LONDON, July 11 : Top seed Carlos Alcaraz roared into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a formidable display of firepower to down big-serving Italian dark horse Matteo Berrettini on Monday.
The Spaniard was beaten to the punch in the opening set but raised his game to claim a comfortable 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 win to the delight of the Centre Court crowd.
He will now face a battle of the 20-year-old’s against Denmark’s sixth seed Holger Rune for a place in the semi-finals. Berrettini was unseeded after an injury-plagued year but is a potent threat on grasscourts having reached the final two years ago when he lost to Novak Djokovic.
He came out firing huge serves and forehands and rocked Alcaraz with a decisive service break to take the opener.
Berrettini could not maintain the intensity though and Alcaraz raised his tempo to seize control early in the second set, running his opponent ragged at times. He broke serve in the third game of the second set on the way to levelling the match and did the same in the third set with a thumping smash as he picked up speed.
A delay to close the roof midway through the fourth set as the light faded offered Berrettini some respite but Alcaraz quickly completed the win after the resumption.
Alcaraz was stopped by another Italian, Jannik Sinner, at the same stage last year, but having reached the quarter-finals for the first time he already has his eyes on going further.
Eubanks stuns Tsitsipas
It was a case of better late than never for Christopher Eubanks as the gentle American giant was roared on to a 3-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4 6-4 win over Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday.
Eubanks, 27, is no spring chicken but after finally making it into the Wimbledon main draw for the first time this year he has made it into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time with a rousing win over the Greek maverick.
No announcements on handshake etiquette
Wimbledon is staying out of the politics of handshakes.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine had urged tennis authorities to publicize that Ukrainians won’t be shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players after matches so that fans don’t boo because they think some players are being snubbed.
“We’ve no intention of doing that,” Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said Monday. Fans on No. 1 Court booed Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka after she didn’t go to the net to shake hands with Svitolina after the Ukrainian player’s victory on Sunday.
Azarenka knew that Svitolina doesn’t shake hands with Russians and Belarusians in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and instead waved to her. She later said she was trying to be “respectful towards her decision.”
Bolton, however, said there won’t be any instruction to Wimbledon umpires to make announcements about handshakes.
Svitolina knocks out Iga Swiatek
In a remarkable contest on Centre Court today, Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina knocked out world No 1 Iga Swiatek to extend her stunning Wimbledon run and reach the semi-finals.
Svitolina, who overcame Victoria Azarenka in the previous round, fought back from the brink of losing the first set against Poland’s Swiatek, ultimately securing it 7-5.
In another closely-contested set, 22-year-old Swiatek levelled the match by edging a tiebreak, before Svitolina downed the four-time major winner by claiming the final set 6-2.
Next up for the 28-year-old is Marketa Vondrousova, who reached the semi-finals by beating fourth seed Jessica Pegula in three sets. Marketa Vondrousova won five straight games in the final set to beat fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and reach the semifinals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Vondrousova, a left-handed Czech player who reached the French Open final in 2019, trailed 4-1 in the third set but didn’t lose another game after that. Vondrousova had won only four matches on grass heading into the tournament at the All England Club.
But she has won five in a row on the surface over the last eight days. (PTI)
