Reuters; Getty Images
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz needed every bit of five sets to overcome Frances Tiafoe in the third round of Wimbledon.
Behind two sets to one, Alcaraz held his nerve in a fourth-set tiebreaker to force the match to a decider, where he finally was able to put some daylight between himself and the American.
In the big picture, it’s not a bad thing for one of the tournament favorites to face some adversity, but you have to wonder if Alcaraz’s next opponent, Ugo Humbert, will have some extra jump after watching the Spaniard look human against an out-of-form Tiafoe.
Humbert’s third-round encounter with Brandon Nakashima wasn’t exactly straightforward, but the Frenchman was able to navigate some nervy moments to get to the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in five years.
Humbert, the current World No. 16, didn’t have his serve broken against Nakashima and only faced two break points in the third-round match.
Over his past two contests — a total of seven sets — Humbert has had his serve broken just one time and has faced just five break points.
With Humbert’s serve proving to be a serious weapon on the grass, he should be able to come out and put some pressure on Alcaraz as the Spaniard gets accustomed to the left-hander.
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That should level the playing field in the first set and put some value on the Frenchman to get out to an early lead in Sunday’s contest.
The play: Humbert to win the first set (+260).