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Alcaraz, Medvedev advance to Wimbledon round of 16

London, Jul 8 (EFE).- World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz got past Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to book his spot in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, where he will face Matteo Berrettini, who beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.

Alcaraz looked poised for a trouble-free victory after winning the first set, but the Chilean had other ideas and stormed to a 4-1 advantage in the second set.

The Spaniard recovered to force a tiebreaker, but Jarry prevailed to level the contest at a set apiece, only to lose the next two.

“I stayed focused, all the time,” Alcaraz said on court afterward “I knew I was going to have my chances. It was really close, he has great shots, very solid.”

To reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, he will have to get past Berrettini, a 2021 finalist at the All England Club.

Despite having been away from the court for much of the year due to injury, the Italian dominated Germany’s Zverev to set up a showdown with Alcaraz.

Another player who has never advanced beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, Russian world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, dropped the opening set Saturday against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics before recovering to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Excluded from the tournament last year – along with all Russian and Belarusian players – in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, he has won five titles this season, though he lost in the early rounds at both the Australian and French Opens.

Medvedev will face the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lahecka in the next round.

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who needed five sets to dispatch crowd favorite Andy Murray of the United Kingdom in the third round, bested Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 Saturday to move into the final 16.

Next up for the Greek will be Christopher Eubanks of the United States, a 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 winner Saturday over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.

Holger Rune had to work hard Saturday to earn a berth in the Wimbledon round of 16 for the first time in his career The sixth-seeded Dane won his first set against Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, but went on to lose the next two and had to battle back for a 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory.

Rune’s opponent in the round of 16 will be the winner of the match between Frances Tiafoe of the US and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, which was suspended Saturday three games into the third set due to rain.

On the women’s side, Belarusian world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-3, while third-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan rolled 6-1, 6-1 over the UK’s Katie Boulter.

Sabalenka will battle another Russian, Ekaterina Alexandrova, in the round of 16. Rybakina is to face Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.

Tunisian world No. 6 Ons Jabeur, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, defeated Canada’s Bianca Andreescu 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a round of 16 clash with ninth-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-5 winner Saturday against Natalija Kostic of Serbia.

EFE /dr

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