Zverev continues easily, Siegemund defies rain

French Open finalist Alexander Zverev has started his journey to the long-awaited first Grand Slam title in Wimbledon with a comfortable opening victory. The Olympic tennis champion beat Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in three clear sets 6:2, 6:4, 6:2 and thus moved into the second round of the grass classic. There, the Hamburg native will face Marcos Giron from the USA or Briton Henry Searle on Thursday.

“I’m happy with how I started the tournament,” said Zverev, who lost the French Open final to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz around three weeks ago and considers himself a contender for the title in Wimbledon this time. He has the feeling that if someone has two great weeks, they can achieve a lot on these beautiful courts. “And I hope that’s me.” He feels better on grass this year and will hopefully be able to show that in the next matches.

Under the closed roof on the second largest Wimbledon court, Zverev had everything under control from the start against the Tenerife-born world number 64. With his powerful serves and powerful groundstrokes, the world number four laid the foundation against the Spaniard, who feels more comfortable on clay courts. Thanks to quick breaks in all three sets, Zverev left no doubt about his progress.

Zverev played on Court No. 1 under a closed roof

After Jan-Lennard Struff and Daniel Altmaier, Zverev is the third German participant in the men’s competition who has a chance of reaching the third round of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. Before his success, Laura Siegemund improved the German starting record in the women’s competition and was the first to reach the second round.

Zverev didn’t have to worry about the weather because of the roof on Court 1 – unlike Angelique Kerber, who had to wait longer before her first Wimbledon appearance as a mother. And unlike Siegemund, who was also scheduled to play on one of the outdoor courts. But the Swabian was not deterred by two rain breaks and impressed with a 6:4, 6:1 win against Kateryna Baindl from Ukraine. The Metzinger took the bad weather rather calmly.

The referee stopped the match in the first set. The court had become damp and Siegemund had slipped during a volley. After Siegemund won the first set, helpers took down the nets and put up tarpaulins over the courts. “It’s pretty normal here that there are interruptions due to rain. If that’s enough to throw you off, you’re in the wrong place,” commented the doubles specialist.

In the fight for a place in the third round, the Metzingen native faces a much more difficult task against the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan. “Against people like that, there isn’t much tactics. It’s about withstanding the massive pressure that comes with the serve and the return,” said Siegemund: “I have nothing to lose – especially not on grass. There is no question that she is a world-class player.