London [UK], July 8 : Carlos Alcaraz has to work up his way to reach the fourth round after an attacking bombardment from Chilean Nicolas Jarry to advance at the ongoing Wimbledon 2023.
Competing under the roof on Centre Court, it took a lot of hard work for Spaniard to register a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 win over spirited Jarry in a match that lasted for three hours and 56 minutes.
The Spaniard, who recovered after falling behind by a break in the fourth set, moved swiftly across the court to display his defensive prowess before relentlessly turning the tables in points.
The top seed will continue his quest against former finalist Matteo Berrettini or 19-time tour-level titlist Alexander Zverev on Monday.
Both traded hard strikes in front of a large audience to split the first two sets. During the opening game, Alcaraz showed excellent footwork to go around his forehand and tug the Chilean around with his power and cunning to lead. However, Jarry continued to be aggressive in the second set, having trouble with the top seed with his first serve.
In the second set, the world number 28 made 79% of his initial deliveries and followed that up with vicious blows to seal points. Jarry saved one set point at 5/6 before converting his opportunity to level with the set still in doubt and forcing a tiebreaker.
At the beginning of the third set, Alcaraz maintained his composure and swiftly earned a break. With his tremendous shotmaking, he hit cleanly and frequently elicited grabs from the Centre Court audience, restoring his advantage.
In the fourth set, Jarry pressed forward and quickly took a 4-1 lead. Alcaraz, however, retaliated by fighting. He frequently crossed the baseline to hit forehand winners past Jarry as he approached, and at 5-5 in the set, he broke the tie with a backhand return winner. The Spaniard then used serve to finish off his sixth victory at Wimbledon and second on Centre Court.
"It was really, really tough. Nico is a really good player and he played really well. He deserves to be at the top and I am just really happy with the level I played," Carlos Alcaraz was quoted as saying by ATP.com.
"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. I remember watching a lot of matches from Centre Court. 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 said.
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