logo
Alcaraz Resists Rublev to Reach Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Alcaraz Resists Rublev to Reach Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Asharq Al-Awsat18 hours ago
Carlos Alcaraz came through a ferocious fourth-round firefight against a red-hot Andrey Rublev to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court and keep his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on track on Sunday.
The Spanish second seed stuttered in his opening three rounds but found his best form to eventually subdue an inspired opponent who once again came up short against the very best, Reuters reported.
Rublev rocked Alcaraz by roaring into a 4-1 lead only to be pegged back but the Russian produced some astonishing tennis to snatch the tiebreak and move ahead.
Alcaraz never looked ruffled though and levelled the match after Rublev double-faulted on a break point. Rublev continued throwing everything in his arsenal at the champion in the third set but paid for not taking some early break points as Alcaraz found another gear.
Alcaraz looked impregnable in the fourth set and a single break of serve was enough to seal a 22nd successive match win and set up a last-eight clash with Britain's Cameron Norrie.
"Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. It's really difficult to face him, he forces you to the limit on each point," Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court.
"Really happy with the way I moved and played intelligent and smart tactically. A really good match all round."
With so many seeds having fallen early, this was the first match between top-20 players in the men's singles this year and it did not disappoint as the quality scaled rare heights.
Rublev, 27, has barely been outside of the top 10 since 2022 but has never got close to winning a Grand Slam, losing all 10 quarter-finals that he has contested.
The 14th seed must have sighed when he saw Alcaraz in his way in the fourth round, but he came out in positive fashion, off-loading rockets at the five-time Grand Slam champion.
With the roof closed after earlier thunderstorms the noise of the ball striking strings sounded like rifle shots.
Rublev hit harder, then harder still and at 5-5 in the opening set launched an outrageous backhand winner off a full-blooded Alcaraz forehand and then followed with a powerful forehand of his own to the baseline to move a set ahead.
He barely did anything wrong after that but Alcaraz, finally clicking into gear after three scratchy wins, showed why taking the title off him will be such a tough task.
The turning point came at 3-3 in the third set when Rublev, attempting to save a break point, sent Alcaraz sliding from side to side with a barrage of power only for the Spaniard to whip a forehand cross court winner, before cupping his ear to the crowd who rose as one to salute the moment of genius.
Rublev stuck manfully to his task but he was powerless to prevent an 11th loss from 11 matches against top-five opponents at a Grand Slam.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Grumpy Maresca Still Hopeful Chelsea Can Win Club World Cup He Thinks Needs Fixing
Grumpy Maresca Still Hopeful Chelsea Can Win Club World Cup He Thinks Needs Fixing

Asharq Al-Awsat

time3 hours ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

Grumpy Maresca Still Hopeful Chelsea Can Win Club World Cup He Thinks Needs Fixing

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca remains one of the Club World Cup's harshest critics, despite his team reaching the semi-finals, and continued a stream of complaints about everything from the weather to the scheduling ahead of Tuesday's clash with Fluminense. The Italian has repeatedly complained about the heat, the calendar and the toll on his players' fitness at the tournament, while also criticizing FIFA for the weather delay that interrupted his team's round-of-16 clash against Benfica for nearly two hours. On Monday, ahead of the semi-final against Fluminense, the Chelsea boss refused to accept that his Premier League side were favorites, instead arguing that the tournament calendar unfairly benefited South American teams. Maresca said the South American sides had arrived with fresh legs in midseason while the Europeans were exhausted at the end of a long campaign. "It is not that we don't see this tournament as important, it's that teams have arrived in two completely different situations and realities. How many games have the Brazilian team played in their current season? We have played 63 games," Maresca told a press conference. Maresca said Chelsea took the competition seriously, but structural improvements were needed. "I see the Club World Cup as a top competition and we are very happy to be here, we want to win it, but at the same time that are several things I think could be improved probably due to the fact that it is the first time they are organizing it," he said. Maresca also said that "many other things have been done well" but did not specify what those positive things were. The manager praised Brazilian football quality ahead of facing his third Brazilian opponents, after Chelsea lost 3-1 to Flamengo in the group stage and beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the quarter-finals. "The quality from Brazilian players is probably the top, is the best quality," he said, while again highlighting the conditioning gap between fresh South American sides and exhausted Europeans. "There are two things that for me are very clear in the two games that we face (against) Brazilian teams. One is the quality but at the same time it is very clear the energy that they have, for different reasons, and we don't. Top quality and also defensively, they were very good. So it will be a tough game." Despite his litany of grievances with the tournament format and conditions, Maresca's Chelsea remain in contention for the title as they prepare to face the Brazilian underdogs who have defied all expectations to reach the semi-finals.

Swiatek Ends Tauson's Run to Fly Into Wimbledon Quarter-Finals
Swiatek Ends Tauson's Run to Fly Into Wimbledon Quarter-Finals

Asharq Al-Awsat

time3 hours ago

  • Asharq Al-Awsat

Swiatek Ends Tauson's Run to Fly Into Wimbledon Quarter-Finals

A deluge of double faults dictated early terms before Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a soaring 6-4 6-1 victory over an out-of-sorts Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson on Monday. The cold and blustery wind swirling around Court One was clearly not to Swiatek's liking as she opened her account with two double faults en route to dropping her serve to love. While the former world number one immediately got the break back, her serve kept misfiring as she produced two successive double faults to drop her serve again in the third game. But from 3-1 down in the first set, the Polish eighth seed barely put a foot wrong in a match that was over in 65 brutal minutes. "The beginning was pretty shaky with the double faults, but I managed to play solid. I'm not sure if Clara was feeling that well, she said she was sick during the night and I hope she has a good recovery," Swiatek told the crowd. "It's never easy to keep your focus. Sometimes when you're not feeling well you let go of everything and it can give you a boost. I hope she's going to be fine. "It's pretty amazing, this is the first time I've ever enjoyed London. Sorry guys... I mean I've always enjoyed it. I feel good on the court when I feel good off the court." Swiatek had been prepared to face a barrage of one-shot winners from Tauson, who came into the match having served the most aces in this year's women's tournament. Her tally of 27 aces meant she was averaging an impressive nine per match during her run to the fourth round, which included a win over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina two days ago. Expectations were certainly high that she could become the first Danish woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in the professional era -- so much so that Denmark's King Frederik abandoned his plush Royal Box seat on Centre Court to watch Tauson in action on Court One. However, instead of adding to her ace count, Tauson surrendered the first set with a double fault and from then on her game fell apart as Swiatek won eight of the last nine games to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in three years. "If you want to beat Iga, you have to be 110%. Today I was probably around 30 and not feeling so great," explained Tauson, who had never won a match in three previous appearances at Wimbledon. "She was a bit nervous in the beginning I think. But as soon as she wasn't nervous anymore, I couldn't follow my legs, and my head was not there. She's probably impossible to beat. "It's not funny to have to blame it on your health. I couldn't really breathe... I didn't have any power in my legs or in my arm. It's really hard to serve. I'm really sad that it had to end like this. Today was really tough for me." Swiatek will face Russia's Liudmila Samsonova for a place in the semi-finals.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store