Alcaraz Relieves Stress

"It was a stressful match," Carlos Alcaraz said with a laugh. The typical nervous laughter after emerging from a tense situation and finally feeling safe. The Spaniard, still far from his best form but seemingly not needing it to keep winning, overcame the challenge of Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and is in the Wimbledon fourth round for the fourth consecutive year.

Since his debut year in the tournament, back in 2021 when he didn't even know what it was like to win an ATP title, Alcaraz has never missed his appointment with the second week of the London Grand Slam, crowned in the last two editions with the title.

And yet, Struff caused a stir in some sections of his duel against the Spaniard, who still lacks his characteristic brilliance but doesn't seem to need it to progress at the All England Club. Alcaraz has become accustomed to winning by force and has amassed 21 consecutive victories since his defeat in the Conde de Godó final nearly three months ago.

The Spaniard is in a sweet spot, exuding confidence to overcome any situation. After a first set uncharacteristic of Struff—he only scored one winner—and almost any professional tennis player, the German, who lives by a do-or-die tactic, showed Alcaraz why this surface is so dangerous and why it represents a kind of nemesis.

Although he has only beaten him once, at Roland Garros 2021, Struff has always taken a set from him, and this time was no different.

"I knew it was going to be very difficult, that I would have to stay focused on every point. His game is very good on grass, with his strong serve and frequent net approaches," admitted Alcaraz, who had studied his opponent well.

But knowing the theory is not the same as applying it in practice when serves rain down at over 220 kilometres per hour and the German's reach becomes enormous at the net. He approached the net over a hundred times and secured 34 points, many of them in a second set that he claimed, increasing Alcaraz's stress, who is more than accustomed to these fluctuations.

That's why it was no surprise that in the next set everything clicked back into place, and he didn't face any break points, nor that in the fourth set, Struff took the initiative, nearly forcing a fifth set, as he did in 2022, complicating matters for the Spaniard.

Struff was a stroke of luck away from achieving it, with the break point he had at 3-2 in his favour or with the 0-30 at 4-3. Also at 4-4, the key game of the match, when he squandered seven advantages, some practically gifted. Tired of missing opportunities, the German conceded at the first chance for his opponent. With a backhand into the net, Alcaraz let out a shout, not knowing how he had managed to resolve the challenge.

"I can't believe the volley he missed at 4-4, and I can't believe I won this 6-4," he acknowledged, adding what everyone in the centre court was thinking. "It was stressful."

Having overcome Struff, the next challenge will be Andrey Rublev, the Russian who has defeated Laslo Djere, Lloyd Harris, and Adrian Mannarino to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the second time in his career.

Alcaraz has beaten him twice, always at the ATP Finals in Turin, while the Russian overcame him at the Madrid Masters 1000 in 2024.