Another rainy Wimbledon day ends with Alcaraz victory

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

CARLOS ALCARAZ played for the second straight day at Wimbledon and won again.

So did Christopher Eubanks, Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova.

Stefanos Tsitsipas also won a match for the second day in a row, but on his fifth consecutive day on court.

The rain early in the week at the All England Club has caused some chaos with the schedule, forcing many players to get on court day after day. Even more rain came on Saturday, delaying the proceedings briefly.

The backlog hasn’t seemed to slow down Alcaraz, a 20-year-old Spaniard who is seeded number one and is considered to be the next big star in men’s tennis. Playing under the roof on Centre Court, Alcaraz advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second straight year by beating number 25, Nicolas Jarry, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5.

“Stay focused all the time,” Alcaraz said on court. “I knew I was going to have my chances.”

Alcaraz, last year’s US Open champion, reached the semifinals at the French Open – losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic – but came into the Wimbledon tournament after winning a grass-court title at Queen’s Club. He will next face either 19th-seeded Alexander Zverev or Matteo Berrettini, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2021.

FIRST TIMER

Eubanks, out in the open on Court 18, is a 27-year-old American playing at Wimbledon for the first time. He beat Christopher O’Connell 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to stay undefeated at the All England Club at 3-0.

Tsitsipas has already eliminated two Grand Slam champions – Dominic Thiem and Andy Murray. On his fifth day in a row on court, he advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for only the second time by eliminating Laslo Djere 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Eubanks and Tsitsipas will next play each other for the spot in the quarterfinals.

Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, another player back out on court after a win on Friday, beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Number One Court to reach the fourth round for the second time.

The women’s tournament has also been disrupted by the weather. The second-seeded Sabalenka, who missed last year’s Wimbledon when players from Belarus and Russia were banned because of the war in Ukraine, defeated Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-3. Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, beat Natalija Stevanovic 6-3, 7-5 in a match that was suspended late in the second set by more than two hours because of the early showers.

“It was a tough one, for sure, especially with the rain delay,” said Kvitova, who won her Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014. “It’s nothing easy to deal with.”

Later Saturday, sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur, who reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year, was playing Bianca Andreescu. Defending champion Elena Rybakina will face Katie Boulter in the late match.

Saturday at Wimbledon is the traditional day when sports greats are honoured with seats in the Royal Box. They included former tennis stars Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals and Stefan Edberg, as well as Olympic great Steve Redgrave and former England football player, Gary Lineker.