevalo has a plan in place to ensure it is not the last.

“I started this project with my brother [former ATP pro Rafael Arevalo] in 2009,” Arevalo recently told ATPTour.com. “It’s called the Hermanos Arevalo Tennis Academy, and we give opportunities to kids in need. The problem in El Salvador is, if you want to play tennis, you need to be a member of a country club, or you need to go to the national federation, where back then [in 2009] you still needed to pay… So kids didn’t play tennis because they didn’t have the money to pay.

“What we did was give the opportunity to those kids to come to our academy, and they had the chance to practise for free at certain hours. Our goal was to make them believe that they could play professionally, or if they wanted to take the other way, to send them to college with a free scholarship that will change their life.

“We did that with probably four or five guys. We gave them a scholarship in our academy and also helped them to travel. No big deal, just to Guatemala, a couple of tournaments in Central America, just for them to have some matches when they were juniors and to be more attractive for the colleges. So they went to college, they’ve already graduated, and now they live in the United States. Those kids came from nothing. It changed their lives.”

Arevalo’s Roland Garros triumph propelled him into the spotlight in El Salvador, where his achievement received a surge of public support. “When I arrived at the airport, there were like a hundred people waiting for me at 9 p.m. on a Sunday,” he said. “People had to work the next day, but [they] were there just waiting for me, with big flyers saying, ‘Welcome Champion’ and ‘You Did It!’. It was a nice welcome, to see that the people appreciate what it means to win a Grand Slam title.”

Arevalo was even invited to meet President Nayib Bukele and was named a Worthy Son of El Salvador by the country’s Legislative Assembly. With a sudden wave of public attention focussed on his achievement and tennis in general, Arevalo is keen to make the moment count.

“I don’t want to say I have the ‘power’, but a lot of people are interested in making a partnership with me [since Roland Garros],” Arevalo said. “I already found two companies that want to help us with the project, so now I want to do that, but bigger. Instead of four kids in six years, we want to do a lot of kids, and we want to make them able to become professional tennis players. Because if I did it, they also can do it.”

Arevalo understands what it is like to build something from the ground up. Until he was 14 there were no tennis courts in his hometown of Sonsonate, a small city 80 kilometres from the capital San Salvador — a problem his father solved by building two courts himself. Arevalo is keen to become similarly hands on at the academy whenever he can, and developments have been made easier by the fact that his brother Rafael is now also the president of the Salvadoran Tennis Federation.

“The academy is in the capital city, it is going to be in the courts of the federation,” Arevalo said. “The government is going to put in a lot of money. They are going to renovate the whole thing, build a stadium, dormitories, new locker rooms, new courts, resurface everything. There will be 17 courts, and five of those are going to be for our project.

“Step-by-step we want to extend that to the kids in Central America as well. The last step will be that my team — my coach, my fitness coach — will come to the academy and spend time with the kids, help them, teach them, and I will be more of a presence too. If I have one or two weeks off, I want to go back to the academy, bring my team and practise there, so the kids can see and get motivated.

“I went to college (Arevalo played at the University of Tulsa from 2010-11), so I’m going to get in touch with my ex-college coach, and hopefully he can help me with different coaches and sending video from our players to see which colleges are interested in the kids that we have in the academy.

“Basically, that is the plan. I hope I can motivate those kids to believe that big things can happen. If you choose the process, if you work hard, dreams can come true.”

With the first round in the books at Wimbledon, Wednesday’s men’s singles play begins with 64 players still standing in their quest for Grand Slam glory. The top half of the draw — which completed play on Tuesday following a rainy Day 1 — is back in action for the second round, with top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic set to open play on Centre Court against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Andy Murray will face 20th seed John Isner on the show court, while his countryman Cameron Norrie — the ninth seed and British No. 1 — faces Jaume Munar on Court 1. Third seed Casper Ruud is also in action against Ugo Humbert as he looks to build on his breakthrough run to the Roland Garros final, while fifth seed Carlos Alcaraz takes on Tallon Griekspoor.

ATPTour.com analyses some of the matches to watch on Day 3.

View Singles Draw | View Schedule

[1] Novak Djokovic (SER) vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)

After battling past Soonwoo Kwon in four tricky sets on Monday, Djokovic can expect another stern test from Kokkinakis — a man whose recent form and powerful game provide a credible threat, particularly on the slick grass courts.

Following a three-set win against Kamil Majchrzak in the opening round, the Aussie will swing freely against the top seed on Centre Court. Kokkinakis has already shown he can beat the game’s best on the biggest stages — he stunned then-World No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itau, and beat then-World No. 6 Milos Raonic at The Queen’s Club in 2017.

Djokovic is 1-0 in his ATP Head2Head against Kokkinakis, but that match came on the clay of Roland Garros in 2015. The 26-year-old Aussie reached a career-high of No. 69 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings that season, and is now back up to No. 79 after spending time outside the Top 250 last year.

Kokkinakis won his first ATP Tour title in January in his hometown of Adelaide and has since reached the fourth round in Miami and the quarter-finals in Geneva. He also won the Australian Open doubles title alongside Nick Kyrgios to put an exclamation mark on the Aussie summer swing.

Another slow start for Djokovic could give Kokkinakis all the confidence he needs to pull off the upset. The Serbian dropped the second set in his first-round victory against Kwon, but left Centre Court pleased with his performance in his first grass-court match of the season.

“I did not start or play my best, but I think when I needed to find the right shots, I did,” he assessed. “I think [my] serve got me out of trouble in some decisive moments. I know I can do better. But for the first match, I’m pleased and I’ll keep going.”

It’s the third straight year in which the Serbian has not played any grass events in the buildup to Wimbledon. But he’s proved his ability to quickly adapt and now owns a 22-match winning streak on the London lawns as a three-time defending champion.

Andy Murray (GBR) vs. [20] John Isner (USA)

After an abdominal injury forced Murray’s withdrawal from Queen’s Club and put his Wimbledon in doubt, the Briton came through his opening-round match unscathed on Centre Court.

“In the match today it was absolutely fine,” Murray said after his 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over James Duckworth, adding that an ultrasound scan just before the tournament came back all clear.

Murray was less pleased with his returning early in the match, but was able to turn it around as he improved in that aspect. The two-time Wimbledon champion’s return will again be crucial against the big-serving Isner, who could pass Ivo Karlovic for the all-time ace record on Wednesday. The American is just 40 aces behind Karlovic’s record 13,728 after firing 54 in a five-set opening win against Enzo Couacaud.

One of the game’s great returners, Murray has had success blunting Isner’s standout strength and owns an 8-0 ATP Head2Head record against the 20th seed. He’s had similar results against many of the ATP Tour’s biggest servers.

“I don’t know exactly why my record is as it is against those guys,” he said. “They’re obviously very tough players to play against because of the nature of how the matches go. You’re not necessarily always in control of them. You can go four or five service return games where you’re not getting any opportunities. There’s not always lots of rhythm in the match, so it’s difficult.

“But for whatever reason I’ve always played well against them. The matchups have been good for me. I played well against John in the past… I’ll need to play really well and certainly return a bit better than I did tonight if I want to get through that.”

Giving it all on the court! 🙌@andy_murray achieves his 60th win at #Wimbledon after defeating James Duckworth 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 👏

📹: @Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/jq7rsSqDtA

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 27, 2022

Murray’s most recent meeting with Isner came in a three-set final at the 2016 Rolex Paris Masters. They have met three times at majors, but never on grass.

Isner achieved his best Grand Slam result at Wimbledon in 2018, when he reached the semi-finals before falling just short against Kevin Anderson in a 26-24 fifth set. Such extended finales are not possible this fortnight due to the newly introduced 10-point tie-break at the conclusion of final sets.

[5] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Tallon Griekspoor (NED)

Playing his first match since the Roland Garros quarter-finals, Alcaraz escaped a five-set battle with Jan-Lennard Struff to return to the Wimbledon second round. The Spaniard twice came from behind in a 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory, improving throughout the four-hour, 11-minute match against the aggressive German. 

“I would say to play four hours on grass is tougher than the other surface, even if there are not long rallies,” Alcaraz said, noting his challenges with movement on the lawns. “I’m going to compare, [a] long rally here is like three or four long rallies on other surfaces. So for me it’s tougher to play a marathon match on grass than the other surfaces.”

CARLITOS ADVANCES! 🌿

🇪🇸 @carlosalcaraz survives the Struff battle 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 at #Wimbledon 💪@Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/wzQ5LIsXdP

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 27, 2022

As he continues to learn his way, Alcaraz does not consider himself a favourite at Wimbledon. But he’s not counting himself out.

“Obviously if I play well, I have the level to win the tournament,” he said. “But there are a lot of more experienced player on grass, more players play better on grass than me. I don’t feel the pressure.”

Alcaraz has yet to face World No. 53 Griekspoor. The 25-year-old entered Wimbledon at a career-high in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and notched a four-set win over Fabio Fognini in the first round. He has reached three tour-level quarter-finals this season, most recently last week in Mallorca.

Also In Action

Home favourite Norrie will play the lone men’s match on Court 1 against Munar, with both men reaching the second round courtesy of straight-sets wins. The Briton has reached the third round at each of the four Grand Slams — including last year at Wimbledon — and is seeking his first trip beyond that stage this fortnight.

Norway’s Ruud picked up his first Wimbledon win on Monday against Albert Ramos-Vinolas. His straight-sets progress will leave him fresh to face Humbert, who went the distance in the opening round against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Tenth seed Jannik Sinner also scored his first Wimbledon win this fortnight, beating Stan Wawrinka in a match that doubled as the first grass-court victory of his young career. The 20-year-old Italian faces Mikael Ymer on Wednesday.

Other seeded players in action include Reilly Opelka, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Frances Tiafoe, Miomir Kecmanovic, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Baez and Oscar Otte.

Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled to find his groove for much of his match against Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard at Wimbledon on Tuesday, but the fourth seed’s resilience was enough to complete a 7-6(1), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 first-round victory at the grass-court major.

The World No. 5 appeared to have taken control of an engrossing encounter after opening up a two-sets-to-love lead on Court 1, but an inspired Ritschard showed a high-class level to strike back in the third set. Some sublime shotmaking from the Swiss was not enough to overcome Tsitsipas’ consistency, however, as the Greek held his nerve to secure the win.

“Obviously it is great to be back [at Wimbledon],” said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview. “I have to congratulate Alexander for an incredible performance. I am sure we are going to see a lot of him.”

Even when he was on top, Tsitsipas had to stay alert in his first tour-level meeting with the World No. 188. Ritschard was particularly proficient at the net throughout the three-hour, 31-minute encounter, but Tsitsipas’ extra firepower on return proved decisive. The nine-time tour-level titlist broke the Swiss six times on his way to a Tour-leading 41st victory of the year.

The win comes just three days after Tsitsipas clinched his maiden grass-court title at the Mallorca Championships in Spain. He will hope to maintain his good run in the second round against Jordan Thompson, as he bids to reach the third round at SW19 for the second time.

“Absolutely [I feel confident],” said Tsitsipas. “Mallorca was a great tournament. The conditions there are a little bit different, much more hot and humid there. Playing on these courts, it’s like watery smooth. It doesn’t get any better.”

Tsitsipas lacked rhythm early on Court 1, where Ritschard raced ahead with a combination of clean baseline hitting and well-executed serve-and-volley tactics. Even trailing by a double break at 1-4, however, the Greek showed no sign of panic. He roared back with four consecutive games, going on to dominate the tie-break as his firepower from deep overwhelmed his opponent.

The disappointment of losing the opener appeared to take the sting out of the Ritschard game as Tsitsipas broke twice to secure the second set, but the 28-year-old Swiss was resurgent in the third. He showed some delicate touches at the net to earn a crucial break in the 11th game, and when he broke Tsitsipas again in the opening game of the fourth set the crowd sensed a comeback.

Tsitsipas immediately reclaimed the break to nullify that momentum, however, and he capitalised on two double faults from Ritschard in the 10th game to improve his match record at Wimbledon to 4-4.