Jasper Philipsen underlined his status as the in-form sprinter Mark Cavendish must beat at the Tour de France as he made it two wins in as many days with victory on stage four.

Cavendish, seeking a record-breaking 35th career Tour stage win, could not test himself against the Belgian, a moment’s hesitation leaving him boxed in to finish fifth.

But Philipsen was again dominant, holding off a fast-finishing Caleb Ewan as both riders threw their bikes to the line.

The sprint meant no change at the top of the general classification as Adam Yates continues to lead by six seconds from UAE Emirates team-mate Tadej Pogacar and twin brother Simon Yates of Jayco-Alula.

For a second straight day, Mathieu van der Poel provided the perfect lead-out, guiding Philipsen out of a crash-strewn finish on the Circuit de Nogaro.

Cavendish, having seen team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez caught up in one of several late incidents, put his money on former world champion Mads Pedersen as he surfed the wheels but when he tried to join Pedersen’s charge, he was blocked by Dylan Groenewegen and his chance was gone.

“I think everybody who had a plan, every team, it didn’t come to fruition in the final for them,” the Manxman said. “There was no team in control… my boys got me exactly where I wanted to be, we were good there, but for every team it became chaos in the final. The corners got tighter and tighter.

“It was just a mixing pot of riders, there were crashes, I think Luis has gone down so I’m nervous about that. I looked around and the only man who had a lead-out left I could have jumped on was Mads, he had (Jasper) Stuyven so I thought, ‘Bam, get on him’.

“I was just waiting for him to go. It was a headwind so you want to leave it as late as possible and he just didn’t go.

“At one point I thought I should have gone at 350 (metres). I wouldn’t have won, someone would have passed me but I would have given myself a better shot.

“In a headwind there’s not much you can do. I just waited. I gambled on them going and then the gap filled, I’ve seen them all jump.

“I went audibly with a swear word before I even sprinted, I just was making the most of it then, I knew I couldn’t win once they got the jump on me.”

The motor racing circuit provided wide roads but its tight hairpins left only one racing line and several riders later questioned the safety of the route.

Fabio Jakobsen, a contender for the stage win, went down with 1,600 metres to go, the first of three crashes on the circuit.

Cavendish’s team-mate Sanchez, caught in the second, was taken to hospital for checks, Astana-Qazaqstan said.

The late drama was in contrast to the sedate pace for much of the day. The 182km flat stage from Dax failed to draw out a breakaway at the start as the peloton settled in for a slow day, saving their legs for two mountainous days to come before the sprinters get another chance in Bordeaux on Friday.

At least Philipsen, made to wait 20 minutes for confirmation of his win on Monday, could start celebrations immediately this time.

“It was really an easy stage,” he said. “I think everybody wanted to save their legs for the Pyrenees tomorrow and the day after but the final kilometres entering the circuit there were some crashes so I hope everybody is OK and safe.

“It was a hectic final with the turns in the end I lost my team but in the final straight I found Mathieu van der Poel and he did an amazing pull to get me to victory. My legs were cramping and Caleb was coming close.”

Andy Murray put on a Centre Court show for the Princess of Wales and old foe Roger Federer.

The two-time champion took apart countryman Ryan Peniston with a 6-3 6-0 6-1 victory under the roof to ease into the second round of Wimbledon for the 15th consecutive time.

Federer, whose career had been celebrated with a short video prior to the start of play, and Kate made sure they were back in their seats in the front row of the Royal Box in time for the first shot of the all-British clash.

It is 11 years since a tearful Murray was beaten by the great Swiss in his first Wimbledon final, and he sincerely believes that his days of challenging for the title here are not over.

He missed the French Open to focus on his grass-court preparations, winning back-to-back Challenger Tour titles in Surbiton and Nottingham, and was rewarded with his first straight-sets win at Wimbledon since 2017 and his most convincing victory here in nine years.

By starting a 15th campaign, he matched the open era record for a British man set by Jeremy Bates, and he would have taken confidence from knowing that in nearly 1,000 tour-level matches he had never lost to a player ranked as low as Peniston’s 268.

The 27-year-old from Essex, who survived cancer as a toddler, had a breakthrough year in 2022, particularly on the grass, and won his first-round match at Wimbledon.

He settled well on his Centre Court debut and was the better of the two for much of the first set but he was unable to take either of two early chances to break the Murray serve and paid for one loose game.

By the second set, the Scot, who went on to win the title after his only previous match against another British player here when he beat Liam Broady in 2016, was playing much better.

Peniston was still competing hard and pulling off some crowd-pleasing shots but Murray had cut out the unforced errors – 15 of his total of 24 came in the opening set – and was not giving his opponent anything.

By the time Peniston won another game, he had lost nine in a row and was 2-0 down in the third set.

Much more difficult tests will await, including the winner of the clash between fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem in the second round, but the crispness with which Murray struck the ball off the ground certainly appears to bode well.

Joe Cokanasiga is ready for a second tilt at the World Cup having found the ‘why’ behind his England career.

Cokanasiga was present in Japan four years ago, only for a knee injury to limit him to a single appearance against the USA.

While he crossed twice on that humid afternoon in Kobe, he spent much of the tournament hobbling around with a heavy brace on his damaged joint.

Having recovered from that setback, a second serious knee problem then struck the giant Bath wing of Fijian heritage, but the greatest challenge of all came off the pitch.

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While his mum Kitty was struck down by a cancerous brain tumour that needed chemotherapy and two surgeries, his father Ilaitia was barred from re-entering the UK despite having served in the British Army for 14 years.

Since those dark days Kitty has made a full recovery and Ilaitia has been granted indefinite leave to remain, but it was during the crisis that their 25-year-old son began looking inwards for the answers needed to realise his potential.

“I’ve been doing a lot more mindfulness work, discovering my ‘why’,” said Cokanasiga, who has been included in a 41-man training squad for the World Cup.

“I worked with (performance psychologist) Katie Warriner and the why was the one thing I struggled with.

“It’s a long process, going through my whole life from when I was born, how I grew up. My why has always been there, it’s just been about tapping into it.

“My why is always my family, but you forget that you play for yourself as well. I always play for young Joe who wanted to play in a World Cup.

“I think back to the 2015 World Cup when I was a mascot for Fiji in that first game against England, standing there and thinking ‘I want to do this, I want to play at Twickenham’.

“I like to think back and play for the young Joe and it’s having the right balance, but family will always be my why.

“The mindfulness has helped me a lot, especially during this summer. It has made me more determined and hungry for it.

“I’ve been doing lot of breathing exercises. One thing I got into was journaling before I sleep – after a big week of training having a nice debrief, or just writing down before games. That helped me a lot.”

Apart from his efforts to continue shining a light on the plight of Commonwealth serviceman denied entry to the UK, the 6’4” Cokanasiga has been busy making the lifestyle changes needed to take full advantage of his physical attributes.

Shackling his sweet tooth has resulted in 11lbs being shed and the 14-cap international is determined to end the yo-yoing in and out of the England team caused by injury and form.

“I’ve been getting my body into the right shape. I lost a few kilos, which for me is hard to do in the off-season,” Cokanasiga said.

“My girlfriend Rosie put me on a strict regime. So less sweets, no snacking at night, avoid drinking. Squashies or Haribos were my weakness! They can sponsor me if they want…

“Towards the end of the season I was 117-118kg, but now I’m 113-114. I feel I can run – it’s better for my joints, my knees.

“Mentally I’ve been a lot more driven to try. It’s like this is my shot, being in and out of squad this was my opportunity to get in so I needed to do everything I could.”

Joe Root is confident Jonny Bairstow “has the bit between his teeth” following his controversial stumping at Lord’s and expects him to be in the mood in front of a home crowd at Headingley this week.

Bairstow found himself at the eye of the storm during England’s unsuccessful run chase on Sunday, dismissed by fellow wicketkeeper Alex Carey after he believed the ball to be dead at the end of a Cameron Green over.

The incident sparked furious scenes at the home of cricket, with boos raining down on the tourists and three MCC members suspended for abusing Australia as they passed through the Long Room, and the row has barely died down since.

The furore has even broken into the political discourse, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese trading very different interpretations on the matter.

But there has been no word yet from the man England believe is the wronged party and he could be waiting to make it with bat in hand.

Bairstow has a long history of turning in memorable innings when he has had a point to prove – to pundits, selectors or opponents – and Root believes his fellow Yorkshireman is ready to produce another big performance.

“Jonny does thrive off things like this. You can bet your bottom dollar he will have the bit between his teeth,” he said.

“I don’t think he took it great, but I don’t think anyone would, would they? From his perspective he was not gaining any advantage. So, yeah, he felt a bit hard done by.

“I think it is set up nicely for him. He’s playing at his home ground and I’m sure he will want to entertain the local crowd. You’ll be able to spot it a mile off.

“You want to be watching every ball this week. There is always something in these big series and this is it, I guess. And it would have to involve Jonny.”

There have been countless instances of Bairstow taking his grievances out on opposition bowlers, including during the 2019 World Cup when he responded to a Twitter spat with Michael Vaughan by reeling off back-to-back hundreds that powered England to the final.

But Root most readily recalls last summer’s record fourth-innings chase of 378 against India, when he and his Yorkshire team-mate both hit unbeaten centuries following some needle in the middle.

“He’s done it previously. Go back to Edgbaston last year, someone said something to him – I think it was Virat Kohli – and brought the best out of him,” he said.

“Let’s hope it happens again.”

Root knows all about leadership in the heat of Ashes cricket, having overseen three campaigns against the old enemy during his five-and-a-half years in charge. He echoed the post-match verdict of his successor, Ben Stokes, confirming he would have withdrawn the appeal in matching circumstances.

And while Stokes invited Australia to think about “the spirit of cricket”, Root warned that the moment may harm their future standing in the game.

“As a team, we want to play our cricket in a certain way and leave a certain legacy,” he said.

“If I try to put myself in that situation, I think I would have dealt with it very differently. I care about England cricket and this team and what we’re about as a team. We all know how we want to play our cricket and we’ll continue to do it that way.

“There’s always going to be respect there. You’re allowed to disagree on certain things and see the game differently and clearly that is the case on this topic.”

Yorkshire have said they will be paying particular attention to security arrangements for the match following the angry scenes at Lord’s, working alongside the England and Wales Cricket Board and West Yorkshire Police, and while the famously lively atmosphere in the Western Terrace is likely to be in evidence, Root called for supporters to stay on the right side of the line.

“Support England, that’s the most important thing. You come to support your nations and it doesn’t need to go beyond that,” he said.

“It should never go beyond that. Everyone should be here to enjoy the cricket on the field. It shouldn’t be about anything other than that. Come here and support your team to the best of your ability, we’ll play to the best of ours.”

Tom Marquand is looking forward to being reunited with Dubai Honour for the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown this weekend.

The duo are well acquainted and teamed up in Australia in the spring for the second leg of the gelding’s Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes double.

Both of those races were Group Ones and Dubai Honour will now look to win a domestic contest at the same level as he represents trainer William Haggas in a small field on Saturday.

“Dubai Honour is all set to go at the weekend,” said Marquand.

“He had a fantastic time in Australia. He got his maiden Group One on the board then his second one in quick succession. He had to beat some good horses in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

“He then went to Hong Kong and he ran a very respectable race on ground that was probably just too sharp (third in the QEII Cup).

“He has had a freshen up since he has come back and I’m looking forward to seeing him back on a British racecourse.

“He doesn’t have as much to find as it might initially look, and he would be a horse that would be well capable of finding any flaws in any of their armour.”

While Dubai Honour is yet to make an impression at the highest level in Britain, Marquand hopes he can take inspiration from former stablemate Addeybb, who successfully transferred his impressive international form back on home territory.

Marquand added: “Going abroad proved pivotal in getting Dubai Honour’s head over the line in a big one.

“As we saw with Addeybb, he won his first Group One races down there then he came back and went and won a Champion Stakes later in his career back here.

“Hopefully this lad can take another step forward for getting his head in front down there and can crack on as a Group One horse.

“He had to bridge the class gap realistically in Australia, but he is an older horse and he is coming together now.”

Jacob Ramsey will miss the remainder of England Under-21s’ European Championship campaign with an ankle injury.

The Aston Villa midfielder, who featured in England’s first four games, was replaced after 67 minutes during their 1-0 victory over Portugal and will sit out Wednesday’s semi-final.

Lee Carsley’s side will look to maintain their flawless defensive record when they play Israel for the second time in as many weeks in the last four.

Anthony Gordon insisted England’s 2-0 victory over Israel in the group stage is in the past and called for a fresh approach going into the tie.

“The group stage games now don’t really matter,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t matter how we played against them or how we beat them.

“They played really well against Georgia and won the game ultimately so it’s win or go home and hopefully we can put on another good performance and win the game.”

Morgan Gibbs-White reiterated that message by highlighting Israel’s hunger to seek revenge after goals from Gordon and Emile Smith Rowe firmed England’s bid to qualify from Group C.

And the Nottingham Forest midfielder, who leads the competition’s assist chart with three, admitted rest and recovery should be at the forefront of England’s thinking.

“It’s a completely new game. [Israel] are even more hungry now they are in the semi-final. They are going to want revenge,” Gibbs-White said.

“We beat them in the group stage and now they are going to want to beat us, so we have got to make sure we are fully prepared, well rested, fully recovered and hopefully we can go again and get to the final.”

Spinner Sophie Ecclestone says England remain confident they can regain the Ashes despite falling six points behind in the series following defeat in Saturday’s first T20 international at Edgbaston.

The four-wicket loss in Birmingham means England must win all five remaining games if they are to wrest the title back from Australia, beginning with Wednesday’s meeting at the Oval.

Ecclestone took 10 wickets as the hosts lost June’s Test at Trent Bridge and followed up with 2-24 in the T20 opener, but neither were enough to prevent the tourists opening up a six-point series lead.

Lose at the Oval and that gap will become unassailable with four games still to play for Heather Knight’s side, but Ecclestone insisted that, despite the odds, there remains the belief inside the camp of winning a first Ashes series since 2019.

“We’ve seen weirder things happen than that in cricket,” she said. “We’re up for the challenge, we know exactly what we need to do. We’re really not far away from them and that makes us confident going into the rest of the series.

“It’s obviously going to be a really hard task to beat the Aussies, five out of five as we go along, but we’re really confident going into tomorrow. We had the crowd behind us I think on Saturday.

“We’ve had conversations and a few meetings about how we want to go about our cricket tomorrow. We’re really confident going into it and hopefully we can pull it off.”

Around 20,000 were in attendance to see Australia pip England at Edgbaston on Saturday, following a women’s Test record crowd of 23,117 for day five at Trent Bridge.

The ECB has promised a Women’s Test will be held at Lord’s for the first time in 2026, while on Tuesday it was announced that England will face New Zealand at the home of cricket in a T20 international next July.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Ecclestone. “It’s so exciting to play in front of all these crowds. Playing at the grounds we are at the minute on Saturday nights,  I think it’s amazing to look ahead to what we’ve got going on.

“It makes me really excited to play cricket. Having these crowds at these grounds, I think we’re just really excited to get there and entertain them and hopefully inspire the next generation to play cricket.”

Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner echoed the same spirit that hosting women’s fixtures at major Test venues marks a welcome step forward.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “I’ve never played an Ashes game at either of those grounds (the Oval and Lord’s), so we haven’t played at top-tier venues.

“It’s something we all love to do. It’s something I’m looking forward to, hopefully we can come away with a win.”

Burnley forward Michael Obafemi will miss the start of the Premier League season with a hamstring injury suffered while on international duty.

The 22-year-old tore his hamstring in the Republic of Ireland’s 3-0 win over Gibraltar and will undergo an operation later this week before beginning a rehabilitation process.

Obafemi joined the Clarets on loan from Swansea in January, and scored two goals in 14 appearances before making his move permanent earlier this month.

The injury will be a blow to Vincent Kompany’s attacking options as Burnley make their return to the Premier League.

The Clarets reportedly remain in talks to re-sign Nathan Tella from Southampton after he topped Burnley’s scoring charts with 19 goals last term.

Scotland bolstered their chances of reaching the Cricket World Cup with a 31-run victory over Zimbabwe.

Scotland looked in control of proceedings with Christopher McBride and Matthew Cross at the crease but a flurry of wickets slowed Scotland down and they looked well short of a par score before a late Michael Leask burst got them to 234.

Home side Zimbabwe got their chase off to a terrible start, losing four wickets in their opening powerplay, but a stabilising partnership between Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl ensured a total collapse was not about to happen.

But Scotland began to take regular wickets and Zimbabwe fell short, ending their qualification hopes.

Scotland lost the toss and were thrown in to bat first – and a solid 50 partnership between McBride and Cross was put on the board before the former had his stumps rearranged by Tendai Chatara.

But Scotland went again with another partnership when Brandon McMullen came to the crease as they passed 100 with the loss of just one wicket but Sean Williams produced a stunning three wickets in six overs to remove Cross and McMullen before Richie Berrington spooned one to Innocent Kaia at long off as they slumped to 118 for four.

The visitors’ run rate seemingly came to a standstill as the Zimbabwean attack ate further into the wickets column. Firstly Tomas Mackintosh was caught out of his crease when Blessing Muzarabani deflected George Munsey’s effort onto the stumps before he was bowled by Richard Ngarava and a mix-up in the middle led to Chris Greaves being run out.

Scotland looked like they would fall short but Leask’s burst of 48 from 34 balls ushered them to a respectable total of 234.

After the changeover, Joylord Gumbie edged Chris Sole with the very first ball of the innings to instantly put them on the backfoot and the Scottish seamer had his tail up when he castled both Craig Ervine and the in-form Williams with just 29 on the board.

Kaia was next to fall when he was caught leg before wicket and after Raza was dropped by Greaves, he made amends when he got his wicket with the hosts 140 runs away from the total.

Wesley Madhevere was next to fall and Zimbabwe’s only hope rested on the shoulders of Burl but he hit one big shot too many off Leask and their dreams of reaching the World Cup in India came crashing down.

Theo Bair has agreed to terminate his contract at St Johnstone by mutual consent.

The 23-year-old Canada international forward joined the Perth club from Vancouver Whitecaps in January 2022 for an undisclosed fee.

Bair scored one goal in 31 appearances for the McDiarmid Park club last season.

A statement on Saints’ official website confirmed Bair’s departure and added: “We would like to thank Theo for all his efforts while at McDiarmid Park and wish him all the best in his future.”

Elena Rybakina overcame a slow start to the defence of her Wimbledon title to beat Shelby Rogers in three sets.

Rybakina was playing on Centre Court for the first time since winning her maiden grand slam title 12 months ago and American Rogers threatened to produce some Independence Day fireworks as she took the opening set in style.

But, despite a recent illness which saw her pull out of the Eastbourne tournament last week, she found her feet and reminded everyone why she triumphed here last year by overrunning her opponent in the final two sets to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory.

She entered the court after eight-time men’s champion Roger Federer had been welcomed by the crowd and did not start well as Shelby broke her serve in the opening game of the match.

Rogers was able to save a break-back point at 2-1 and then produced some fine hitting that enabled her to take the advantage.

But that was as good as it got as Rybakina kicked into gear and raced away with the second set, breaking serve twice to take it in 29 minutes.

An early break in the decider proved key and Rybakina was able to move safely into the second round.

She said in her on-court interview: “It was really tough for me today, I was pretty nervous, I cannot even hide it. The double fault said it all in the first game of the match. I am really pleased to get to another round.

“I am feeling much better. Hopefully this win gives me more confidence for the next round.”

Her victory was the only women’s match able to be completed in the first four-and-a-half hours of play on Tuesday as heavy rain just after midday stopped all action on the outside courts.

Oisin Murphy will partner Chaldean as he heads to France this weekend for the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville.

The Andrew Balding-trained Frankel colt was last seen finishing second to Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, prior to which he was an impressive winner of the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May.

Paddington is now the Coral-Eclipse favourite and could step up to a mile and a quarter Sandown on Saturday, whereas Chaldean will return to a seven-furlong trip in the Deauville Group One on Sunday.

Frankie Dettori, who has been aboard for Chaldean’s last five starts, is unable to take to take the ride as he is serving a suspension for careless riding at the Royal meeting.

Murphy, who is Balding’s principal rider, will therefore take the reins at the weekend having ridden the Juddmonte-owned three-year-old several times before at home.

Barry Mahon, racing manager to Juddmonte, said: “Obviously Frankie is not around this weekend, which is unfortunate, but what can we do?

“It’s disappointing, but we’re in good shape and Andrew is happy with him.

“We’ll kick on and if he’s happy with him tomorrow morning after he does a little bit of work, he’ll be on track for Sunday.

“Oisin has ridden him at home plenty. He’ll sit on him again tomorrow. I know he’s never ridden him on the track, but he knows the horse well and he’s an integral part of Andrew’s team, so it is nice that he can get aboard on Sunday.

“He is a Dewhurst winner and not short of speed and Frankie’s first words when he got off him at Ascot were, ‘jeez, he has got lots of speed’, and we threw the July Cup out there for a while and we didn’t think that was the right thing to do.

“Seven furlongs looks a good spot for him and he is in good shape and hopefully it will work out.

“He’s versatile. His pedigree is all speed, his two-year-old form is all seven furlongs, so I think trip-wise he is fine, seven to a mile. I thought after the Guineas he’d stretch out a little bit, but I’m not so sure now. We’ll have to see how the year progresses.”

Also heading for Deauville for the same race is Kevin Ryan’s Hi Royal, second behind Chaldean in the Guineas and third behind Paddington and his stablemate Cairo in the Irish equivalent of the race at the Curragh.

His Newmarket run came at a huge price of 125-1, but he was an 11-2 chance in Ireland once his ability had been proven in a Classic.

Adam Ryan, the trainer’s son and his assistant, said: “Hi Royal will go to the Prix Jean Prat on Sunday. He is in great order. He was never in at Ascot, so he is nice and freshened up since his run in the Irish Guineas.

“Obviously that form has worked out extremely well, because Paddington has probably announced himself as the leading three-year-old. I think we would have been second to him, had he not received a bump.

“His form is rock solid and it will be nice to hope that he can have his day in the sun.

“I think he is pretty versatile ground-wise. He seems to act on anything and is a fine-moving horse. You probably don’t want extremes with him, but I don’t think he’d shy away from very much either.

“I believe James Doyle will be riding him. He has ridden Group One winners for us and Mr (Jaber) Abdullah (owner).”

Beyond Deauville, there will be some consideration as to which path Hi Royal takes throughout the rest of the season, with the horse a year younger than stablemate and fellow miler Triple Time.

“It is quite difficult to say what plans will be for Hi Royal, as he is in the same mile division as Triple Time and you get to that point where the three-year-olds have to take on the older horses,” Ryan said.

“Again, it is something you have to sit down and discuss with connections and make the best plan possible.

“It is hard enough to win these races, you don’t want to be taking each other on for the same yard as well. We’ll look forward to Sunday first and take things from there.”

World number one Carlos Alcaraz laid down a serious Wimbledon marker with a three-set defeat of Jeremy Chardy in the first round.

The 20-year-old Spaniard is seen as the most realistic challenger to Novak Djokovic’s bid for an eighth title this fortnight.

He proved his blossoming grass-court credentials by winning at Queen’s last weekend, and then produced an impressive all-round display, dismantling Chardy for two sets before digging in to take the third for a 6-0 6-2 7-5 win under the roof on Court One.

Chardy had announced he would retire after the Championships, with the London-based Frenchman calling time on his career 18 years after winning the Wimbledon boys’ title.

The 36-year-old, who reached a career high of 25 in the world, had said beforehand the match would “be a great end, no matter what”.

He may have revised that opinion after a first set which lasted just 22 minutes and in which he could not buy a first serve, throwing in seven double-faults to hand Alcaraz a bagel for lunch.

The match began at just after 1pm, but it was nearly quarter-to-two by the time Chardy finally got a game on the board.

Alcaraz had only ever played six matches on grass before Queen’s. But, all venomous serves, thunderous forehands, sliced backhands and the occasional beautifully disguised drop shot, he now looks ominously at home on the surface.

Chardy was two sets behind after less than an hour, yet, out of the blue and willed on by a crowd wanting to see at least something of a contest, he converted a break point at the fourth attempt to lead 4-2 in the third.

It was a fleeting show of defiance, however, with Alcaraz breaking straight back and going on to complete the victory in an hour and 53 minutes.

“I think I played really well at the beginning of the match but in the third set he showed his level,” said Alcaraz.

“I like to play rallies and battles, let’s say, and I’m really happy to have played at a great level and get through this first round.

“Without the roof and sun it’s better for me and everyone, but I have to be really focused. The sound of the ball with the roof is beautiful.”