Carlos Alcaraz dodges bullet to beat Frances Tiafoe in Wimbledon five-set thriller

LONDON – Reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz survived a major scare on July 5, rallying from two sets to one down to beat American Frances Tiafoe to win a third-round thriller 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Under the closed roof at Centre Court, the Spanish world No. 3 raised the tempo and power of his groundstrokes in the latter stages to wrap up the win in 3hr 50min.

The 21-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion improved to 12-1 in fifth sets at Majors.

Next up for him is either Brandon Nakashima of the United States or French 16th seed Ugo Humbert.

Said Alcaraz: “There were a lot of difficult moments during the fourth set. I was thinking ‘fight one more ball’.

“In the tiebreak I always tell myself to go for it and today once again. It’s helpful support having my friends and family in the box.”

He then asked for the score at the European Championship quarter-final between Spain and Germany, which was goal-less at the time. The final result was unavailable at press time.

In other men’s singles matches on July 5, 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Jasmine Paolini continued to carry the flag for Italian tennis on the women’s side as the seventh seed downed former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to make the fourth round for the first time.

The diminutive French Open runner-up, who also reached the last 16 at the Australian Open this season, became the first woman from her nation to make the second week at each of the first three Majors in a single year.

While Italian men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner has hogged much of the limelight with his maiden Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne in 2024, Paolini has won hearts with a mixture of fierce competitiveness and joviality on the court.

Having already beaten 2019 US Open winner Andreescu in the Roland Garros third round in June, when the Canadian returned from a nine-month injury layoff, Paolini delighted fans and said she was enjoying being a crowd favourite.

“It was really nice to play out here in front of you guys, You are so many. It’s a dream to play in this kind of stadium. I think I played a good match. I hope you enjoyed,” said the 28-year-old.

Paolini, who made the Eastbourne semi-finals to underline her grass-court credentials ahead of Wimbledon, next plays American 12th seed Madison Keys, who saw off 18th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 on July 5.

In other action, Lulu Sun became the first woman from New Zealand to reach the Wimbledon last 16 with a straight-set victory over China’s Zhu Lin.

Sun, 23, who had to come through qualifying to make her debut at the All England Club, won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6).

Despite her lowly ranking of 123rd in the world, Sun had knocked out Chinese eighth seed and Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen in the first round.

She will face either Greek ninth seed Maria Sakkari or Britain’s former US Open champion Emma Raducanu for a place in the quarter-finals.

In other matches, 14th seed Daria Kasatkina was knocked out by former world No. 2 Paula Badosa on July 5.

The Ukrainian lost 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4 in just under three hours.

The 26-year-old Spaniard teared up after the victory, which put her into Wimbledon’s second week for the third time in her career.

It was her first time at this stage since a debilitating back injury that has plagued her since the start of 2023 and caused her to end her season after forcing her to retire from Wimbledon a year ago.

Badosa returned to competition in January but the struggles were evident. In the first three months of 2024, she won back-to-back matches just once.

She said: “In Indian Wells, the doctors told me it would be very complicated to continue my career,” Badosa said on the WTA Insider Podcast.

“I said, ‘A few more years? I’m still 26’. For me that was very tough.” REUTERS, AFP