Aussie Wimbledon recap: Aleksandar Vukic sets up dream clash with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz after epic first round triumph

Australian Aleksandar Vukic has secured a dream match at Wimbledon against champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Marathon runners Vukic and fellow Sydneysider Jordan Thompson produced a classic by winning five sets to reach the second round, while Daria Saville completed a hat-trick of first-round victories for the Australian team.

Thompson set the tone when he became the first Australian to advance to the second round, coming from two sets down to beat Russian Pavel Kotov in four hours and six minutes.

Vukic then went on to secure a spectacular victory over Austrian Sebastian Ofner, 11 minutes shy of the four-hour mark, to win a match against Spanish champion Alcaraz on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Vukic defeated Alcaraz – during qualifying for the 2020 French Open, when he was 17, but never on a Grand Slam show court.

“It will mean a lot to me,” he said. “It’s the first time, but hopefully not the last time, that I’m playing on the biggest stage. It’s new territory for me and I’m really looking forward to experiencing it.

‘[Playing Alcaraz] will be a great honor and a great challenge, but also a competition in which I can test myself.

“I don’t think he liked me hitting him. I’m sure we both remember it. But he was just a kid then.”

Fellow American Jordan Thompson showed his trademark fighting spirit and won his first-round match in five sets

The applause on Centre Court for Alcaraz, who secured an easy win over Mark Lajal, was heard on nearby Court 7, where Vukic and Ofner contested a tiebreak in the first set.

As an incentive it could hardly have been better, although Vukic later said he was so focused on the match that he didn’t hear it.

Ofner won that tiebreak, but three hours later Vukic won the deciding game and the victory was secured: 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-8).

It was a chaotic match, with both players struggling to hold serve in the final set as the prize drew closer, but in the deciding tiebreak Vukic took a lead and held on to it

After Thompson fell behind two sets against Russian debutant Kotov, it looked like he would extend his disappointing Wimbledon record.

The 30-year-old had come to SW19 having reached the semi-finals at Queen’s Club but had never made it through the second week of Wimbledon in his seven previous attempts.

Kotov, the world number 53, is a powerful man, but the Australian began to understand his opponent better and moved him more and more around the court.

Cheered on by the Australian supporters around Court 10, Thompson won 5-7 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4.

He now plays Brandon Nakashima, a repeat of last year’s first round, when Thompson again came from two sets down to win in five sets.

The American will be better rested, however, having defeated 18th-seeded Sebastian Baez 6-2 6-3 6-4 in less than two hours.

Reigning champion and third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz defeated Mark Lajal in three sets to set up a second-round showdown with Australian Aleksandar Vukic

Australia’s Daria Saville celebrates her impressive victory over America’s Peyton Stearns

Saville followed Thompson to Court 10 and defeated American Peyton Stearns 6-4 6-2.

That helped to banish memories of her last match at Wimbledon in 2023, when she was disrupted and distracted by climate activists who invaded the arena and lost to Katie Boulter.

She now faces 18th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who achieved an even quicker victory over Rebecca Sramkova: 6-3 6-2.

It took Bolt a week to get through qualifying, but his main draw adventure was over before Alcaraz had even begun his title defence on Centre Court.

But Bolt can be proud of his performance against eighth-seeded Casper Ruud.

He led the three-time Grand Slam finalist to a tiebreak in the first set, but eventually lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 -6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes.

Max Purcell arrived at Wimbledon feeling good about reaching the final of the tournament in Eastbourne on Saturday, but perhaps the turnaround came too quickly.

He was subdued by Finland’s Otto Virtanen, who is ranked 79 places lower, 6-3 6-2 6-2 in just 89 minutes.