There was amusement all round when Nicolás Jarry took a wrong turn as he walked on to Centre Court for the first time to face Carlos Alcaraz. Both men smiled broadly as the show-court newcomer suddenly realised he was striding away from the umpire’s chair rather than towards it.
Yet Jarry, a 27-year-old Chilean ranked 28 in the world, did little else wrong on the afternoon, and while a smile is rarely far away from Alcaraz’s face, the world No 1 wore a concerned expression throughout much of a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 7-5 victory.
It was a genuine test for the Spaniard but, in a sport of giants, also a rite of passage. Even in an era when Wimbledon’s manicured lawns are not as zippy as they once were, nobody wins the men’s title without going through at least one towering big server, and that is a description the 6ft 5in Jarry meets perfectly.
Alcaraz, as he demonstrated with his title win at the Queen’s Club, is growing in stature as a grass-court player with each passing match. This, though, was the most significant test yet of that improvement. Alcaraz had already experienced the Chilean’s power once this year, struggling for two sets before surging for the line in the final of the Rio Open, and once again Jarry pushed the 20-year-old all the way.
“This match made me a lot of confidence,” said Alcaraz after advancing to the last 16 for a second year in a row.
“Every match that I win on Centre Court is better for me to get into this court, this atmosphere.
“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 the top 10 or he’s going to be really, really close if he’s still playing at that level.
“I feel really comfortable on that court. I feel with a lot of confidence right now.”
How comfortable Alcaraz felt when Jarry rattled through the opening three games of the second set, leaving a trail of huge forehands and mighty serves in his wake, is open to question. Alcaraz was a set to the good by then, having broken in the eighth game of the opener through a combination of Jarry’s mistakes, a brilliant forehand pass and some tenacious defensive play. But once the Chilean had his tail up, Alcaraz needed all his tenacity and resilience to regain an interest in the second set.
There was a mighty roar of “Vamos!” from Alcaraz when his opponent drove a forehand long to drop serve in the seventh game. Jarry held points for a 5-2 lead in that game, but he refused to let the setback unsettle him and, when Alcaraz missed a set point at 6-5 in the ensuing tiebreak, failing to pull off a difficult running pass, the Chilean made no mistake, hammering a service winner and another haymaker forehand to draw level.
Yet Alcaraz did not come to Wimbledon simply to lose early. He has grander ambitions – “My dream is to play a final here,” he admitted – and after capitalising on a dip in Jarry’s level to snatch the third set, he raised his own game when crisis loomed in the fourth.
Jarry, who served an 11-month suspension in 2020 following a failed drugs test but was cleared by the ITF of “significant fault or negligence”, has form for making the most of a second chance, and when he moved 4-1 ahead it looked likely Alcaraz would be forced to go the distance.
The Spaniard had other ideas, however, and having restored parity he found a brilliant backhand return to break for 6-5. Jarry fought to the end, even carving out a break point as Alcaraz served for the match, but the US Open champion nailed three big first serves in a row to advance.
Another stern test awaits. Alcaraz will now face Itay’s Matteo Berrettini, a finalist two years ago, after the Italian defeated Alexander Zverev, the 19th seed, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).
“If I return well, stay focused, play the level that I played from the baseline today, I’m going to have a lot of chances,” said Alcaraz.