Carlos Alcaraz survives five-set scare against Fabio Fognini to begin Wimbledon title defense

Carlos Alcaraz secured a more hard-fought victory than expected against Fabio Fognini, winning 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, beginning his double crown defense at Wimbledon not without difficulties. The 5-time Grand Slam champion extends his winning streak at SW19 to 13 consecutive victories and reaches 30 wins on grass courts.

The Spaniard had a day far from his level of recent weeks, with over 60 unforced errors, but managed to secure the victory more through sheer class than a great level of tennis.

From the very beginning of the match, Fognini looked focused on seeking victory and holding his serve while waiting for his opportunities. Alcaraz, on the other hand, did not seem fully concentrated on his serve at the start of the match, exposing himself to two break points in the second game and another three in the 6th game, although he managed to keep everything even until 3-3.

Alcaraz got a couple of break opportunities in the 7th game – the first in his favor – but failed to convert them. Nevertheless, he remained more incisive than his opponent in the final part of the set and ended up getting the break when it seemed like everything would go to a tie-break. Alcaraz closed the set with a clean hold for 7-5, taking a lead that cost him more than expected, with passages in the set where Fognini was much closer to pulling ahead.

The second set started well for Alcaraz, who defended his first couple of service games without problems. Fognini showed consistency on serve until the 5th game, where he conceded his first opportunity to his opponent and ended up yielding the break, allowing Alcaraz to pull ahead 4-2.

Everything seemed on track for Carlitos, but Fognini came back from the deficit and won four of the next 5 games. Everything was decided in the tie-break, where an early advantage was key for Fognini to close out the win 7-6(5) on his fourth set point.

Fognini seemed ready to spring a surprise after an early break in the second set, which began to pose a threat to the 2-time defending champion. Alcaraz recovered the subsequent break and managed to reduce his unforced errors: 16 in the first set and 20 in the second showed improvement with only 11 throughout the third set. Nonetheless, he constantly faced break points – saving up to 5 in the set.

From a 5-3 lead – which gave him the service to close the set – Fognini recovered. But finally, Alcaraz sealed the set at the close, avoiding a tie-break with a 7-5 win. The Spaniard had been much sharper on serve, which was key to getting out of several tricky situations.

Fognini was almost implacable on serve in the fourth set, winning his games with ease. The Italian got up to four break points before taking the opportunity in the 5th game. Fognini managed to seize the momentum of the match, getting two consecutive breaks, and a total of 5 games in a row to threaten a major upset in the first round.

The Italian took the 4th set 6-2, making an erratic Alcaraz look bad. The 38-year-old star won 91% of points on his first serve and only conceded a total of 5 points throughout the set. Fognini had a remarkable 14 winners against only 8 from his opponent, while also taking a clear advantage in unforced errors, with 7 against Alcaraz's 12.

When things seemed complicated, Alcaraz showed all his class to overcome the challenge. In a couple of highly contested games, the Spaniard showed he has a different mentality when it comes to facing key points: he converted two of the three break opportunities he had in his favor and saved two break points against him.

Alcaraz pulled ahead to 4-0, when there was a small pause in play. The 5-time Grand Slam champion did not lose his inspiration on serve and eventually closed out a tight victory by 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. He had to find himself during the match to pull off a win in 4 hours and 27 minutes, during which he committed a total of 62 unforced errors and 9 double faults. It was a somewhat low level for Alcaraz, but he found solutions based on sheer grit in complicated moments.