Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed Jannik Sinner are one match away from another high-stakes clash in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Both players reached the quarterfinals on Sunday, with Alcaraz holding off Ugo Humbert’s comeback attempt on Centre Court to win 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Sinner then saved four set points in the third set to beat Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9) on No. 1 Court.
Alcaraz beat Sinner in five sets in the French Open semifinals in June to win his first title at Roland Garros, and they will meet again in the last four if they win their next matches. Alcaraz will play the winner between No. 12 Tommy Paul and Roberto Bautista Agut, while Sinner — this year’s Australian Open champion — will face either No. 5 Daniil Medvedev or No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov.
Alcaraz and Sinner hit some brilliant shots when needed on Sunday.
Alcaraz’s match against Humbert nearly came to an end when the Spaniard won the second set by chasing several out-of-reach shots on set point, even falling after hitting a forehand and getting back up quickly on the next ball.
When asked to describe his game to this point, Alcaraz said simply: “Unbelievable, I think.”
Humbert nearly staged a stunning comeback and threatened to take the match into a fifth set when he saved three consecutive break points for a 5-3 lead in the fourth set. But Alcaraz came back to win that game with two aces, then hit a deep forehand winner to take a 6-5 lead.
He created match point with a delicate forehand drop shot and converted it with a service winner.
“I felt great playing today, I think I played at a really high level,” Alcaraz said.
Sinner had to come back from 4-1 down in the third set and at 5-5 he wrapped his racket behind his back and hit the ball between his legs over the net before hitting a forehand passing shot to seal the game.
“It was just luck,” Sinner said of his shot.
Sinner then saved a set point at 6-5 and three more in the tiebreaker, and had his second match point when a hard-serving Shelton double-faulted.
Shelton was trying to reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal but had lost three consecutive five-set victories, including a win over Denis Shapovalov that ended Saturday.
Sinner has reached the last eight for the third consecutive year, having lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals last year.
Earlier, French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal after Madison Keys had to retire with a foot injury at 5-5 in the third set of their fourth-round match. Donna Vekic also advanced, beating Paula Badosa 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in a stop-start match on No. 2 Court that was interrupted several times by rain. Vekic will also play in her first Wimbledon quarterfinal, her 10th appearance at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
Keys served for the match at 5-2 in the final set but then began limping more and needed a medical timeout to have work done on her left leg after Paolini made it 5-4. She had tape on her left thigh as she served for the match a second time, but her leg broke again — double-faulting on break point — and by the end of that game she was in tears, her movements visibly limited.
Keys tried to continue playing, but the American eventually went to the net and told the No. 1 Court chair umpire that she was retiring after Paolini hit an ace at 15-15 in the final game.
The Italian won the first set 6-3, while Keys won the second 7-6 (6).
The Keys were two points away from victory when the score was 5-2 in the third quarter.
“I feel very sorry for him. It’s bad for the match to end like that,” Paolini said in an on-court interview. “What can I say? We played a really good match. It was really tough. There were a lot of ups and downs. I’m a bit happy, but I’m also sad for him. It’s not easy to win like that.”
Paolini is the fifth Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the professional era, and will try to become the first to reach the semifinals. She will face the winner between No. 2 Coco Gauff and 19th-seeded Emma Navarro, who play later on Centre Court.
Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, was seeking to reach the last eight at the All England Club for the second consecutive year and third time overall.
