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.