Carlos Alcaraz has progressed into the second round of Wimbledon after surviving a huge scare against Fabio Fognini.
Alcaraz says he has huge respect for Fognini after the former battled past the latter 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.
The Spanish star is the defending champion at Wimbledon, with Alcaraz now set to take on Oliver Tarvet in round two.
British youngster Tarvet, who made it through qualifying, has secured the dream draw against the ATP number two after beating Leandro Riedi.
Alcaraz now turns his focus to avoiding another potential upset, but has first shared a message with his most recent opponent after their thrilling clash.
Carlos Alcaraz and Fabio Fognini exchange messages after Wimbledon thriller
The Spaniard, who is the second seed at Wimbledon this year, tagged Fognini on Instagram and wrote: “38 years old?! Congratulations on an incredible match. It was an honour to share this battle with you at Wimbledon!”
The Italian veteran replied, translated from Spanish: “Thank you Carlitos for your beautiful words!!! Good luck and smash it!!! I love you so much.”
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He also shared an Instagram post of his own, writing: “Last Wimbledon. On Centre Court, heart full. Thank you to the crowd. And thank you Carlos, a true champion.”
The Italian shared a further message on X thanking Wimbledon after he was thanked for his efforts at SW19 over the years.
Boris Becker reacts to Wimbledon ‘battle’ between Carlos Alcaraz and Fabio Fognini
Very few people would have been expecting such a battle for Alcaraz in his Wimbledon opener against Fognini.
He recently won the French Open, and entered the grass court Grand Slam as the two-time defending champion.
But the 22-year-old was pushed all the way by the 38-year-old, with tennis legend Boris Becker really enjoying their encounter.
The German, who won three Wimbledon titles during his stunning career, wrote on X: “Grande [Fabio Fognini]! What a battle on Wimbledon Centre Court against the defending champion [Carlos Alcaraz]!
“Fabio walks around like a Roman emperor… Forza FF and congratulations to Carlos! The tournament has officially started with a bang!”
The pair battled it out for a huge four hours and 37 minutes on Centre Court as temperatures in London reached 31.4C.
Fognini, who boasts nine ATP titles and once reached number nine in the world rankings, can certainly hold his head high after bowing out from the competition.
And Alcaraz may just be eager to analyse why he took so long to move beyond an opponent that he would have been confident of defeating in a much more straightforward manner.
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