Carlos Alcaraz outlined what Frances Tiafoe’s greatest strengths are on a tennis court.
The Spaniard witnessed first hand just how good the American is on his day as the pair played out an entertaining five-set battle on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
The 26-year-old opened up a two sets-to-one lead and was two points away from breaking Alcaraz’s serve to have an opportunity to serve for the match.
Tiafoe’s performance was all the more impressive given his difficult season and knee injury he sustained at Queen’s.
Alcaraz claimed his second victory against Tiafoe but he was made to work exceptionally hard to keep his Wimbledon title defence alive.
Carlos Alcaraz praises Frances Tiafoe after their Wimbledon epic
Alcaraz won his 12th of 13 career five-set matches after defeating Tiafoe to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. He stretched his winning run at the tournament to 10 matches and he will face either Ugo Humbert or America’s Brandon Nakashima in round four.
The third seed is friends with Tiafoe and the pair shared a warm embrace after their encounter and Alcaraz later shared some kind words about his opponent’s game.
“He is a really good ball striker, I think. His serves were pretty good. He didn’t let me get into the match,” he said.
“I broke his serve twice in the second set but after that I didn’t have many opportunities to break his serve so it was difficult to play with it. I think he moves pretty well, he returns well as well. And I couldn’t dominate the match.
“I think most of the time he was in the position to play aggressively and play his style and his game. He didn’t allow me to decide or put my own game on the match.”
Carlos Alcaraz improves impressive statistics after reaching Wimbledon fourth round
After booking his spot in the Wimbledon fourth round, Alcaraz has taken his record at SW19 to 14 wins and just two defeats from four appearances at the event.
Furthermore, the player’s 10th successive win at the All-England Club means he is now the third youngest man in the Open Era to have win streaks of 10 or more matches at two different Grand Slams.
Alcaraz also went on a 12-match winning streak at the US Open from 2022 to 2023. It began when he claimed the title two years ago.
He tried to successfully defend the title in 2023 but was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
Lastly, Alcaraz’s latest win means he is into the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the ninth time in a row, and reached at least the semi-finals or better in five of his last six majors.
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