Wimbledon's reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz faced another grueling challenge in his second consecutive match but managed to hold his ground against Ugo Humbert, advancing to the quarter-finals on Sunday. Despite being outplayed occasionally by his French rival, the third seed Alcaraz rallied to win 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, marking his ninth entry into the last eight of a Grand Slam.
Similar to his previous encounter with American Frances Tiafoe, Alcaraz found himself struggling against an opponent who was throwing everything into their game, narrowly escaping another five-setter. The players were shielded from the heavy rain by the closed Centre Court roof, but Humbert had no such protection as Alcaraz dominated the first set after securing an early break.
Humbert, a left-hander, started to gain momentum with his aggressive returns in the second set, but Alcaraz seized the opportunity to close in on victory. However, Alcaraz's vulnerabilities were exposed in the third set when a confident Humbert broke his serve three times in a row.
In the fourth set, a series of service breaks initially put Humbert in a threatening position, and he had three break points when Alcaraz served at 3-4. Yet, the three-time Grand Slam champion managed to escape danger. Alcaraz conjured some crucial magic, delivering an astonishing forehand winner under pressure and then breaking serve with another impressive forehand.
Alcaraz secured match point with a deft drop shot and concluded the match with a powerful serve.
