Carlos Alcaraz needed more time on court "to fine-tune my shots, my physique and everything" and his first daytime performance, against Daniel Evans, he put it on a plate to calibrate his weapons (6-2, 6-3, 4 -6 and 6-3).
Carlitos started strong, trying to put Evans in his place early on, who failed to hold serve until the fifth game. But little by little Evans began to gain a foothold and even broke two set points with his serve in the seventh. At the time of closing the first set, the man from El Palmar made things a bit complicated by not being able to convert two set points in the seventh game, and needing three more the next to close the set with his service.
The complications continued in the second set, in which Evans took advantage of the first opportunity he had to break Alcaraz's serve, which he recovered in the following game. The number one gave his rival more chances and even showed signs of frustration, but he managed to get back in distance by breaking in the fifth and, again in the ninth, to take the sleeve at third set point, with one of his left house signature.
The one from Birmingham realized what worked against Carlitos: go for it and take risks. With his speed and great way of moving, Alcaraz made Evans go from one side to the other, but he ran and arrived, which exasperated the Murcian. In the seventh game, the Englishman was 15-40 on the serve of his rival. Carlitos overcame the first break point, but on the second he kept an eye out and let a shot pass that, unfortunately for him, ended up touching the line. The Briton continued to endure the onslaughts of an Alcaraz who wanted to avoid a fourth round, but managed to take the set and extend the game.
And they kept holding on until Carlitos forced a break point to make it 4-2. Evans made a book play: he served the opponent's backhand, to displace it and then adjusted the next shot to the opposite corner. But nothing is impossible for the speed of the young Wimbledon champion, who arrived "in extremis" and hit a pass that brushed the bottom line. That break was enough to close his victory.
His fourth round opponent will be Matteo Arnaldi, number 61 in the ranking, with whom he has never competed.
From the opposite side of the draw, world number two Novak Djokovic was struggling to earn his place in the fourth round. In a marathon night match, Novak watched his compatriot Laslo Djere win the first two sets and was forced to fight in five sets for nearly four hours, drawing on the energy of the crowd to win. "I think this sends the message to the rest of the field that obviously I'm still capable of playing five sets at night," warned the Serb. "Coming from two sets down always sends a strong message to future rivals."
