LONDON: Wimbledon’s reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz was pushed to the limit for the second match in succession but once again stood firm to beat Ugo Humbert and reach the quarterfinal while new World no. 1 Jannik Sinner moved with comfortable win over Ben Shelton on Sunday.
Outplayed at times by his French opponent, third seed Alcaraz dug deep to triumph 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to move through to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the ninth time.
Just as against American Frances Tiafoe in the previous round, Alcaraz struggled to contain an inspired opponent throwing the kitchen sink at him but this time narrowly avoided being dragged into another five-setter.
The players were protected from the torrential rain that drummed on the closed Centre Court roof early on but there was no hiding place for Humbert as Alcaraz stormed through the opening set after grabbing an early service break.
Left-hander Humbert began to make inroads with his early-struck returns in the second set but he went unrewarded as Alcaraz pounced to move to within a set of victory.
The warning signs had been there for Alcaraz though and he was stunned in the third set as an increasingly confident Humbert broke his serve three times in succession.
After a flurry of service breaks at the start of the fourth set, Humbert continued to look dangerous and had three break points when Alcaraz served at 3-4 but the three-time Grand Slam champion wriggled out of danger.
Alcaraz found some magic just when he needed it most, curling a staggering forehand winner down the line when under the hammer in his next service game and then breaking serve in the following game with another forehand dipper.
Alcaraz brought up match point with a silky drop shot and sealed victory with a swinging serve.
Sinner outplayed the US opponent 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9). After taking first two sets comfortably Sinner got real challenge from Shelton. The set moved into tie-breaker. Sinner lead 6-2 in the tie-break but Shelton bounced back to level 6-6 and then 9-9. But Sinner successfully claimed next two points to seal the match.
French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini reached the quarterfinal for the first time after a totally distraught Madison Keys was forced to call it quits at 5-5 in the third set with a suspected groin injury.
Keys appeared to have one foot in the last eight when she went to serve for the match at 5-2 up the deciding set but clutched her left groin immediately after getting broken.
The American 12th seed called for the trainer one game later and limped off the court for a medical time out before re-emerging with her left thigh heavily strapped. Agencies
The Italian seventh seed had produced a stirring comeback from 5-1 down in the second set to force a tiebreak and the final score ended up being 6-3, 6-7(6), 5-5 in Paolini’s favour when a heartbroken Keys had to call it a day.
In his quest to win an eighth Wimbledon title, Novak Djokovic overcame Alexei Popyrin’s powerful serve and hitting on Centre Court, securing a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) third-round victory late on Saturday.
The Serbian great now faces 15th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round.
By reaching the fourth round for the 16th time, Djokovic has tied Jimmy Connors in second place on the Open Era list of most last-16 appearances at Wimbledon. Only record eight-time champion Roger Federer has more (18).
After losing the opening set late on Saturday, Djokovic quickly levelled proceedings by taking the seocnd set and then rode a break in the opening game to the third set. Although Popyrin rejuvenated his hopes of forcing a decider by holding from 5-5, 0/40 to force a fourth-set tie-break, the Serb dominated from then on to secure a three-hour, five-minute win, ATP reports.
The match included an amusing moment as Popyrin served at 1-4, 30/30 in the second set. A huge cheer went up around the All England Club, where many were simultaneously following the England men’s national football team in a Euro 2024 quarter-final penalty shootout against Switzerland.
In other action, Rune set the Djokovic clash with a 1-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-1 victory against Frenchman Quentin Halys. Rune rallied from two sets down to win for the first time in his career. His five-set record is now 4-3, and 2-1 this year.
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