LONDON — Carlos Alcaraz once again found himself forced into the fifth set of a Grand Slam, this time at Wimbledon against his good friend Francis Tiafoe. And as is always the case in these situations, Alcaraz fought his way to the end, no matter how hard it was.
Alcaraz beat Tiafoe 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Friday in an entertaining match full of brilliant play and momentum swings that lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes, avoiding a surprise defeat and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“It’s always a big challenge playing against Francis. As I’ve said many times, he’s a really talented player. He’s really tough to play against, and he proved that again this time,” Alcaraz said. “It was really tough to adapt my play, find solutions and give him trouble, but I’m really happy that I did it in the end.”
In front of a center court crowd that included Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, under a retractable roof that amplified the sounds of rackets hitting balls, groans and cheers, the third-seeded Alcaraz was long-overduely outplayed by the 29th-seeded Tiafoe.
But Alcaraz was better late, improving to 12-1 in fifth sets early in his career, including victories in the semifinals and finals at last month’s French Open, where he was down 2-1 on the way to winning the title. Tiafoe trailed 6-13 in the fifth set.
Tiafoe’s victory was a surprise for a player who came to Wimbledon on a losing streak this season with a sprained ligament in his right knee.
It was certainly close though.
The 26-year-old American was two points away from serving for the win when Alcaraz was serving at love-30 at 4-all in the fourth set, but Alcaraz regained his composure, finishing with a 130 mph (210 kph) ace and winning the next four points.
He continued to dominate in the subsequent tiebreaker, taking a 5-0 lead.
“In the fourth set, I had a lot of difficult moments. … All I was thinking the whole time was, ‘OK, one more ball, one more ball.’ I was thinking about the next point,” Alcaraz said. “And of course, in the tiebreaker, I tell myself I’m going to give it my all. If I lose, I lose, but I have to feel like I gave it my all the way.”
The final set was even more one-sided. Tiafoe held on to the first game, but that was it. At 1-all, Alcaraz got the final break that Tiafoe missed with a cross-court backhand passing shot that landed on the baseline and sent chalk flying.
Other players who won on a rainy day to reach the fourth round included French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini, American Emma Navarro (world No. 19), who defeated Naomi Osaka earlier this week, and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys, as well as world No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov and world No. 12 Tommy Paul on the men’s side.
Most of the attention was on Alcaraz and Tiafoe, known for putting on a show. Alcaraz unleashed a running tweener back to the net, pointing to his ear and asking the crowd to get louder. Tiafoe also interacted with the fans, waving his hands to encourage them to get louder.
When the two found out they would be playing against each other, they exchanged some friendly insults, and after the match they hugged each other and chatted at the net.
Tiafoe stopped playing last month after hurting his knee during a match at Queen’s Club and was 13-14 in 2024 before Wimbledon. Some of those losses came against players Tiafoe called “clowns” without naming them.
After Tiafoe, who was wearing a black sleeve on his right knee, slipped and fell to the ground several times Friday, Alcaraz walked around the net to the other side of the court to check on Tiafoe and help him to his feet.
There weren’t many drawn-out battles like those seen when Alcaraz beat Tiafoe in five sets in the U.S. Open semifinals at Flushing Meadows just under two years ago, mainly because of the faster grass that tended to end points quickly, but there was plenty of good play from both players, including Alcaraz winning 22 points in the first set to take a 4-2 lead.
Tiafoe broke back quickly and quickly took control of the set. Alcaraz bounced back in the second set, and Tiafoe played better in the third. It was Alcaraz who ultimately won.
Alcaraz will continue to strive for a second consecutive victory at the All England Club and a fourth Grand Slam title overall, including a recent win in Paris where the 21-year-old Spaniard became the youngest player to win major tournaments on all three surfaces.
