Carlos Alcaraz is brimming with confidence after escaping a stern challenge from Nicolas Jarry on Saturday at Wimbledon. On Centre Court, the Spaniard battled back from a break down in the fourth set to notch a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 victory and return to the fourth round for the second straight year on the London lawns.

“This match gave me a lot of confidence today,” the 20-year-old said in his post-match press conference. “I feel really comfortable on that court. I feel [I have] a lot of confidence right now.”

Alcaraz assessed the level of his opponent as worthy of a place in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Spaniard himself entered Wimbledon as World No. 1. Should he go on to meet Novak Djokovic in the final, the top spot in the men’s game would be on the line.

Asked how he is handling the prospect of that potential final, Alcaraz admitted he hopes the marquee matchup comes to fruition.

“Not only tennis fans [and] sports fans want the final. Myself as well, honestly,” he said, before noting the long path he faces to reach that stage. “I have three rounds ahead. I’m really focussed on the next round. It’s [Matteo] Berrettini or [Alexander] Zverev. Both players have great tennis on grass.”

Later on Saturday evening, Berrettini wrapped up a 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win against the 19th-seeded German.

“It’s going to be a really tough one,” Alcaraz said, before his opponent was confirmed. “But obviously my dream is to play a final here. Even better if it’s Novak.”

PASSED A TOUGH TEST 📝@carlosalcaraz fights past Jarry in an entertaining 4️⃣ set match 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5!Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Wimbledon | #wimbledon pic.twitter.com/KgG1h6PwMY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 8, 2023

Last year in his first Wimbledon, Alcaraz reached the fourth round but was beaten by Jannik Sinner in what was his Centre Court debut. Now with two straight wins inside the storied stadium, Alcaraz is beginning to add his own chapters to the court’s legend.

“I watched a lot of videos, a lot of matches from legends playing on that beautiful court. Knowing that I’m going to be in the history, in the books, playing on that court for me is something I will never forget,” he said. 

“Honestly, on the side at 40-all when I returned the forehand, I remembered the first match that Roger Federer won on that court against [Pete] Sampras, winning with a return passing shot from the forehand. I remember every time. I said to myself, ‘I want to play that return every point.’

“It’s something that for me is crazy to remember, to live that experience as well.”

He’ll likely have another opportunity on Centre Court on Monday against Berrettini. With a win, he would be through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.

It’s go time for Matteo Berrettini!

Having played just one match in the past three months coming into Wimbledon due to a stomach injury, the Italian needed only to return to the hallowed lawns of The All England Club to rediscover his best form.

Playing Alexander Zverev on No. 1 Court in a match that began with the roof open and concluded with it closed after a brief second-set downpour, Berrettini used his weight of shot on serve and from the baseline to overwhelm Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in two hours and 27 minutes.

“It must be something special about this place. I love to play here,” Berrettini said. “Last year I missed it unfortunately and I still didn’t heal from that withdrawal. This tournament changed my career, my life, it’s so special to be here.”

Zverev had eight service holds to love (including four straight to start the second set) but couldn’t put a dent in the Berrettini serve, earning just one break point chance for the match.

It was a devastating performance that will not have escaped the attention of top seed Carlos Alcaraz, whom Berrettini plays next.

Berrettini’s pulsating run, including strong wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Alex de Minaur spanning four days of play in the opening two rounds, is in stark contrast to his tepid first-round exit to Sonego in Stuttgart in what was hist first tournament since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in mid April.

“I spent many days in my bed crying about not being able to play, so playing five days in a row is nothing,” Berrettini said. “I missed playing, I missed competing. I’m finding extra energy every day.”

A finalist in his last outing at Wimbledon in 2021, Berrettini missed last year’s tournament after testing positive for Covid-19. This year, he came into the tournament with a modest 7-7 record after an injury-interrupted season. In his only appearance on grass before Wimbledon, the 27-year-old eked out just three games against Sonego in the first round of Stuttgart.

Despite his struggles, Berrettini has stepped it up at the majors. He has now reached the second week in eight of the past nine Grand Slams he has contested, a run that includes three quarter-finals, the 2022 Australian Open semi-final and the ’21 Wimbledon final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

Looking ahead to his clash with Alcaraz, whom he beat in a fifth-set tie-break at the 2022 Australian Open, Berrettini said, “The first time I played him two years ago I felt that this kid was special. He has won so much already. We’ve always had great matches so I’m really looking forward to that one.”

Did You Know?
On Saturday evening, both Berrettini and Zverev were near untouchable on serve. Zverev put 81 per cent of first serves into play and won 82 per cent of those points. Berrettini put only 68 per cent of first serves into play but won 86 per cent of those points.

Both men had impressive winners-to-unforced errors ratios: Berrettini 35-22; Zverev 34-23 in a reflection of the quality of the match. They made a combined 60 approaches to net.

It is not uncommon for Daniil Medvedev to bust out a meme-making dance following a win.  For the World No. 3, one particular dance stands out as his personal favourite, he revealed in the latest ATP Uncovered ‘Fan Questions’ series.

“That was probably my best dance move I have ever done in my life!” Medvedev said when referring to his dance at the 2019 US Open.

That was not the end of the 27-year-old taking questions about dancing. Medvedev answered what celebration he will do if he wins a second major title.

“You are going to see, it is going to be interesting!” Medvedev said, while cracking a smile.

Watch the full video below to learn Medvedev’s favourite Formula One driver, what photo he has as his lock screen, the coolest trophy he has won, and more.

Christopher Eubanks continued his red-hot grass-season Saturday by reaching the fourth round of a major for the first time at Wimbledon. A surprise development to some, perhaps, given that the American is a debutant at the grass-court major, but not to World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.

“I say with my coach that he has kind of — I don’t know if it’s the same in English like it is in French — total tennis,” said Medvedev of Eubanks in his post-match press conference on Saturday after his third-round win against Marton Fucsovics. “He is not scared of anything. He just goes for it. [He] hits very, very fast and goes to the net as soon as he has the opportunity, has a big serve.

“From what I saw, because I’ve known him for a long time, he managed to find something this year which I don’t think he had before. The consistency of doing back-to-back matches, not missing too much, going for the same shots, just being consistent.”

Medvedev prevailed in straight sets against Eubanks in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in March in Miami. Since then, the American has risen to a career-high No. 43 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and lifted his first ATP Tour title at the Mallorca Championships. The 27-year-old Eubanks will take on fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas next at the All England Club.

“A first title gives you wings, if we can say it like this,” said 20-time tour-level titlist Medvedev. “We can see it here [at Wimbledon]. So right now, it seems like he’s going to be a player to beat for many more years to come. But we never know. For the moment he is playing great, so not much more to add.”

With his 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Fucsovics, Medvedev advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second time. The only major where he is yet to make a quarter-final appearance, the 27-year-old is feeling positive as he prepares to take on Czech star Jiri Lehecka in the last 16.

“I’m very motivated, very determined,” said Medvedev. “I said it before the tournament, that I want to do well here. The thing is that everyone can play well. We saw today, Marton played well. I managed to turn the match around. Great. I play Jiri next. He’s a really strong opponent. I think on grass he can be really dangerous. I’m going to try my best to at least equal [my best Roland Garros] performance.

“For sure, right now, by the results, it’s sure that on clay and the grass I play less good than on hard courts. But I want to try to change it and try to be in the finals of Slams playing the best players, even on these surfaces. That’s another chance for me this year.

“I hope I can continue playing the way I played today. I felt like I played well. Hopefully I can continue this way through the tournament. I’m going to have my chances.”

Reaching SUPER speed 🏃‍♂️ @DaniilMedwed | Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Wimbledon | #wimbledonpic.twitter.com/XeLBrUfU6B

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 8, 2023

Medvedev has won five ATP Tour titles (a joint Tour-leading tally with Carlos Alcaraz) in a standout 2023 season. Having produced such consistent form so far this year, the third-seeded Medvedev is keen to extend his success to the major as he chases a second Grand Slam crown to add to his 2021 US Open triumph.

“It’s a great feeling to win titles. The bigger the title, the better,” said Medvedev. “[Reaching the final at an event] I would say is great for experience, but it is not the same. It’s always better to be in the final than lose in the first round, but still a title is better.

“I’m really happy for my season, but I have two Grand Slams to come. One is going over right now. I hope that I can do well during them.”

Daniil Medvedev stared down a fierce early challenge from Hungarian powerhouse Marton Fucsovics Saturday to advance to the Wimbledon fourth round and remove one of the few blemishes on his otherwise outstanding 2023 season.

The third seed, who has won five titles and leads the tour with 44 match wins, advanced to the second week of a major for the first time this year with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory in three hours and four minutes.

Under a closed roof on No. 1 Court, both players delighted enthusiastic fans with a range of power hitting, inventive shot making, drop shots, athletic court coverage and regular forays to the net in one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament to date.

“He’s a very tough player to play against and after the first set I was more decisive in some points and saved a couple of break points on my serve. I’m really happy to be through,” Medvedev said.

“I really want to do well here. I wasn’t playing here last year and it’s my worst Grand Slam in terms of results. I have a big motivation to change that. The further you go, the tougher the opponents. I hope that I can show my best tennis and enjoy.”

Fucsovics took the fight to Medvedev early, erasing two break points in his opening service game before aggressive returning underpinned his break of Medvedev to go ahead 2-1, a lead he did not relinquish en route to claiming the first set.

Fucsovics exploited Medvedev’s deep-court return and rally positions with consistent net approaches and well-timed serve/volley plays. He was aggressive on return but his deeper rally position made it difficult for the former World No. 1 to hit winners and drew Medvedev into a high number of unforced errors (10 in the first set alone).

But the physical 31-year-old World No. 67, whose motto is ‘every day, gym day,’ paid the price for a surprise drop in intensity after the first set. Although Medvedev was still making uncharacteristic unforced errors, the World No. 3 began to take command of the baseline exchanges and had more success defending his second serve. (In the first set he won just three of 10 second-serve points.)

After 21 unforced errors in the first two sets, Medvedev went into lockdown mode in the third, playing some of his best tennis of the match with 10 winners to just six unforced errors, missing just six first serves in the set.

Medvedev next plays the winner of 16th seed Tommy Paul and 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka.

Play has been suspended at Wimbledon on Saturday due to rain. Matches started at 11:00 a.m. on the outside courts, before the action was halted at 12:36 p.m. due to showers in south west London.

Czech Jiri Lehecka led American Tommy Paul 6-2, 7-6(2), 1-1 in their third-round clash on Court 12 before play was suspended, with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Frances Tiafoe among the players scheduled to be in action on the outside courts later on Saturday.

Play will start on time on Centre Court and Court 1 due to the retractable roofs. Carlos Alcaraz will meet Nicolas Jarry at 1:30 p.m. on Centre Court, while Daniil Medvedev faces Marton Fucsovics on Court 1 at 1:00 p.m.

Former World No. 38 Donald Young remembers first meeting Christopher Eubanks, who from the age of 12 would compete in matchplay sessions hosted by Young’s father at the South Fulton Tennis Centre in Atlanta. Anybody was allowed to play, and Eubanks’ father would always bring him to participate.

“Then his mom wanted him to get some higher-level playing and coaching and whatnot. So he started coming more often, and then my dad gave him a job at the summer camp to kind of coach the kids and help them out,” Young told ATPTour.com. “After he was finished, me and my best friend would hit with him and we would practise with him. And then as he got to be like 15, 16, I was like, ‘Hey man, you want to maybe take it to the next level?’”

Under the tutelage of his parents, Young had become the No. 1 junior in the world and later a Top 50 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, competing on the biggest stages (he is still active). But the American lefty never had a mentor from a young age who was able to provide him advice as he climbed towards the top of the sport.

Young wanted to be that mentor for someone, and Eubanks proved the perfect fit. He quickly began practising with Eubanks, as did his friends, including former touring pro Andrew Carter and former Illinois State University player Skip Span.

“We have videotape of [Chris] at 13, 14, [us] just giving him the business in games to 11 and 12 and talking smack,” Young said, cracking a laugh. “It was a lot of fun.”

Donald Young and Christopher Eubanks” />
^{Photo: Donald Young}
What made Young especially optimistic was that Eubanks’ father had built “quality technique” in his game. Young believed that consistently hitting with a top-level professional would help Eubanks improve a lot faster so that when he would play other juniors and get to college, opponents’ shots would feel slower.

When Young asked Eubanks if he would join him on Tour, the latter quickly said ‘Sure’, and the rest was history. Eubanks travelled with Young beginning in 2012 and continued accompanying him to tournaments for years, with the last of those events coming in Canada in 2017. As valuable a learning experience it was for Eubanks, there are plenty of funny memories for them to look back on, too.

“We were in Morocco and he had never really traveled outside of the country like that. And I’m telling him what to and not to eat. And I’m like, ‘Don’t eat that, that’s not what you eat over here, stick to the chicken, stick to maybe lasagna,’” Young recalled. “He’s like, ‘No, no, I want this, I want that.’ [He] ends up sick, throwing up, can barely get on the flight…

“One [time] he overslept and missed practice in Paris and we gave him a hard time for that. And we played this game where if you were the last person to have your credential on once you leave the site, you have to walk all the stairs up to your room and a couple of times he lost that. So it’s just little things like that.”

Eubanks has become known as one of the most well-liked players on Tour for his bubbly personality, which has also earned him opportunities to broadcast for Tennis Channel during his time off. That has long been Eubanks’ personality, according to Young.

“He’s always [been] one of those guys, super helpful. ‘Donald, what do you need, anything? I’ll go get it. I’ll go get the ball. I’ll get the racquet. What do you need? I got it. What do you need?’” Young said. “He’s just always been that guy. We call him the mayor, the governor, networking and talking to people and he’s way more outgoing than I ever would be. So, to his credit, he does very well with that.”

Young explained that he saw Eubanks’ potential on the court much more than his mentee did.

“He had no belief. He was about to accept a 30 per cent ride to [the University of] Alabama,” Young said. “I was like, ‘Man, you’re better than that. I think you could do better.’”

Young told Georgia Tech head coach Kenny Thorne about Eubanks, who had played No. 3 on his high school team.

“It was very beneficial for Chris to have trained with Donald early on. Early on Chris got used to playing against pro pace and against lefties. He actually didn’t play as many junior tournaments as many of the juniors usually do because he trained with Donald,” Thorne said. “My assistant Derek Schwandt and I [were able to] watch him at tournaments. I just remember him hitting huge forehands and missing a lot.

“The good points he won, he would win at a very high level. That was very interesting for me. I don’t think he knew how good he was.”

Christopher Eubanks and Donald Young” />
^{Eubanks and Young at the 2015 Atlanta Open. Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.}
In 2015, Eubanks earned his first Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings points by reaching the semi-finals of the Atlanta Open alongside Young. He enjoyed a standout career at Georgia Tech, where he twice earned All-American status before turning professional in 2017 after his third year at the school.

But it was not until earlier this year that the 6’7″ righty broke into the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. In Miami, the American enjoyed a dream run to the quarter-finals, during which he was supported by celebrities including actor Jamie Foxx and former NFL star Chad Johnson. What was most telling was the emotion he showed when he earned the win that guaranteed him a place in the Top 100.

“I think he appreciates it more because in the back of his mind, I don’t think he ever thought it would happen,” Young said. “So it’s kind of like, ‘Wow, this is really happening.’ But he can really appreciate it. It’s not like something he expected… Everything means so much more, which is awesome to see, because he’s living in real time. He’s enjoying the moment.”

Eubanks has proven over the past few weeks that he is still on the rise. With his booming serve and forehand, he is becoming one of the most dangerous players on Tour, especially on grass. The 27-year-old won his first tour-level title last week in Mallorca and on Friday, he upset British No. 1 Cameron Norrie to reach the third round on his Wimbledon main draw debut and climb to a career-high No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

“His level at the moment and his confidence is unbelievable,” Norrie said. “He completely took the racquet out of my hand today. I did what I could, but it wasn’t enough.”

Eubanks blew the lefty off the court. Playing aggressively and sticking to his game plan has been a focus of the American’s. Young has spoken to the 6’7” righty about being that aggressive since before he attended Georgia Tech.

“He watched me play a lot. So when he was younger, he was like ‘Oh man, I want to roll the ball like you,’” Young recalled. “I was like, ‘Absolutely not. You should hit the ball as hard as you can all the time and just give the guy no rhythm.’ And that’s kind of when he really started taking off.”

Eubanks has made clear his appreciation for everyone who has helped him to this point. When he triumphed in Mallorca, he immediately thanked several people who have helped him along the way, including Young.

“I travelled all over the world with him. And for me, that was huge, because it allowed me to practise with a player who was Top 50 at the time, which not many 15 and 16 year olds could do every single day, and that was that was something that I was able to do,” Eubanks told ATPTour.com. “I think it also allowed me to see that me playing professional tennis was a real possibility because I felt like as a kid, if you don’t know any professional tennis players, you don’t have access to any professional tennis players, it’s kind of hard to believe that you can be a professional tennis player and he gave me that access.”

That was one of the main benefits Young saw as well. Eubanks spent time around and practised with Young, but also was able to get to know other players including Michael Russell, the current coach of Taylor Fritz, and Nicholas Monroe. Eubanks received the perfect education for what life would be like on the ATP Tour.

A decade later, the 27-year-old is shining on it.

“It was just nice to take someone from 13, 14, not believing they could do it to showing them they can actually play,” Young said. “That was very cool.”