Wimbledon's biggest teen stars advance to Round 2. One eased through while the other battled through a 5-set, 4-hour marathon.

• Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu are both into the second round of Wimbledon.
• The two 19-year-olds are the tournament's highest-ranked teenagers.
• "I'm extremely pleased to have come through that match," said Great Britain's Raducanu.

Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, Wimbledon's two biggest teenage stars, both secured their spots in the tournament's second round on Monday with impressive, but very different, victories. 

Alcaraz, 19, showed his mettle as he twice came from behind to beat Germany's Lennard Struff, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, in a match that lasted just over four hours. 

Raducanu, also 19, on the other hand, moved past Alison van Uytvanck in straight-sets in what was the British phenom's first appearance on Centre Court. 

Overcoming a nervy start, Raducanu beat her Belgian opponent, 6-4, 6-4. 

Speaking after his hard-fought victory, Alcaraz joked that he "loves the grass" so much that he doesn't "want to leave the court."

Raducanu said she was "so happy" to be in the second round.

"I'm extremely pleased to have come through that match and looking forward to hopefully playing in front of you guys again," she said in her on-court interview.

"I've been feeling [the crowd support] ever since I stepped onto the practice courts, people behind me going, 'Emma, you've got this.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I've got this.'"

—Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2022

 

Alcaraz and Raducanu are the two highest-ranked teenagers at Wimbledon this year. Spaniard Alcaraz is the men's world No. 7, having won more tournaments than another male player on the tour this year. Reigning US Open champion Raducanu is the women's world No. 11.

All eyes are especially on Britain's top woman, with fans hoping Raducanu can reproduce the form that saw her win at Flushing Meadows last September.

Heading into the tournament, speculation has been rife about how the teenager will fare after what has been a problematic calendar year, during which she's struggled with both form and injuries.

Speaking to Insider last week, Britain's former No. 1 Tim Henman urged Raducanu to ignore the headlines and try and focus on herself.

"She's really got to focus on the things that she can control," said Henman, who made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon four times.

"What's been said on television, written in the newspapers, obviously, we didn't have social media back in the day, but those are all things that she can't control. So why worry about them?

"When you think about the things that you can control as an athlete, it's preparation and performance. During my career, I always felt that I just wanted to just concentrate on my practice, my training, and the matches themselves.

"Everything else I couldn't control, so I didn't worry about it."

Raducanu faces France's Caroline Garcia in the second round on Wednesday, while Alcaraz faces Fabio Fognini or Tallon Griekspoor the same day.