With each passing match, Carlos Alcaraz gets more at ease on the grass.
Should the day come when he eventually masters it, one suspects he will emulate Rafael Nadal, who quickly went from being flummoxed by the grass to being a two-time Wimbledon champion.
In the previous round against Alexnandre Muller, it was as though the young Spaniard was learning with each set, scrambling his way to unpicking a surface which had previously mystified him.
Against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry on Saturday, he found himself in an almighty scrap, which he eventually came through 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 to make the second week of Wimbledon for a second successive year.
Alcaraz has already become box office here, Centre Court packed to the rafters for the 20-year-old and with good reason.
He plays with a love of the game that is instantly infectious. Arriving on court, he broke into laughter when Jarry, not as accustomed to grand slam show courts, walked in the wrong direction to the players’ seat as he arrived on court.
And there were similar smiles in adversity when a call went against him in a pivotal game when already 2-0 down in the fourth set.
The world No1 deservedly took the first set but dropped 3-1 behind in the second as the 6ft 6in Jarry refused to be intimidated.
Much like Nadal, Alcaraz has that same reluctance to give up whatever the predicament and eventually broke back to take it to a tiebreak.
The form book suggested the former US Open champion would extend his advantage and he had a set point to do so after a forehand winner from deep at the back of the court.
But he could not convert a subsequent forehand on the run as Jarry hit four serves in excess of 128mph to keep in contention to level the match.
Alcaraz quickly regained his ascendancy with a break and a three-game gap in the third set between him and his opponent, who try as he might, could not close it.
From there, it seemed as though Alcaraz would comfortably round off the match but Jarry broke immediately in the fourth set for a 2-0 lead.
Despite the disadvantage, he kept on nipping at the heels of his rival and eventually got two break back points at 2-4 down. One was saved, the second Jarry should have put away as he approached the net but instead sent the ball long.
When a second break came to put Alcaraz 6-5 clear, he paused in the middle of the court to lap up the applause before performing something of a swagger back to his seat at the change of ends.
Jarry threatened for a moment to force a tiebreak but Alcaraz held firm.
