Alcaraz 'jealous' at missing Roger's royal visit

Carlos Alcaraz made an almost perfect start to his Wimbledon title quest on Tuesday with the only thing missing being the presence of Roger Federer in the Court One stands.

Record eight-time champion Federer was guest of honor in the Royal Box on Centre Court while Alcaraz was dispatching Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-2, 7-5.

Had Federer been present, he surely would have been impressed by the ferocity of top seed Alcaraz's game as he swiped 25 baseline winners in a little under two hours.

"I saw that Roger Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous," said Alcaraz, who despite oozing confidence on court remains humble in the extreme off it.

"I want Roger Federer to watch one of my matches obviously. I wish to talk a little bit with him. For me it would be amazing. I hope to see him around more than once."

It is unclear how long the retired Federer is in town, but if he is sticking around he will surely want to get a courtside view of the man being labeled as the future of men's tennis.

Federer took until his fifth appearance to claim the Wimbledon crown in 2003 but Alcaraz made no attempt to play down his prospects of winning the title on his third attempt.

"To win the tournament. That's the main goal right now," said Alcaraz, who finished off Chardy with a 10th ace.

"I have a lot of confidence right now. The main goal for me this tournament is to win, to win it."

US Open champion Alcaraz, who returned to world No 1 after winning the Queen's Club title in what was only his third event on grass, barreled through the opening set in 20 minutes with the crowd gasping at the power of his strokes.

He suffered a lapse in the third set, however, offering the 36-year-old Chardy the opportunity to extend what was the last match of his long career.

But Alcaraz quickly refocused having slipped 4-2 behind with a sloppy service game and raced to victory. He said that was all part of the learning curve.

While Alcaraz is top seed, Novak Djokovic remains the favorite as he bids for a record-tying eighth title at Wimbledon, especially after he beat the Spaniard in the French semifinals when Alcaraz suffered body cramps caused by the stress of playing the Serb.

Asked if he had any concerns about facing Djokovic again, he said: "I think I learned a lot from that match for the next time I face Novak."

Reuters