Tennis – Carlos Alcaraz came through a ferocious fourth-round firefight against Andrey Rublev to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court and keep his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on track yesterday.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals following a tough workout by a familiar opponent, while it was a mixed day for Britain as Cameron Norrie was left as the last home hope standing after Sonay Kartal went out.
Defending champion Alcaraz stuttered in his opening three rounds but found his best form to eventually subdue an inspired Rublev who once again came up short against the very best.
Rublev rocked Alcaraz to lead 4-1 in the opener only to be pegged back but the Russian produced some astonishing tennis to snatch the tiebreak and move ahead.
Alcaraz knew he was in a scrap but never looked ruffled and levelled the match after Rublev double-faulted on a break point.
Rublev continued to throw everything in his arsenal at the champion in the third set but paid for not taking some early break points as Alcaraz found another gear.
Alcaraz looked impregnable in the fourth set and a single break of serve was enough to seal a 22nd successive match win and set up a last-eight clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Sabalenka, who claimed doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open partnering Mertens, was then put through the wringer before raising her level to prevail 6-4 7-6(4).
The victory improved her win-loss record against Belgian Mertens to 11-2 and she said the growing adoration of the crowd made a big difference after fans were on the other side of the fence when she met Briton Emma Raducanu last time out.
Sabalenka’s next big test will come from Laura Siegemund, who at 37 is the oldest woman left in the singles draw, and the plucky German swatted aside Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory in a rain-interrupted match.
Sierra’s fellow South American, Chilean Nicolas Jarry, fell by the wayside as he was beaten 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3 in a classic match under the roof on Court One by Norrie despite hitting 46 aces for a tournament-high tally of 111.
Norrie, the 2022 semi-finalist, will continue to fly the flag for Britain when he takes on Alcaraz in the next round but it was the end of the road for Kartal, who crashed to a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The big talking point in that match was the malfunction of the Electronic Line Calling system, which at one stage left the Russian former French Open runner-up seething after being robbed of a point at 4-4 in the opening set.
“We were waiting for a decision as the system was down, but I was expecting to hear if they said the ball was in or out,” she said. “Instead they just said, replay the point. It was tricky especially as it was a very crucial moment in the match.
“I expected a different decision. I just thought also the chair umpire could take the initiative. That’s why he’s there sitting on the chair. He also saw it (was) out, he told me after the match. I thought he would do that, but he didn’t.
“I think it’s also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.”
There was drama of a different kind earlier when American fifth seed Taylor Fritz marched on after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting.
Up next for Fritz is a meeting with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov who thumped Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3.
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