LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Carlos Alcaraz found his best form after a shaky start to beat Andrey Rublev and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Sunday as hot favorite in the women's draw Aryna Sabalenka also progressed.
The Spaniard, hunting a third straight title at the All England Club, has taken his fans on an emotional rollercoaster but is into the Last Eight after a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win.
While Alcaraz's main rivals, seven-time winner Novak Djokovic and world number one Jannik Sinner, are in ominous form, the second seed has blown hot and cold so far.
He will next face Cameron Norrie, who is the last British player standing at Wimbledon after beating Chile's Nicolas Jarry in five grueling sets.
Alcaraz lost three sets across his first three matches and fell behind against Russian 14th seed Rublev under the Centre Court roof.
But he turned the match around in style, producing some of his best tennis in front of his adoring fans.
"I think I played intelligent and smart today against him, tactically," the 22-year-old said.
"It was a really good match, which I'm really proud of."
The five-time Grand Slam champion said he always believes in himself, even when facing adversity.
"One point can change the match completely, turn everything around.”
"In tennis, you have to stay there all the time. Being strong mentally, to stay there. I knew that I was going to play better."
Women's world No. 1 Sabalenka has yet to drop a set in four rounds at the All England Club as every other top six seed has fallen, but was given a tough workout by Belgian world No. 23 Mertens.
The Belarusian came through 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) against her former doubles partner to set up a clash against Germany's Laura Siegemund.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is making up for lost time after missing last year's Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury. She was excluded in 2022 as part of a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
"With your support, guys. I think everything is possible," said Sabalenka, who has never been beyond the semifinals.
"I don't know. It's such a beautiful tournament.”
"I always dreamed of winning it. Every time I'm here, I'm trying to give my best and really hope for the best."
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also progressed at the expense of Britain's Sonay Kartal, but had to mentally reset after a bizarre electronic line-calling failure.
At 4-4 in the first set, Pavlyuchenkova held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline, but no call came, and the umpire ordered the point to be replayed.
Kartal went on to break for a 5-4 lead.
Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "They stole the game from me, they stole it."
But she broke back and won the tie-break, which proved a launchpad for a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory.
The technology glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by other players.
The All England Club released a brief statement on the incident.
"Due to operator error the system was deactivated at the point in question," a spokesperson said.
"The chair umpire followed the established process."
Russia's Karen Khachanov was the first winner of the day, brushing aside Polish player Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Two.
The 17th seed will face US fifth seed Taylor Fritz, who was only on court for 41 minutes before Australia's Jordan Thompson retired injured, trailing 6-1, 3-0.
America's Fritz faced grueling five-set battles in his opening two matches, but it was a different story in his fourth-round encounter on Court One.