Alcaraz outmuscles Jarry to reach last-16 at Wimbledon

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz underwent a thorough examination of his credentials for the Wimbledon men's singles title on Saturday afternoon during an enthralling third round match against the 25th seed Nicolas Jarry.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the last-16 at Wimbledon following a four-set win over the 25th seed Nicolas Jarry. AP - Alastair Grant

Alcaraz took the opening set 6-3 but was outplayed in the second set tiebreak as Jarry levelled the match.

Alcaraz reclaimed control with the third set but lost his momentum early in the fourth as Jarry raced into a 3-0 lead. 

The set almost disappeared from his grasp. The 20-year-old had to save two points to prevent himself from going 0-4 down .

He eventually got on the scoreboard and clawed his way back to level at 4-4..

Serving for a 6-5 lead, Jarry cracked. A sloppy forehand approach that landed long gave Alcaraz a break point and the Spaniard converted the opportunity with a service return winner.

Battle

But Jarry refused to yield. He engineered a chance to take the set into a tiebreak after a 14-stroke rally in which his backhand slices and forehand drives forced Alcaraz from side to side.

The world number one extinguised the threat with an unreturnable serve. Another one set up match point and another savage slap from his racquet furnished him with a place in the last-16.

"It was really tough game against a great player," said Alcaraz as he savoured the 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory. "I was happy with my level and I was happy to live the energy that came for both of us."

Elsewhere in the men's draw, third seed Daniil Medvedev came from a set down to see off the unseeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over three hours. And fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas dispatched the unseeded Serb Laslo Djere in straight sets.

In the women's singles tournament, the second seed Aryna Sabalenka breezed past Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-3 into the last-16 in 81 minutes and the fifth seed Ons Jabeur came from a set down to beat Bianca Andreescu. "I have got to thank the rain break a little bit for letting me speak to my coach," said Jabeur.

"I felt I didn’t play my best tennis. I wanted to be more aggressive but I am playing against a Grand Slam champion. She made the mission tougher."

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova joined her there after a 6-3, 7-5 victory over the Serbian qualifier Natalija Stevanovic and there were third round wins too for the 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and the 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia who advanced to the last-16 at Wimbledon for the first time.