Alcaraz, Rybakina advance as rain wrecks Wimbledon schedule

AFP- SEBASTIEN BOZON/ ADRIAN DENNIS

Wimbledon top seed Carlos Alcaraz overpowered Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and holder Elena Rybakina shook off a slow start to progress as persistent showers severely disrupted Tuesday's schedule.

US Open champion Alcaraz, who topped the world rankings after his Queen's Club triumph last week, crushed Chardy 6-0 6-2 7-5 on Court One and Wimbledon's favourite son Roger Federer received rapturous applause on his return to Centre Court in the Royal Box.

"After the match I was on the phone checking everything I have, all the stories, all the posts. I saw that Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous," a beaming Alcaraz told reporters.

"Honestly, I want him to watch one of my matches obviously. I wish to talk a little bit with him. That would be amazing."

With the retired Swiss watching on from the Royal Box, Rybakina battled to beat American Shelby Rogers 4-6 6-1 6-2 to ease concerns about her fitness following an illness that forced her out of last month's French Open.

Rybakina said she felt the jitters playing at the scene of her greatest triumph.

"It didn't help me much," Rybakina said. "But amazing atmosphere, it's the first time I've played under the roof and the grass is on the baseline. It's amazing.

"Really happy to go through to the next round and just enjoying the moment here."

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, who lost to the Moscow-born Kazakh in the final last year, made a solid start to her bid to claim her maiden Grand Slam title as the world number six beat Pole Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-3.

Heavy rain caused matches on the outside courts to be suspended while organisers cancelled a host of clashes with a scheduling headache likely to follow as several matches had been carried over from Monday.

More from Sports

  • Wimbledon to introduce video review technology

    Wimbledon will introduce video review technology this year that will allow players to challenge judgement calls made by the chair umpire, the Grand Slam's organisers said on Saturday.

  • Sabalenka defeats Ann Li at rain-hit Miami Open

    World number one and newly crowned Indian Wells champion Aryna Sabalenka has survived a stern battle against her American opponent, grinding out a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory to reach the third round.

  • Draper, Ruud knocked out at rain-hit Miami Open

    Britain's Jack Draper has suffered a surprise defeat to American Reilly Opelka in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday, while Ethan Quinn claimed the biggest win of his career by upsetting 11th seed Casper Ruud.

  • Alisson ruled out of Brazil squad due to injury

    Alisson will miss Brazil’s international friendlies against France and Croatia next week after the goalkeeper was ruled out with an injury, the Brazilian Football Federation said on Friday.

  • Maguire sees red as Man Utd held to draw at Bournemouth

    Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was shown a red card for conceding the penalty that led to Bournemouth grabbing a 2-2 Premier League draw at the Vitality Stadium on Friday, the home side twice coming from behind to secure a point.