Alcaraz will now meet 20-year-old, Rune in what will be the youngest Wimbledon men’s quarterfinal in history
World number one and top seed, Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion, Novak Djokovic on Monday, moved to the quarterfinals of this year’s Wimbledon.
Alcaraz came back from a set down to spectacularly see off Italian opponent and 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 in the 4th round
The Italian’s serve and sledgehammer forehand briefly stopped the Spaniard in his tracks but Alcaraz later took charge and came through the significant test with flying colours.
He will now face fellow 20-year-old, Holger Rune in what will be the youngest Wimbledon men’s quarterfinal in professional history on Wednesday.
Speaking after the encounter, Alcaraz said: “I’m hungry for more, It’s something I really wanted. I came in this year with that goal — get into the quarter-final, I’m wanting more,”
Djokovic on the other hand, conceded his first set of the tournament in the third set of his match against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
The 36-year-old world’s number 2, who was leading by two sets when Wimbledon’s curfew was imposed on Sunday, however, rebounded to win his 100th match at the tournament 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 on Monday.
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The seven-time winner will return to action today, Tuesday in his 56th Grand Slam quarterfinal against Russian seventh seed, Andrey Rublev,
Djokovic, however, confessed after the 4th round encounter that he did not relish meeting Hurkacz, whose thundering serves rendered the world’s best returner powerless at times, even knocking him to the floor.
“He put up a great performance,” said a relieved Djokovic, who withstood a barrage of 33 aces from Hurkacz.
“I don’t recall the last time I felt this miserable on returning games to be honest, because of his incredibly accurate and powerful serve,” he said.
