Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday reached the last 16 at Wimbledon after a tough battle against Nicolas Jarry, as defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina snuffed out the hopes of Britain’s final hope Katie Boulter, and Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the round of 16 in women’s doubles.
Rain returned to the All England Club, meaning play on Centre Court started under the roof and later forced an early end to the action on the outside courts.
Top seed Alcaraz is seen as the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic, who is gunning for a record-equaling eighth men’s title and 24th Grand Slam crown overall.
Photo: Reuters
The Spaniard, who won the grass-court Queen’s tournament last month, was made to work hard for the win by his Chilean opponent, seeded 25th, before prevailing 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-5.
Alcaraz bounced back from losing his first set of the tournament to lead 2-1, but narrowly avoided going a double break down in the fourth set before rediscovering his mojo.
“I’m really happy with the level that I played to get through this really tough match,” the relieved 20-year-old said.
The US Open champion was playing his second match in two days after rain delays earlier in the week.
Djokovic, by contrast, moved serenely into the last 16 late on Friday, beating Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
Alcaraz is to face big-serving Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round after the 2021 runner-up beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).
Unseeded Berrettini said he has a point to prove after missing last year’s tournament due to a bout of COVID-19.
“I love to play here,” the Italian said. “Last year I missed it and I still didn’t heal from that withdrawal. This tournament changed my career, my life and I’m really happy.”
Last year’s surprise women’s champion Rybakina made short work of wild card Boulter, who was the only British player left in the tournament, romping to a 6-1, 6-1 win in just 57 minutes.
The Kazakh third seed had not previously hit her best form at Wimbledon, but 89th-ranked Boulter had no answer to her opponent’s superior power.
Last year’s beaten finalist Ons Jabeur also progressed, thanking the rain for the part it played in her victory, interrupting the deciding set.
The Tunisian sixth seed lost the first set, but battled back to beat Bianca Andreescu 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and set up a last-16 clash with two-time champion Petra Kvitova.
“I’ve got to thank the rain a little bit for letting me speak to my coach and have a bit of perspective about the match,” she said. “I felt like I didn’t play my best tennis.”
In women’s doubles, Hsieh and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic beat China’s Yang Zhaoxuan and Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the round of 16.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles matches featuring Taiwanese sisters Latish Chan and Chan Hao-ching were suspended due to the rain. Latisha Chan and partner Ivan Dodig of Croatia were down 7-6 (7/5) when play was halted, while Chan Hao-ching and Fabrice Martin of France did not finish their set against the Netherlands’ Wesley Koolhof and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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