No. 2 men’s seed Carlos Alcaraz withstood an early scare from No. 14 Andrey Rublev to continue his pursuit of a third consecutive Wimbledon title, winning in four sets Sunday 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Rublev challenged Alcaraz from the start, running out to a 4-1 lead in the first set as the defending Wimbledon champion struggled to get into a rhythm. He had difficulty winning his serve while also committing several unforced errors.
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Alcaraz finally held serve to close within 4-2 and showed some emotion as he tried to fire himself up. Rublev then made an error at the net on an Alcaraz drop shot, giving him an opening to gain two points in the set. Alcaraz went on to win 11 of the next 12 points.
Rublev appeared as if he might be running low on energy after a frenetic start, and that allowed Alcaraz to get back into the set. Alcaraz took a hard fall and lost his racket while reaching to return a serve, but wasn’t injured. That almost seemed to be an answer to Rublev’s early aggressiveness, doing everything he could to get back into the match and force a tiebreaker.
Carlos Alcaraz slipped and fell to the grass during the first set of his fourth-round match at Wimbledon with Andrey Rublev on Sunday in London. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
(Clive Brunskill via Getty Images)
Despite his own fall in the same corner after the two switched sides, Rublev was undeterred and went ahead 3-2 in the tiebreaker. Alcaraz showed his range by going deep in the corner to return two shots, but hit his next one into the net to fall behind 6-5.
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And at that point, the crowd came to life, sensing Rublev was about to win the first set. That feeling was affirmed when Alcaraz again went deep behind the baseline for a return, but hit it into the net to lose the tiebreaker, 7-5. Rublev won four of his six tiebreaking sets during this Wimbledon tournament.
Yet anyone who thought Alcaraz might be shaken by losing that first set was quickly corrected. He took control with his serve in the second set and a forehand return seemed to surprise Rublev.
After Rublev held serve to tie the set at 2-2, Alcaraz mixed in different tactics with his rocket serves and forehands, slicing balls down the line and feathering drop shots at the net. That had Rublev moving all over the court and curbed what was a successful aggressive approach.
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Tied at 3-3, Rublev double-faulted to allow Alcaraz to break serve. The Russian couldn’t recover from there, frustrated he couldn’t win his serve as Alcaraz held to get the final two points and win the second set.
The two began the third set going back and forth, but Alcaraz arguably won the point of the match by sliding on the grass toward the corner to return a cross-court shot that darted just out of Rublev’s reach for a 4-3 lead.
The crowd erupted at the amazing play from the two-time Wimbledon champion, and Alcaraz held his finger to his ear, asking for more. From there, Rublev played like he knew the set was lost and ready to start fresh.
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Perhaps the difference in the match was Rublev couldn’t raise his play to another level when he had Alcaraz playing catch-up. Contrarily, Alcaraz seemed to get better as the match wore on, reaching to find an extra boost when he needed it.
Rublev kept attempting to win his serve, aiming toward the lines to get Alcaraz chasing. But Alcaraz either got to the shots he wasn’t able to get to earlier in the match, or Rublev wasn’t quite as precise as when he started.
The fourth set began with Alcaraz getting two aces, but Rublev didn’t move further back to try to adjust to the serve. That may have been another difference as Alcaraz changed his approach and mixed up his shots as the match progressed. Those adjustments helped him recover from Rublev’s early onslaught.
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Rublev came back to save three break points to stay alive. But Alcaraz broke his serve to go up 3-2. If there was one adjustment Rublev appeared to make, it was with his mental and emotional approach. During breaks in play, he looked like he was trying to calm down and not lose his composure as Alcaraz took control. Under those circumstances, Rublev wasn’t just battling his opponent but himself as well.
Three consecutive errors demonstrated Rublev lost that battle, despite the crowd trying to give him a lift. After eventually losing the fourth set, he quickly left the court like someone who knew he let an opportunity for a career-making win get away.
Alcaraz praised Rublev’s power in his on-court interview after the match. But he credited his own mental approach, saying, “It was just about belief,” and not getting down after losing that first set.
“Andrey is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful player, that we have on tour,” Alcaraz said. “Aggressive with that forehand, it’s difficult to face him. He’s pushing you to a limit, running side to side. But I was happy with the way I moved. I think I played intelligently, smart today.”
Alcaraz will face Cameron Norrie in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The Brit could have the crowd on his side, especially after winning a thrilling five-set match over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3.
