ATP
Wimbledon 2024 Men’s Day 5
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz battled from two sets to one down on Friday, returning to the Wimbledon fourth round 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the expense of upset-minded rival Frances Tiafoe.
The American challenger, whose season has been compromised by a knee injury and a win-loss record which now stands a dead-level 15-15, had been hoping to jump start his event with a knockout of the third seed.
But after thwarting the upset scenario by levelling the sets at two apiece with a winning tiebreak, Alcaraz cut loose in the fifth set, earning a 5-1 lead and advancing with a drop shot on his first match point after nearly four hours.
The win was a repeat of a semi-final success the Spaniard earned over the American at the US Open last autumn.
“It’s always a big challenge playing Frances, he’s a talented player and tough to face
“It was difficult for me to adapt my game, find solutions. and put him in trouble. I was happy to do it at the end of the match.”
Alcaraz said the tight fourth set was a turning point. “I kept telling myself to fight for one more ball. I wanted to know that I had gone for everything all the time.”
American 12th seed Tommy Paul duplicated his best showing here by reaching the fourth round 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 over Alexander Bublik, the dropshot-prone Kazakh, winning in 85 minutes.
The match was one of a handful which were completed in between showers which passed over the club throughout the day.
“It was weird getting ready for the match. You never really know when you’re
going to go on and you definitely don’t know if you are going to finish.
“I got lucky in being able to get the whole match done.. I was very happy with that.”
He added: “I actually was surprised, I thought the court was going to be a little more slippery.
“Normally I feel like when it’s slick, you would kind of slide out there. That gave me a little confidence to move a little harder – it helped me out in the match.”
Grigor Dimitrov, a semi-finaliste here a decade ago, showed flashes of his best tennis at age 33 as he defeated fellow veteran Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
The move into the fourth round put the Bulgarian into the Wimbledon second week for a fourth time.
Monfils, who had beaten Stan Wawrinka in the previous round, went all out, with 16 aces among 27 winners plus 38 unforced errors in a match between former junior champions from nearly two decades ago.
The veteran pair have now played six times, but their last meeting came eight years ago.
Dimitrov, once billed as the successor to Roger Federer when he first emerged, was pleased with his showing under the roof of Court No. 1.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve felt that good on the court. It was a clean match and I’m happy. I’m glad I recovered from yesterday (rain-interrupted five-set conclusion against Shang Juncheng).
He added: “I’m playing a better tennis; you never know when you might produce an amazing match or amazing tournament.
“I’m enjoying it out there and I want to make the most of this. Whatever comes next – good or bad – I’m ready for it.
“But I’m not thinking too far ahead, I want to stay in the present.”
Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz celebrates victory over Frances Tiafoe by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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