Carlos Alcaraz kept his Wimbledon title defence alive on Friday, 5 July, but not without another erratic display as he battled past Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
The world number two hit 28 unforced errors on Centre Court and struggled for consistency, yet still managed to summon enough brilliance in key moments to overcome the world number 125 in just under three hours.
Alcaraz had already been pushed to five sets in the first round by 38-year-old Fabio Fognini and looked below par again in his second-round win over British wildcard Oliver Tarvet. While the Spaniard has found a way through each test, his form has left plenty of room for improvement.
“I knew it was going to be really difficult. I had to be really focused. His game suits the grass with the big serves,” Alcaraz said after the win. “It was stressful. I was suffering in every service game—down 0-30, facing break points—but I kept fighting and chasing every ball.”
In contrast, Alcaraz’s main rival at SW19, world number one Jannik Sinner, has cruised through his first two matches, dropping just 12 games in total. Yet despite the disparity in form, Alcaraz’s record remains formidable.
He has now won 21 consecutive matches since losing to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April, a run that includes titles at the Rome Masters, Roland Garros, and Queen’s Club. The 22-year-old has also won 32 of his 35 career matches on grass.
Alcaraz’s last loss at Wimbledon came in the fourth round in 2022—against Sinner. Since then, he has beaten Novak Djokovic in the finals of the past two editions and is now bidding to become just the fifth man in the Open Era to win three straight Wimbledon titles, joining the elite company of Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Djokovic himself.
The match got off to a shaky start for the Spaniard, who opened with a double fault, but he recovered quickly to hold and broke Struff’s serve twice to seal the opening set in just 27 minutes.
He looked poised to dominate when he broke again early in the second set, but his serve faltered once more. Struff took advantage, breaking Alcaraz twice to level the match and spark hope of a major upset.
It was not the first time the German had troubled Alcaraz at Wimbledon. In 2022, a teenage Alcaraz had to come from two sets to one down to beat Struff in the first round.
This time, Alcaraz avoided that level of danger. He broke early in the third set and managed to maintain his lead, before grinding through a tightly contested fourth set to secure the win.
Struff forced Alcaraz to dig deep throughout with his power hitting, but the defending champion held firm. “He pushed me and it was just about surviving,” Alcaraz said. “I’m surprised I’m standing here after four sets.”