Whenever Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe meet, a battle ensues. Thursday’s third-round match on Wimbledon’s Centre Court was no exception, with the pair going head-to-head for nearly four hours.
Third-seeded Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, avoided an upset and became the top male seed to lose so far, rallying to defeat Tiafoe 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2.
For Tiafoe, the 29th seed, victory over Alcaraz would have been the biggest win of his career and another impressive victory for an American at the 2024 tournament. Beating Alcaraz would have been even more dramatic with Tiafoe battling a sprained right knee on which he has been wearing a sleeve.
Unfortunately, this is the second time in two years that he has lost a five-set match against Alcaraz. The two players had already played a five-set match at the 2022 US Open, in which Alcaraz won 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.
Alcaraz forced a much-needed tiebreak in the fourth set, finally catching Tiafoe’s serve after struggling with it throughout the match.
“There were a lot of tough moments in the fourth set. All I was thinking was ‘OK, I’ll fight for one more ball.'” Alcaraz said after the match“I was thinking about the next ball and the tie-break and I told myself that I had to go for it. If I lost it, I lost it. I’ve been trying all the time and it’s good for me to get through once again.”
The comeback after losing two of the first three sets seemed to have exhausted Tiafoe, who was close to the decisive fifth set. Meanwhile, the crowd on Centre Court, which included Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, seemed to give Alcaraz a boost with Your boisterous support.
History was certainly on Alcaraz’s side once the match went to the fifth set. The Spaniard has a 12-1 career record in five-set matches and has won his last nine. That includes victory over Novak Djokovic in last year’s final. Alcaraz has won his last 10 matches at Wimbledon.