Agencies
Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz did not have things all his own way Saturday, but he stepped up when needed to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second time.
Competing under the roof on Centre Court, Alcaraz overcame an attacking bombardment from Chilean Nicolas Jarry to advance 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 after 3 hours and 56 minutes.
The Spaniard, who rallied from a break down in the fourth set, was quick across the court to show off his defensive skills, before he turned the table in points with his own relentless power.
"It was really, really tough. Nico is a really good player and he played really well,” Alcaraz said. "He deserves to be at the top and I am just really happy with the level I played.
"I had to stay focused. I knew that I would have my chances. It was really, really close. The key is to believe and stay focused the whole time.”
Alcaraz is now 43-4 on the season and is aiming to become the third youngest player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, joining 17-year-old Boris Becker and 20-year-old Bjorn Borg.
The top seed will continue his quest against former finalist Matteo Berrettini or 19-time tour-level titlist Alexander Zverev on Monday.
"I remember watching a lot of matches from Centre Court,” Alcaraz said. "I am just really happy to play here. This court is really special and one of the most beautiful courts that I have played on.”
Alcaraz demonstrated great footwork to run around his forehand during the opener, pulling the Chilean around with his power and guile to lead. Jarry remained aggressive in the second set, though, with his first serve causing the top seed problems.
The World No. 28 made 79 per cent of his first deliveries in the second set, backing it up with ferocious strikes to finish points. With a tie-break left to decide the set, Jarry saved one set point at 5/6, before converting his opportunity to level.
Alcaraz gained an early break at the start of the third set. Jarry continued to go on the attack in the fourth set, racing into a 4-1 lead. However, Alcaraz came fighting back. He scampered across the baseline on numerous occasions to fire forehand winners past the incoming Jarry, while he earned the crucial break of the set at 5-5 with a backhand return winner.
The Spaniard then closed out his seventh win at Wimbledon, and second on Centre Court, on serve.
Meanwhile, third seed Daniil Medvedev also dropped a set but hit back to beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Djokovic goes past
Wawrinka
Novak Djokovic beat Stan Wawrinka and the Wimbledon curfew to book his place in the fourth round. The match which ended late on Friday saw Djokovic finish a 6-3 6-1 7-6 (5) victory with 14 minutes to spare.
It certainly did Wawrinka no favours that Djokovic was against the clock as he clicked straight into top gear and pushed the pace at every opportunity.
It was a 31st consecutive victory for Djokovic at the All England Club, equalling Pete Sampras’ best, and the seven-time champion said: "He was two points away from extending this match to another day.
Coming to the court we knew it was going to be really tight. I know I can always play better, I always have a couple of gears that I can go higher. Hopefully as the tournament progresses I can play better and better.”
This was a 27th meeting between the pair and, although Djokovic led 20-6, at Grand Slams they were tied at 4-4, with two of Wawrinka’s three titles coming after victories over the Serbian in finals.
Both were some years ago now, though, and it has been a long road back to the top 100 for 38-year-old Wawrinka after knee and foot surgeries.
Wimbledon has been by some distance his weakest slam and he cheerfully wrote off his chances completely ahead of a first grass-court meeting with Djokovic. That proved to be realistic rather than pessimistic as Djokovic pounded precision groundstrokes into the corners, time and again drawing errors from his opponent after thumping exchanges.
Wawrinka’s statistics did not make pretty reading but it would be harsh to criticise the veteran too much, aside from a very low first-serve percentage, given the barrage of quality coming from the other end.
Djokovic had won his last 11 tie-breaks at Grand Slams, famously not making an unforced error in six at the French Open. That record was in danger here when Wawrinka went 5-3 up but he was unable to send the contest to a second day as Djokovic booked a date with Hubert Hurkacz.