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07/06 15:05 CDT Carlos Alcaraz's Wimbledon win streak reaches 18. Sabalenka
gets to another Slam quarterfinal
Carlos Alcaraz's Wimbledon win streak reaches 18. Sabalenka gets to another
Slam quarterfinal
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
LONDON (AP) --- Carlos Alcaraz's latest up-and-down Wimbledon performance began
with a dropped set. Later Sunday, he was in danger of getting broken to fall
further behind in the third. And then, as he so often does, Alcaraz seized the
moment, produced some magic and moved closer to a third consecutive title at
the All England Club.
Alcaraz stretched his winning streak in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament
to 18 matches --- and his current unbeaten run across all events to 22 --- by
coming back to beat No. 14 seed Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Centre
Court to return to the quarterfinals.
In this fortnight's first matchup between two men ranked in the top 20, No. 2
Alcaraz brought out his best while down 3-2 in the third set. First, he needed
to fend off a break chance for Rublev, doing so with a forehand passing winner.
After eventually holding to 3-all, Alcaraz earned his own break opportunity and
didn't let Rublev escape. On an eight-stroke exchange, Alcaraz sprinted from
one corner of the court to the other and, with a stomp of his right foot and a
bit of a slide, he flicked a cross-court forehand winner.
Oh, did he relish that one. Alcaraz spread his arms wide, pointed to his right
ear and basked in the crowd's loud adulation, the noise bouncing off the
underside of the stadium's closed roof.
Rublev sat in his sideline chair, looked up at his guest box and made a
sarcastic "OK" hand signal. Just 10 minutes later, that set belong to Alcaraz,
who will face 2022 semifinalist Cam Norrie --- the last British player in
singles --- on Tuesday for a berth in the final four.
"I always said that it's just about belief in yourself. It doesn't matter that
you are one-set-to-love down," Alcaraz said. "Tennis is a sport that can change
in just one point. One point can change the match completely, turn around
everything."
The 61st-ranked Norrie, who played college tennis at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas,
advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over qualifier Nicolas
Jarry, who hit 46 aces. Norrie had a chance to close things out much earlier
than he did but failed to convert a match point while ahead 6-5 in the
third-set tiebreaker.
The other men's quarterfinal Tuesday will be No. 5 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 17
Karen Khachanov. Fritz, last year's U.S. Open runner-up, had a short day
because his opponent, Jordan Thompson, quit after about 40 minutes with back
and leg injuries that he'd been dealing with throughout the tournament.
Alcaraz is just 22 and already owns five Grand Slam trophies, the latest
arriving in June at the French Open. He hasn't lost a match anywhere since
April 20 against Holger Rune in the final at Barcelona.
There have been lapses, of course, including when Alcaraz fell behind by two
sets against No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final at Roland-Garros. Or when the
Spaniard lost four points in a row after going up 5-3 in the opening tiebreaker
against Rublev.
He hasn't been as close-to-perfect as others over the past week: Sinner, No. 10
Ben Shelton and No. 22 Flavio Cobolli haven't dropped a set heading into their
fourth-round contests.
So, sure, Alcaraz has ceded five sets already, but all that matters is that he
hasn't lost a match.
What else happened at Wimbledon on Sunday? No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals at her 11th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, defeating No. 24 Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-6 (4), and will play unseeded Laura Siegemund, the 37-year-old German who followed up her elimination of Australian Open champ Madison Keys by beating lucky loser Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcame a missed call late in the first set --- when the electronic system accidentally was off --- and beat Sonay Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4 to return to the grass-court major's quarterfinals for the first time in nine years. Pavlyuchenkova's opponent Tuesday will be Amanda Anisimova or Linda Noskova.
Who plays at the All England Club on Monday? Monday's fourth-rounders include Novak Djokovic against No. 11 Alex de Minaur at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET). They were supposed to face each other in last year's quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but de Minaur was forced to withdraw with a hip injury. That'll be followed at Centre Court by Mirra Andreeva vs. Emma Navarro, and then Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
What else happened at Wimbledon on Sunday? No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals at her 11th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, defeating No. 24 Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-6 (4), and will play unseeded Laura Siegemund, the 37-year-old German who followed up her elimination of Australian Open champ Madison Keys by beating lucky loser Solana Sierra 6-3, 6-2. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcame a missed call late in the first set --- when the electronic system accidentally was off --- and beat Sonay Kartal 7-6 (3), 6-4 to return to the grass-court major's quarterfinals for the first time in nine years. Pavlyuchenkova's opponent Tuesday will be Amanda Anisimova or Linda Noskova.
Who plays at the All England Club on Monday? Monday's fourth-rounders include Novak Djokovic against No. 11 Alex de Minaur at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET). They were supposed to face each other in last year's quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but de Minaur was forced to withdraw with a hip injury. That'll be followed at Centre Court by Mirra Andreeva vs. Emma Navarro, and then Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
