By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) -Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was given another tough litmus test by plucky German Jan-Lennard Struff but the second seed battled his way to a 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory and reached the fourth round on Friday.
An off-colour Alcaraz had flirted with danger in his five-set opener against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini before mowing down British hope Oliver Tarvet in the last round, begging the question of which avatar of the Spaniard would turn up.
The 22-year-old, who was taken the distance by Struff before winning their meeting at the All England Club in 2022, began the match with a double fault and sprayed errors on Centre Court but rediscovered his rhythm to book a clash with Andrey Rublev.
Alcaraz saved two breakpoints in his second service game and then broke for a 3-1 lead, gaining the foothold he needed in the match before wrapping up the opening stanza on serve, hitting a huge ace on set point.
But in a Jekyll and Hyde type switch with shadows engulfing the main showcourt, the five-times Grand Slam winner surrendered the next set as Struff recovered an early break and went on to level the match comfortably.
An untimely double fault from Struff in the second game of the third set gave Alcaraz the platform to re-establish his lead and the twice Wimbledon champion never looked back from there until he closed it out with another big serve.
After going to deuce in each of his first four service games in the fourth set, Alcaraz took advantage of Struff’s sloppiness in the ninth game before pulling away for his 21st consecutive tour-level match victory.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; editing by Clare Fallon)
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