Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz reacts during his second round match against Australia's Aleksandar Vukic REUTERS/Matthew Childs
LONDON (Reuters) -Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed Jannik Sinner took contrasting routes into the third round of Wimbledon but eighth seed Casper Ruud was unable to find a way through and felt the gloom on a cloudy Wednesday.
Alcaraz came close to dropping the first set of his contest against Australian Aleksandar Vukic but the third seed sprang to life and blew away his opponent with a 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 victory during which he showed flashes of last year's title-winning form.
"I'm feeling similar... Obviously, I'm getting better and better. Hopefully, if I keep winning, I'm going to find the same level as the final last year," said Alcaraz, who downed Novak Djokovic in five sets to lift the title.
"I'm feeling that I'm playing great tennis. Physically, I'm feeling great. Hopefully I'll keep going."
Sinner was dragged into a fight by fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini and surrendered the third set tamely before battling to a 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(4) win shortly before the 11 p.m. curfew at the venue.
"For me a big honour to play in such an incredible venue and today I had my first match on Centre Court which is special. The support has been amazing," Sinner said.
Daniil Medvedev began the day's proceedings on Centre Court and looked out of sorts, even losing track of the score at one point in his clash with the 102-ranked Alexandre Muller before the fifth-seeded Russian prevailed 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5.
Second seed Coco Gauff was also not at her best under the roof on Court One but reined in the errors to get past Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2 6-1.
The American said she needed to win more cleanly despite dropping only six games in two matches.
"I do think I can be too critical... I think it's just like moments, maybe I missed some shots that I normally would make," said Gauff, who takes on Sonay Kartal next after the Briton beat France's Clara Burel 6-3 5-7 6-3.
"That's tennis, you're always going to miss some shots that you normally would make. I'm trying to focus on straight sets and winning cleaner."
Wild card Emma Raducanu showed her the way with a 6-1 6-2 win over Elise Mertens but it was the end of the road for fellow former U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka who was beaten 6-4 6-1 by American 19th seed Emma Navarro.
Raducanu will also be in mixed doubles action this year after organisers awarded her and fellow British major singles champion Andy Murray a wildcard.
Rain delayed the start of play on the outer courts for a little over two hours in the morning and Ruud became an early victim when the action resumed as the three-times Grand Slam runner-up fell 6-4 7-5 6-7(1) 6-3 to Italian Fabio Fognini.
"I'm disappointed that I lost but I know my abilities on this surface and I'm trying to be realistic," said Ruud, whose best results have come on claycourts and hardcourts.
"I just find it difficult. I find it fun as a challenge and I try my best every year. I haven't given up on it yet but it's really difficult for me somehow, the movement and feeling confident out there."
Fognini's fellow Italian and French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini came through a tight first set to down Greet Minnen 7-6(5) 6-2.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; editing by Clare Fallon)
