Carlos Alcaraz came through a ferocious fourth-round firefight against Andrey Rublev to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court and keep his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on track on Sunday.
The Spanish second seed stuttered in his opening three rounds but found his best form to eventually subdue an inspired Rublev who once again came up short against the very best.
Rublev rocked Alcaraz to lead 4-1 in the opener only to be pegged back but the Russian produced some astonishing tennis to snatch the tiebreak and move ahead.
Alcaraz knew he was in a scrap but never looked ruffled and levelled the match after Rublev double-faulted on a break point.
Rublev continued to throw everything in his arsenal at the champion in the third set but paid for not taking some early break points as Alcaraz found another gear.
Alcaraz looked impregnable in the fourth set and a single break of serve was enough to seal a 22nd successive match win and set up a last-eight clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
