New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
On rainy day, Alcaraz among those winning
WIMBLEDON, England — Let other players downplay their championship chances at Wimbledon. Let other players profess — feign? — humility. Let other players express caution in Week 1 that it’s still way too early to be talking about the possibility of reaching the final at the end of the fortnight.
Carlos Alcaraz is not interested in any of that. He is No. 1 in the ATP rankings and No. 1 in the seedings at the All England Club and embraces that status. Every bit of it.
So on Saturday, after reaching the fourth round at the All England Club with a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 25 Nicolas Jarry at Centre Court, when he was asked whether it comes as something of a shock to him to already be one of the faces of the Grand Slam tournament, and already one of its favorites, at the ripe old age of 20, Alcaraz shrugged.
“Well, I’m not surprised, honestly, ’cause I know my skills. I know what I’m capable of,” Alcaraz said, wearing the white bucket hat that’s become his signature news conference accessory. ”(It’s) something that I work really hard (for): to be in that position, to be what I am right now.”
And when he was asked how difficult it is to avoid thinking about a potential matchup against Novak Djokovic — owner of four consecutive trophies, and seven overall, at Wimbledon; owner of a men’s-record 23 major championships in total — Alcaraz again dismissed the premise.
“Well, not only tennis fans, sports fans, want (that) final,” Alcaraz said, his ever-present smile melting into a chuckle. “Myself, as well, honestly.”
He then briefly, but ever so briefly, trotted out the types of things athletes are often trained to think they’re “supposed” to tell the media — about how he’s “really focused on the next round” ... and how the next player he’d meet produces “great tennis on grass” ... and how that’ll “be really tough” ... and blah, blah, blah — before course-correcting and returning to a more frank glimpse into his mindset.
“But obviously,” said Alcaraz, who will face 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini for a quarterfinal berth, “my dream is to play a final here. Even better (if it) is Novak.”
No. 10 Frances Tiafoe, a 25-year-old American, was among the players whose third-round contests were affected by yet more rain Saturday: His match was early in the third set after he dropped the first two against three-time major semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov when they were sent home for the evening.
The winner of that one will go up against No. 6 Holger Rune, the 20-yearold from Denmark who saved two match points — and benefited from his foe’s questionable decision to try an underarm serve at 8-all in the final tiebreaker — along the way to edging No. 31 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8). Rune was twice a point from losing at 5-4 in the fifth set; then he trailed 8-5 in the first-to-10 concluding tiebreaker before racing to the finish, helped in part by taking advantage of that short serve that he punished with a winning return.
A big matchup in the women’s fourth round will be 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur against 2011 and 2014 champion Petra Kvitova. Also moving on were defending champion Elena Rybakina, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova and No. 25 Madison Keys.