Carlos Alcaraz holds off Nicolas Jarry in dramatic Centre Court battle

WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Nicolas Jarry in the 2023 Wimbledon third round

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz comfortably scored his first Centre Court win on Friday. A day later he would need four hours, 14 break points and nearly everything he had in the tank to hold off a resurgent Nicolas Jarry and claim another win on Wimbledon’s most prestigious court.

The Spaniard, who is bidding to win his second Grand Slam title, was pushed to the limit by Chile’s Jarry over the course of four close sets. Jarry, the No. 25 seed, took a set from Alcaraz—the first he’s lost in these Championships—and led by 4-1 in the fourth set. With the match poised to go the distance, a crucial break of the Chilean’s serve at 6-5 denied the upset after three hours and 56 minutes and sealed the victory for Alcaraz, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5, sending him into the fourth round.

“It was really, really tough,” a relieved Alcaraz said afterward. “Nico is a really great player. He’s playing really well. We’ve played before and that was a tough match. He deserves to be at the top of the game…

“The key was to stay focused all the time. I knew I would have my chances… I would say the key is to believe all the time and stay focused all the time.”

Arriving at SW19 after his victory at Queen’s Club, a 500-level Wimbledon tune-up event in London, Alcaraz has settled into his status as tournament favorite. Having dominated in his opening matches against Jeremy Chardy and Alexandre Muller, Alcaraz faced down his biggest challenge of the fortnight against Jarry.

With his 6’ 6” frame and booming serve, Jarry’s game is tailor made for grass—despite the fact that all three of his career ATP titles have come on the dirt, including both this year in Santiago and Geneva. But he’s a perennial threat with two Top 20 wins on the surface, both over Stefanos Tsitsipas, in 2019 s’Hertogenbosch and last month in Halle.

The Chilean’s arrival to the world stage has been somewhat delayed—he was suspended for 11 months after failing a drug test in January 2020, although the ITF later ruled he bore “no significant fault or negligence” for the violation—but the fast-rising Jarry has made the most of his second act to reach a career-high ranking of No. 28.

Playing on Centre Court for the first time, Jarry needed a while to adjust to the atmosphere, with the likes of Billie Jean King and Stefan Edberg watching from the Royal Box. He was a bit turned around after walking on court, walking in the wrong direction before finding his chair. By the time he had found his bearings, Alcaraz had taken the opening set.

But finally Jarry got his big serve going, and the next three hours became a massive test for the world No. 1. Jarry fired 15 aces total during the match, with most of them coming in the fiercely contested second set. His serve kept Alcaraz on the back foot, even as the Spaniard leveled the second set 4-4, and proved decisive in the tiebreak, where he needed to save a set point.

He couldn’t maintain such a high level in the third set, and Alcaraz was soon back in the driver’s seat. Alcaraz won 86 percent of his first-serve points, and didn’t allow Jarry any look at break points, to regain control of the match.

But when Jarry reeled off the first three games of the fourth set and took a 4-1 lead, it seemed like Centre Court was in for another dramatic turnaround. But Alcaraz showed his grit to bring them back on serve at 4-4, before a late break of the Jarry serve at 6-5 finally sealed the victory after nearly four hours, sending him into the fourth round.