Alcaraz, Rybakina off to winning Wimbledon starts as rain causes havoc

LONDON: World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina got their Wimbledon bids off to winning starts on Tuesday as torrential rain brought havoc to the All England Club schedule.

Only an hour’s play was possible on the outside courts, which meant 69 of the planned 77 matches were unable to be completed.

Just eight matches took place on the covered Court One and Center Court.

Alcaraz raced through the first set against French veteran Jeremy Chardy in just 22 minutes before breaking twice in the second set.

Chardy, who had previously announced that Wimbledon would be the final tournament of his career, drew first blood in the third set to lead 4-2, but Alcaraz hit back strongly, sealing a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win with an ace.

“I like to play battles and I am really happy to have played a great level, both of us, in the third set,” said the Spaniard.

“I am really happy to get through this first round.”

The US Open champion is seen as one of the few credible threats to Novak Djokovic, who is targeting an eighth Wimbledon crown to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record.

Wimbledon’s Center Court paid tribute to Swiss great Federer before the start of play as he returned to the scene of some of his greatest triumphs.

The crowd gave Federer, who retired in September, a prolonged standing ovation interspersed with cheers as he entered the royal box, which threatened to upstage the first match of the championship for Rybakina.

The Kazakh third seed was caught cold in the opening set, double-faulting on her first point on the way to losing her first service game to unseeded American Shelby Rogers but she rallied strongly to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

“It was really tough for me today,” said Rybakina. “I was