Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time.
Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the world number one had to fight back from a set down to see off former finalist Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.
This was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.
“I knew it was going to be really tough, Matteo is a great player, he made the final here on grass,” said Alcaraz.
“He’s playing great. It’s not easy after losing the first set. I knew I was going to have my chances. Something I’ve been working on is to stay focused and not lose my mind a little bit. That part I did great.
“It’s something that I really wanted. Last year I lost in the fourth round. I came here this year with that goal, first get into the quarter-finals and now I’m looking for more.
“My dream is to play a final here, to win the title one day. I hope I reach that dream this year but right now it’s great to be in the quarter-finals.”
Now he will take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era.
Standing in the way of the young guns claiming the title, of course, is 36-year-old Novak Djokovic, who is now the only player left in the men’s draw to have previously reached a Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz remains the man most likely to deny him a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title and 24th grand slam crown and there were plenty of the Spaniard’s crowd-pleasing tricks on show, including a winner threaded between umpire’s chair and net post that he celebrated from virtually in the stand.
He was second best in the opening set, though, as Berrettini dictated with his forehand, breaking the Alcaraz serve to lead 5-3.
The Italian, who missed Wimbledon last year with an ill-timed bout of coronavirus, has struggled this season with a recurring abdominal injury, saying after beating Alexander Zverev on Saturday that he had spent days crying in bed and arrived in London doubting he would be able to play.
He was aiming to emulate countryman Jannik Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz at the same stage 12 months ago and is through to the last eight again.
There was a concerning moment during the first point of the second set when Berrettini slipped and fell heavily, with Alcaraz coming to check on him, but the 27-year-old soon picked himself up.
Berrettini had not dropped serve once during his first three matches but the tide began to turn when a sloppy game at 1-2 saw him broken to love.
Alcaraz pushed for another break early in the third set and got it with an athletic, arching smash on his sixth chance as Berrettini was just unable to shake off the tenacious Spaniard.
Berrettini certainly had his moments but Alcaraz has so many weapons to choose from and he was wearing down the popular Italian.
At 2-2 in the fourth set, proceedings were briefly halted for the roof to be closed with darkness falling.
And Alcaraz wasted little time booking his spot in the last eight on the resumption, becoming the youngest man to do so here since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.
Medvedev pushed all the way to avoid third-round scare in Italian Open
Daniil Medvedev had to dig deep to overcome Hamad Medjedovic at the Italian Open on Monday and stay in with a chance of retaining his title.
Medvedev came out on top with a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 7-5 victory, but was made to work hard to avoid a third-round upset.
After enduring an up-and-down opening two sets in which he hit 10 double faults, Medvedev rallied into a lead before holding off Medjedovic’s fight-back.
The second seed remained composed to break in the match’s final game to advance after two hours and 50 minutes.
Medvedev will now play Tommy Paul in the next round on Tuesday, with the American seeing off Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-3.
Data Debrief: Reigning champion fights on
Medvedev has reached the last 16 at all 5 Masters 1000 events this season, with only Alexander Zverev able to match that distinction.
It was not an easy ride for him though, as Medjedovic wanted to prove a point against his first Top 10 opponent in what was his first Masters 1000 third round.
Swiatek passes Kerber test to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Two-time Italian Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals of this year's tournament with an impressive 7-5 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber on Monday.
Three-time grand slam winner Kerber provided Swiatek with a real step up after routine victories over Bernarda Pera and Yulia Putintseva in the first two rounds on the clay in Rome.
Kerber responded to Swiatek's first break – which came in the eighth game – with one of her own, but the world number one then recaptured her composure to force a series of break points in Kerber's next two service games, finally converting at the eighth attempt to take the opener.
Kerber refused to go away, breaking straight back in the first game of the second set, but Swiatek upped her game to take the contest away from the 36-year-old.
Swiatek dropped just three further points on her own serve from there, adding three breaks of her own to set up a last-eight meeting with Madison Keys for Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Swiatek unmatched on clay
While Kerber rolled back the years to trouble Swiatek early on, she lacked the staying power to live with the world number one in longer rallies on a surface where she is truly unmatched.
Her win ratio at clay-court events at WTA 1000-level now stands at 88.2 per cent (30 wins, four defeats), the best of any player to have played a minimum of five matches since the format's 2009 introduction, ahead of Serena Williams at 88 per cent.
Osaka sees encouraging Italian Open run halted by Zheng in last 16
Naomi Osaka's promising Italian Open run was halted by Zheng Qinwen on Monday, as the seventh seed denied the four-time grand slam champion a quarter-final place.
Following Saturday's triumph over Daria Kasatkina – her second successive straight-sets win over a top-20 opponent in Rome – Osaka laughed off the "Clayomi" moniker given to her by some fans.
On Monday, her old troubles on the surface came back to the fore as Zheng dominated from the off to make the tournament's last eight for a second straight year, winning 6-2 6-4.
Osaka saw her serve broken in the very first game only to hit straight back, but Zheng assumed control by taking seven straight games to go from 2-1 down in the opener to 2-0 up in the second set.
The 21-year-old produced a clinical performance and converted all four of her break points, winning 78 per cent of first-serve points to Osaka's 68 per cent as she teed up a quarter-final clash with either Coco Gauff or Paula Badosa.
Data Debrief: 'Clayomi' no more as Zheng triumphs
Osaka impressed on a surface long regarded as her worst in Italy, but it was a bridge too far for her on Monday, Zheng reaching her fourth WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Since the format's introduction in 2009, she is just the second Asian player to reach multiple quarter-finals on both hardcourts and clay at that level before the age of 23, the other being Osaka.
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