For the last 50 weeks, Carlos Alcaraz knew the exact date and time he would walk back on Centre Court to open the defence of his Wimbledon title and the Spaniard kept his goosebumps in check on Monday to book his place in the second round.
While injury woes have plagued many of those who have also hoisted the Challenge Cup in recent years with question marks over the participation of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray Alcaraz showed his was fighting fit despite a less than ideal build-up to the grass court major.
The third seed, who admitted he even gets nervous practising on the spiritual home of grass court tennis, beat Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6(3) 7-5 6-2 on an overcast day in southwest London.
Stepping on this court, it's the most beautiful court I've played on. I still get nerves when I'm playing here, Alcaraz, whose Queen's Club title defence ended with an early exit last month, said courtside.
I played for 45 minutes here on Thursday and it's the first time I get nervous practising. I'm glad and I'm a privileged guy to play on this court.
