Latest news with #JanLennardStruff
The Sun
19 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Carlos Alcaraz makes it through to Wimbledon second week then throws down huge challenge to Sir Andy Murray
CARLOS ALCARAZ challenged Andy Murray to a deciding golf game this Wimbledon fortnight – even though he is aiming to win £3million on a different type of grass. The Spaniard made it 17 wins in a row at the tournament as the two-time defending champion beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Centre Court in round three. 5 5 There were some tough moments, particularly the second set he lost, but he was grateful the 35-year-old German missed a volley in a key part of set four. Alcaraz, 22, is a crowd favourite and loves to take his mind off lawn tennis by playing rounds of golf on courses in Surrey. Pre-tournament, he had two nine-hole challenger matches with Murray, Britain's two-time champion, and at the moment the score is tied at 1-1. Another contest will be set up at some point next week provided their schedules align. Talking to Annabel Croft in a court-side interview, the reigning French Open champion said: 'He said to you to ask me this question, right? 'He beat me that day. He beat me in golf that day. But then a few days later, I beat him. "So, it's 1-1. We are tied. We are tied. 'Will we play again? Let's see. I love playing golf on my days off. I know he has a busy schedule. 'I will try to set up a golf round again, nine holes, and we will see who wins. We are tied at 1-1. We have to play again, absolutely.' Alcaraz will now face Russian Andrey Rublev in the last 16 on Sunday as he chases a hat-trick of titles in SW19 - with Cameron Norrie a possible quarter-final opponent. Moment Andy Murray holes stunning putt from off the green in challenge match with brother Jamie - but rivals have last laugh All roads continue to lead to a possible final against his great rival Jannik Sinner, whom he beat in thrilling fashion in a five-set, five-and-a-half-hour French Open final. Yet he said his encounter on Friday caused him plenty of 'stress' and it was not a straightforward passage. The world No2 said: 'I knew it would be really, really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot, my service games and returns. His game serves pretty well to the grass. 'Big serves. He approached the net as much as he can. Really pleased about everything I have done, fighting, running, making great shots. 'I tried to make the opportunities he brought to me in the match. I am proud to get the win in four sets. 'It was stressful as well. To be honest, I was suffering in every serve game that I did today. 5 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 'Love-30s, break points down, yeah it was stressful. Every time he could push me, he did it. It was survival. 'I'm really happy that at the end I got the break. He missed a volley in front of the net. I cannot believe I am standing here 6-4. 'I tried to run every ball, tried to fight for every ball. Tried to see if he was going to miss some easy shots. 'I was lucky in that shot and I made the most of it. I made the break. I still don't know how he missed that volley.' American No5 seed Taylor Fritz has spent close to TEN HOURS on court and played 14 sets across three matches as he knocked out Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-3 6-7 6-1 after FOUR delays for emergency health scares and medical time-outs. Former world No1 Naomi Osaka apologised for her loss ahead of her daughter's second birthday as she was beaten 3-6 6-4 6-4 by former quarter-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Japan star, 27, said: 'I'm just going to be a negative human being today. 'I'm so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on.' 5
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Wimbledon: Carlos Alcaraz quells Struff challenge to march on at Wimbledon
Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was given another tough litmus test by plucky German Jan-Lennard Struff but the second seed battled his way to a 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory and reached the fourth round on Friday. An off-colour Alcaraz had flirted with danger in his five-set opener against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini before mowing down Oliver Tarvet in the last round, begging the question of which avatar of the Spaniard would turn up. The 22-year-old, who was taken the distance by Struff before winning their meeting at the All England Club in 2022, began the match with a double fault and sprayed errors on Centre Court but rediscovered his rhythm to book a clash with Andrey Rublev. 'I knew that it was going to be really, really difficult,' Alcaraz said. 'I had to be really focused on every side, on my service games and the return. READ MORE 'His game suits the grass – big serves, getting to the net as much as he can. So I'm just really pleased about everything that I've done today, fighting, running, making great shots. 'I tried to make the most of the opportunities he gave me in the match and I'm proud about getting the win in four sets.' Alcaraz saved two break points in his second service game and then broke for a 3-1 lead, gaining the foothold he needed in the match before wrapping up the opening stanza on serve, hitting a huge ace on set point. But in a Jekyll and Hyde type switch, with shadows engulfing the main showcourt, the five-time Grand Slam winner surrendered the next set as Struff recovered an early break and went on to level the match comfortably. An untimely double fault from Struff in the second game of the third set gave Alcaraz the platform to re-establish his lead and the twice Wimbledon champion never looked back from there until he closed it out with another big serve. Elsewhere, more than nine hours on court across 14 gruelling sets has proved just the tonic for Taylor Fritz's creaky joints, with the world number five declaring himself fresher than ever after reaching Wimbledon's fourth round on Friday. The American was taken the distance in his opening two matches before defeating Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 on Centre Court, extending his stay at the All England Club. There were also wins for seeds Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, while Cameron Norrie is the only British player left in the men's draw after a 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Mattia Bellucci. In the women's, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka came up short in her quest to reach round four of Wimbledon for the first time before Australian Open champion Madison Keys became the latest seeded casualty. Former world number one Osaka – a two-time champion at both the US Open and Australian Open – surrendered a one-set lead to lose 3-6 6-4 6-4 to 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. American sixth seed Keys was then on the receiving end of a major shock in the next women's match on Court Two, losing 6-3 6-3 to 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund. Laura Siegemund of Germany celebrates winning match point against Madison Keys. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty The 30-year-old became the sixth top-10 player to be dumped out of the competition and did not speak to the media post-match due to illness. Seeded trio Amanda Anisimova, Linda Noskova and Elise Mertens did progress on day five, in addition to Argentinian lucky loser Solana Sierra. Unseeded Osaka – playing in the third round of the Championships for the first time in seven years – looked set to claim a small piece of personal history before failing to capitalise on two break points at 4-4 in set two. She missed the 2021, 2022 and 2023 editions of the tournament due to mental health issues, injury and pregnancy respectively. The 27-year-old Japanese player has struggled to make an impact at grand slams since the birth of her daughter Shai two years ago and was knocked out of the recent French Open in the first round by Paula Badosa. 'In Paris, I was very emotional,' she said. 'Now I don't feel anything, so I guess I'd prefer to feel nothing than everything. 'It's not like I can really even be mad at myself. I was thinking about the break points that I had. She hit some really good serves. Then she hit a backhand. I can't really do that much about it. 'Obviously I'm still going to beat myself up a little bit. 'I'm just going to be a negative human being today. I'm so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on.' Sierra – conqueror of Katie Boulter in round two – continued her impressive Wimbledon debut by beating Cristina Bucsa 7-5 1-6 6-1 and will face Siegemund, who is 16 years her senior, next. American 13th seed Anisimova defeated Hungary's Dalma Galfi 6-3 5-7 6-3. Czech 20-year-old Noskova, seeded 30th, awaits her after she beat Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6 (6) 7-5. Belgian 24th seed Mertens overcame two-time semi-finalist Elina Svitolina 6-1 7-6 (4).
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Struff stress but Carlitos maintains hat-trick charge
Carlos Alcaraz has survived a "stressful" afternoon, coping with a barrage of booming serves from veteran German powerhhouse Jan-Lennard Struff to take his unbeaten streak to 21 matches and keep his Wimbledon hat-trick ambitions on course. The Spanish champion knew all about the danger of the 35-year-old Struff, having been knocked out of the 2021 French Open by him when he was an emerging star and then also getting stretched by the towering German over five sets at the following year's Wimbledon. And the same old problems emerged again on Friday when, after Alcaraz had eased through the first set, Struff, who blasted down 13 aces in all, responded brilliantly to clinch the crucial break for 5-3 before levelling the match. A fourth consecutive 4R at #Wimbledon awaits Carlos Alcaraz 👏The defending champion defeats Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 🇪🇸 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2025 But Alcaraz, who'd also had a serious workout from another veteran, Fabio Fognini, over five sets in the opening round, once again found another gear to prevail 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes. "I knew it was going to be really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot," said the 22-year-old. "His game suits the grass, big serves, coming to the net, so I'm pleased with everything I did today. Proud to get the win in four sets. "To be honest I was suffering in every service game I did. Lots of break points down. It was stressful," added Alcaraz, who set up a last-16 date with 14th seed Andrey Rublev, who eased past veteran French leftie Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-2 6-3. Taylor Fritz, who had already negotiated two marathon five-setters over three days to reach the third round, needed another three hours and 12 minutes to get past Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Yet though his workload has been massive and he's had issues with his knee, he reckons he's actually feeling stronger as each match goes by as he gets ready to face Australian Jordan Thompson, four-set victor over Luciano Darderi, in the last-16. It as the end of the road for Brazil's rising teenage star Joao Fonseca, who couldn't keep his legion of noisy fans happy after losing to the resurgent Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry, who secured a fourth-round meeting with Britain's Cameron Norrie after a 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-4) victory on a raucous No.2 Court. The home fans, fed up after the exit of their big men's hope Jack Draper on Thursday, still have Cameron Norrie, their 2022 semi-finalist, to cheer after the last British man standing beat Italy's Mattia Bellucci 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3.
Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Hit-and-miss Alcaraz wins battle of beauty and the beast
Carlos Alcaraz started this match with a double fault. At which point, by an unfortunate piece of timing, a champagne cork popped high up in the Centre Court stands. As an omen it was prescient. He may have had the better of Jan-Lennard Struff, the veteran German number three. But the trouble is, for periods of this encounter, he failed to have the better of himself. 'It was stressful,' he said after his victory. 'It was hard.' This was as extreme a collision of styles as you can get at Wimbledon. Struff was all howitzer serve, pinged down from his 6ft 4in frame at upwards of 140mph. Beyond that sizeable weapon, though, his game is almost entirely one-dimensional. Alcaraz, on the other hand, sees the court in 3D, his sense of space and timing allowing him to deliver shots that bring any crowd to its feet. It should, then, have been straightforward: beauty against the beast of a serve. And so it began. Struff's best hope seemed to lie in blitzing his opponent with an ace. Because once a rally got going, once Alcaraz could find the spaces beyond the reach even of Struff's elongated wingspan, there appeared to be only one winner. And the Spaniard had the first set won within half an hour. The crowd loved everything he did, exuding delight when he caught a wayward return by Struff on his racket head and deftly flicked it on to the ball boy. And they went into whoops of delight when he produced a diving winner to conclude the set. Poor Struff, whose game has long been based on hammer and thwack, appeared to have no counter to a player who refused to be intimidated by serves rearing up at his chin with the speed of a Mercedes hurtling down the autobahn. When Alcaraz broke the German in the third game of the second set, everything seemed to be going swimmingly for those on Centre Court hoping to watch Emma Raducanu in daylight. Then Struff did something wholly unexpected: he broke Alcaraz's serve. Those who thought it an aberration, that Alcaraz would quickly restore his lead, were disabused by Struff breaking him again to go 5-3 up. And he duly took the second set when Alcaraz twice smacked his ferocious forehand returns into the net. This was suddenly the Spaniard's issue: he kept tripping himself up. 'I knew it was going to be difficult. His game suits the grass, big serve,' said Alcaraz afterwards. 'To be honest, I was suffering in every one of my serve games too, break points down. Every time he try to push me. And he did it. I was just trying to survive I guess.' The champion appeared to have a word with himself in the break between sets, warning against the self-inflicted pain of unforced errors. He began to ease away, taking the third set with some delicious finishes that had the crowd in delight. Though for all the cooing at his brilliance, nobody enjoyed his superb winners more than the man himself, pumping his fist at his bench when an audacious lob landed just in. For Struff, this represented perhaps a last chance to reach Wimbledon's fourth round for the first time. He may have been ranked 125, just the 123 places below his opponent, but he was not going to go without a struggle. And some rocket-fuelled serves. Not to forget some classy shots too: a volleyed winner in the fourth set was exquisite. But ultimately Alcaraz was fortunate that for every mistake he made, Struff matched him. Not least when, in the fourth set, with a chance to break serve with a simple volley, he plopped his shot into the net. It was a significant miss, one whose meaning appeared to be etched across the face of the towering German. 'I still don't know how he missed that volley,' said Alcaraz. 'I still can't believe I am here [as the winner]. I try to fight every ball, try to see if he was going to miss. I was lucky in that. I made the most of it. In the end I got the break and it was done. I'm just proud to get the win in four sets.' It was a victory that extended his winning streak this year to 21 matches. This is not a man who is keen on being beaten. From here on, however, he knows full well that if he is to extend that run, if he is to defend his title, he will be increasingly less able to rely on his opponent making more mistakes than him.
BreakingNews.ie
21 hours ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Carlos Alcaraz comes through ‘stressful' Jan-Lennard Struff test
Carlos Alcaraz nearly had the stuffing knocked out of him by big-serving German Jan-Lennard Struff. The defending champion looked to be cruising to a 21st consecutive match win when he breezed through the opening set. Advertisement But 6ft 4in Struff strutted his stuff in the second, firing down 139mph missiles before shocking second seed Alcaraz when he clinched the crucial break for 5-3 before levelling the match. Alcaraz won his 21st straight match (Adam Davy/PA) However Alcaraz, who needed five sets to overcome veteran Fabio Fognini in the first round, gathered himself to win 6-1 3-6 6-3 in two hours and 25 minutes. 'I knew it was going to be really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot,' said the 22-year-old Spaniard. 'His game suits the grass, big serves, coming to the net, so I'm pleased with everything I did today. Proud to get the win in four sets. Advertisement Jan-Lennard Struff took the second set (Adam Davy/PA) 'To be honest I was suffering in every service game I did. Lots of break points down. It was stressful.' Next up for the five-time grand slam champion is Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev. Taylor Fritz has been on court for so long this week he could soon be eligible for squatter's rights. The American fifth seed came through two marathon five-setters spread over three days to reach the third round, while a three-hour 12-minute win over Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four has also taken its toll. Advertisement 'I wouldn't be surprised if I'm a bit sore after this match, because even though it was four, it was much more physical than my other two matches,' he said. 'I did a lot more side-to-side running in the heat as well. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm a bit sore. But overall I'm feeling good.' Fritz will face Australian Jordan Thompson, who beat Luciano Darderi, also in four sets. Taylor Fritz is grinding his way through the draw (Adam Davy/PA) Thompson, who is hindered by back problems, is in the last 16 for the first time. Advertisement Fiery Italian Darderi was angered when Thompson's cap came off during a rally with the 31-year-old catching it and going on to win the point – had it hit the ground he would have lost it. Brazil's rising teenage star Joao Fonseca disappointed his legion of noisy fans after he lost the all-South American showdown with Nicolas Jarry. Chilean qualifier Jarry secured a fourth-round meeting with Britain's Cameron Norrie after a 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (4) victory on a raucous Court Two.
