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'Emma was playing incredible tennis.'

It sounds like science fiction but it is a natural phenomenon.

An eerie silence fell around Centre Court when two-time defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz experienced every club player’s worst nightmare – starting a match with a double fault.

His third-round opponent Jan-Lennard Struff wasn’t good enough to take advantage but it was the first of several somewhat worrying signs for Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fifth man in the Open Era to win three successive Wimbledon titles.

It feels harsh to question Alcaraz’s level after a 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 win – his 21st in a row during a sensational run – but it doesn’t quite feel like he’s playing at the level he reached during his previous two title wins at the All England Club. Not yet at least.

There was that surprisingly awkward first-round clash with Fabio Fognini, who is retiring at the end of the season, in which Alcaraz was taken to five sets by a 38-year-old who has never reached the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Alcaraz did not drop a set in his second-round win over Oliver Tarvet, but he was forced to dig deep to save multiple break points – eight in the first set alone – against a British player ranked outside the top 700.

His ability to save break points was evident again against Struff, Alcaraz saving two in his second service game. Struff was not denied in the second set, breaking the Alcaraz serve twice on his way to levelling the match.

A 6-1 scoreline is always eye-catching and naturally, there were moments of brilliance from Alcaraz, who came inside a forehand and thumped one down the line to provoke the biggest cheer on Centre Court.

But an overawed Struff could hardly have played any worse in a first set in which he won just 15 points and had a first-serve percentage of 35%. For a player that was always going to rely heavily on his serve to stand any chance against a player of Alcaraz’s quality, that figure needed to be closer to 60%.

‘I think Jan-Lennard Struff needs to forget about that set pretty quickly,’ Tim Henman said as Alcaraz raced into a lead inside half an hour. ‘35% first serves is not going to cut the mustard.’

After a period of Struff momentum, Alcaraz reasserted his dominance in the third set – taking it 6-3 – but the crucial break came when Struff double faulted three times in one service game. Alcaraz of course deserves credit here as it is his incredible ball-striking and movement that make players like Struff believe they need to aim that little bit tighter and ultimately miss the mark.

On paper, the fourth set may look straightforward enough but it was anything but. Leading 30-0 on Alcaraz’s serve, Struff was two points away from serving for the set. The Spaniard’s resolve in those moments is remarkable and came through here. It was that resolve, remember, that saw Alcaraz save three Championship points in the epic French Open final, denying Jannik Sinner the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Dropping four sets across two matches against Fognini and Struff is not a disaster but shows Alcaraz is not impenetrable. And perhaps, given the level of play displayed by his biggest rival, Alcaraz should no longer be considered the favourite for the title.

Sinner dropped just 12 games in his opening two straight-set victories and while the opposition were not up to much, his level of play was incredibly impressive. ‘Impossible to play against’ was how BBC commentator John Lloyd described Sinner after his first match.

Sinner’s form of course comes as no surprise at this stage of his career. After all, he is a three-time Grand Slam champion and, had it not been for a stunning Alcaraz comeback in Paris, would have won his maiden French Open title last month.

Daniil Medvedev dealt with Sinner on this turf 12 months ago – a very different Medvedev from the one that crashed out this time around, it should be said – while the Italian lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals in 2023.

John McEnroe recently said it would be ‘absurd’ to imagine Sinner going his entire career without a Wimbledon win and, ahead of his third-round match with Pedro Martinez, perhaps he is even the favourite.

Five-time major winner Alcaraz can and has reached a (narrowly) higher level than Sinner but the latter is the more consistent player, as highlighted by his world ranking.

‘When I think about the rivalry at the top of the game between Alcaraz and Sinner, you feel Sinner is more consistent,’ Tim Henman said on the BBC during Alcaraz’s victory over Struff. ‘On a scale of 1-10, Sinner is going to play between seven and nine most week. Alcaraz can get to nine-and-a-half but there’s times he might dip down to five. We saw that against Fognini. The challenge when playing Alcaraz is he can just turn it on and play at such a high level.’

Alcaraz appears more nervous than in previous years and admitted as much following a tricky first-round. Three double faults in the first set against Struff perhaps hinted at tension in his arms and legs. Better players might make him pay for such blips.

He described his match against Struff as ‘stressful’, saying in an on-court interview: ‘It was stressful. I was suffering in every service game I did today. ‘It was stressful, every time he could push me, he did it, so I’m really happy at the end I got the break and got the job done.’

There is, though, the possibility that Alcaraz is easing his way into the tournament and will peak in the latter stages, when bigger rivals for his crown will be standing on the other side of the net.

It is widely accepted that Alcaraz and Sinner are the two standout players at Wimbledon, with an ageing Djokovic hoping to spoil the party having swapped his tag as a Wimbledon pantomime villain and the least popular of the Big Three in favour of a much-loved figure in SW19.

Djokovic overcame a briefly concerning physical issue in the first round before dismantling British hopeful Dan Evans last time out. The 38-year-old ‘absolutely’ believes he can topple Alcaraz and Sinner and why shouldn’t he. He’s a seven-time champion bidding to claim a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.

You simply cannot write Djokovic off but he will need to prove his title credentials against better opposition before displacing Alcaraz or Sinner as the man to beat.

McEnroe struggles to split Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic, while Nadal’s former coach, Uncle Toni, believes the defending champion is still the ‘man to beat’.

However, one of Sinner’s Wimbledon opponents has potentially explained the Italian’s key advantage over Alcaraz.

‘Jannik exposes the weaknesses of his opponents with extreme ease,’ Aleksandar Vukic said after taking just five games of the reigning Australian and US Open champion.

‘Playing against him is like being in a boxing ring and you can only reach for the towel. The comparison with Carlos? They are at least two levels above the others, it’s pretty evident. Carlos gives you more free points, and you can breathe a sigh of relief. With Jannik, it’s different, as he suffocates you and offers no breathing space.’

Barring a huge upset, which cannot be ruled out given the number of shocks at Wimbledon this week, the men’s winner looks set to come from Alcaraz, Sinner of Djokovic.

The champion is hard to predict but one thing’s for sure, it’s going to be an intriguing and captivating week in SW19.

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