Alcaraz beats that winning fatigue to advance

Carlos Alcaraz pushed through 24 hours after a three-and-a-half-hour victory to reach the Queen’s club semi-finals for a second straight year with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Arthur Rinderknech on Friday.

Spain’s defending Wimbledon champion turned in a tidy victory in 80 minutes, saving some energy for a Saturday final on the grass of west London.

The ATP No. 2 stretched his career-longest win streak to 16 straight matches as he downed his French opponent.

Alcaraz boosted his lead in the season victory chase with 40 Tour match wins and four titles this season two years after beating Rinderknech in the first round here.

“I’m playing much better than the first matches,” the winner said as he continued fast progress in his first grass tournament in a year.

,”Every day you try to get better. I’m hitting the ball weel and feeling great on grass.

“Today was a tough one, a big challenge. He plays great on grass but I’m happy with how I played.”

But the five-time Grand Slam winner added: “(My form) could be better. I actually thought I was going to feel much worse 9after his epic win the day before against Jaume Munar).

“But we players do what we have to do for recovery. I’m still glad today was just 80 minutes.”