LONDON.- The defending champion of Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz, He hit big shots when it mattered most and held on to beat Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 on Sunday on Centre Court to reach the quarterfinals.
The match seemed over when Alcaraz won the second set by hitting a series of shots out of his reach, even falling down while hitting a forehand and quickly getting up to reach the next ball.
Asked how he would describe his game at that point, Alcaraz said only: “Incredible, I think.”
But Humbert surprisingly fought back and threatened to take the match to a fifth set with three straight break points to go up 5-3 in the third set. Alcaraz eventually won that game with the help of a pair of aces and broke it to take a 6-5 lead.
“I felt very good playing today, I think I played at a very high level,” revealed Alcaraz, who awaits his rival who will emerge from the duel between Tommy Paul (12) and Roberto Bautista Agut.
Hours earlier, French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time after American Madison Keys retired with a leg injury while tied 5-5 in the third set of their fourth-round match on Sunday.
Keys served for match play while up 5-2 in the deciding set, but limped more and more until she needed medical attention after Paolini closed to 5-4. She was taped on her left thigh to serve for match play again, but was broken again — with a double fault on break point — and was left in tears at the end of the match because her movement was so clearly restricted.
He couldn’t take it anymore:
Keys attempted to continue playing, but eventually walked over to the net to inform the umpire on Court 1 that she was retiring after Paolini hit an ace at 15-15 in the final game.
The Italian took the first set 6-3 before Keys won the second 7-6 (6).
“I feel sorry for her. To finish a match like that,” Paolini said in the on-court interview. “What can I say? We played a good match. It was really difficult. A lot of ups and downs. I feel a little bit happy, but also sad for her. It’s not easy to win like that.”
Paolini is the fifth Italian to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in the open era and will try to become the first to reach the semi-finals. She will face the winner of the duel between second seed Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro (19).
