Alcaraz, Medvedev battle into round of 16 at Wimbledon

LONDON - World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz withstood a second-set fightback from his Chilean opponent Nicolas Jarry, beating the world No. 25 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.

Jarry saved 9 out of 14 break points and fired 48 winners, including 15 aces, but the 27-year-old also committed 46 unforced errors to suffer his second defeat against Alcaraz.

"I'm really happy, but exhausted at the same time," said Alcaraz, who also became just the ninth Spanish man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon fourth round on multiple occasions.

"This match [gave] me a lot of confidence honestly. Every match that I win on Center Court is better for me to get into this court, this atmosphere. Last year it was really tough for me to play the first match in the Center Court. Every match that I didn't play on that court, I feel that I belong to that court."

Jarry, who set a career Grand Slam best to make it into the last 16 at the French Open last month, is enjoying a great season, in which he picked up two ATP titles and has amassed a 24-11 win-loss record.

"Honestly, I see the level of Jarry, the level today, he for sure [is] going to be in the top 10. If I have to bet, I bet at the end of the year he's going to break [into] the top 10 or he's going to be really, really close if he's still playing at that level," said the top seed, who next faces 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the last 16.

Berrettini was playing for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday after his first-round victory over Lorenzo Sonego lasted from Tuesday to Thursday before he claimed a straight-set triumph over Alex de Minaur on Friday.

The Italian big-hitter knocked out Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) to improve his career record on grass to 36-7 and move into the last 16 at Wimbledon for the third time in his career.

Holger Rune saved two match points and later recovered from 6-2 and 8-5 in a final-set tiebreak to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a full-set thriller.

The sixth seed won five points in a row to clinch the roller-coaster victory 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

At 8-8, the Spaniard decided to serve underarm and come into the net. Rune sprinted to the ball, getting there with time to spare, and found the passing shot to move up 9-8 and get his hands on a first match point.

"That was crazy. That was very unexpected, for sure," Rune later said of that underarm serve.

"I don't know. In a way, it was nice, because he was serving really well during the match. But also it's pressure, because imagine I missed that one. That would feel awful. So it was good and bad. Luckily I stayed clutch in important moments and managed to win."

Rune awaits Grigor Dimitrov or Frances Tiafoe in the last 16. Dimitrov was leading Tiafoe 6-2, 6-3, 1-2 when rain cancelled play on all outside courts for the day.

Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev came from one set down to see off Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to set a round-of-16 clash against 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka, who defeated 16th seed Tommy Paul 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-7(9), 6-2 in the third round.

Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who knocked home favourite Andy Murray on Friday, continued his run for a maiden major title, beating Laslo Djere in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-4.