Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
Sport
Paul Myers

Alcaraz overcomes Berrettini to reach last eight at Wimbledon for first time

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time after beating former finalist Matteo Berrettini in four sets. REUTERS - ANDREW COULDRIDGE

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down on Monday to see off the former finalist Matteo Berrettini in four sets.

Berrettini, who lost in the 2021 final to Novak Djokovic, took the first set but cracked midway through the second set and Alcaraz nudged his way to parity.

The 20-year-old Spaniard edged an equally competitive third set 6-3 and after the roof was closed early in the fourth set, the Spaniard powered on to claim the fourth set by the same score.

"I'm really, really happy to get through this amazing match," said Alcaraz. "I'm really happy that I'm going to be able to play my first quarter-final in Wimbledon. I am really excited about it."

The margins were minimal. "I think he did a great job," said Berrettini. "He played really good, really solid, making a lot of returns. I mean, I knew about it but he was defending, like, unbelievable."

Alcaraz will take on his fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the quarter-finals after the Dane dismissed the challenge of the 21st seed Grigor Dimitrov.

The 32-year-old Bulgarian took the first set 6-3 but Rune claimed the tiebreak in the second and third sets and broke midway through the fourth set to reach the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time a few weeks after pulling off the same feat the French Open.

"To be able to play a quarter-final against a player that is your same age, at the top of the ranking, feels amazing," said Rune.

Anticipation

"I'm really looking forward to the match. I even looked at the possibility when I was in the first round. I couldn't really afford to look at it too much because there were so many matches before this would eventually happen. Now we're here ... so I'm really pumped and excited for it."

Elsewhere in the men's draw, the unseeded American Christopher Eubanks beat the fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets to reach the last eight at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments or the first time.

The 27-year-old American will play the third seed Daniil Medvedev who advanced to the quarters after Jiri Lehecka retired from their encounter due to injury.

In the bottom half of the draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic progressed in four sets against the 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz. The pair were forced to suspend their fourth round encounter on Sunday night with Djokovic leading by two sets.

When they returned to Centre Court on Monday afternoon, Hurkacz claimed the third set 7-5 but Djokovic took the fourth 6-4 to set up a showdown on Tuesday with the seventh seed Andrey Rublev.

Rematch

In the women's draw, sixth seed Ons Jabeur moved into the last eight following a straight sets dismissal of the two-time champion Petra Kvitova.

The 28-year-old Tunisian will take on Elena Rybakina , the woman who beat her in last year's final, after she eased through when Beatriz Haddad Maia retired from their fourth round tie with a back injury in the first set.

There were also wins for the 25th seed Madison Keys over the Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva and second seed Aryna Sabalenka who saw off the unseeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-0.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.