Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz scrapes past Frances Tiafoe in Wimbledon 3R after Spaniard's bold 'coming for you' taunt almost backfires

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz scraped past Frances Tiafoe in the third round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, keeping his hopes of the Channel Slam alive. Alcaraz is the third seed at the tournament, and is among the favorites to win the title at SW19 this fortnight after his win at the French Open last month.

Alcaraz started the opening set on the front foot, securing an early break of serve to take a 4-2 lead. However, he lost concentration midway through, and an erratic performance in the second half of the set saw him lose 5-7 to the American.

The second set saw the World No. 3 return to form with an emphatic display, taking the set 6-2 with two breaks of serve. In the third set, things were even until 4-4. But another momentary lapse in concentration and a poor service game from the former World No. 1 saw him lose the set 4-6 in unexpected fashion.

Hanging on by his fingernails, Alcaraz managed to take the fourth set to a tiebreaker despite Tiafoe producing some of his best tennis on the night. In the tiebreaker, the defending champion appeared to be a different player altogether, winning it 7-2 to force a decider.

With all to play for in the fifth set, Carlos Alcaraz drew first blood, breaking the 26-year-old's service early to go 3-1 up. A second break of serve gave the Spaniard a 5-1 lead, after which he eventually took the set 6-2 to wrap up the match after nearly four hours of play on Center Court.

In the lead-up to the clash, Alcaraz and Tiafoe had exchanged some healthy banter, with the former telling the American that he was 'coming for him' after Tiafoe had expressed a similar sentiment towards him. The head-to-head between the duo is now 2-1 in favor of the Spaniard, who also won their meeting in the 2022 US Open semifinals in another blockbuster five-setter.

Carlos Alcaraz to take on either Brandon Nakashima or Ugo Humber in Wimbledon fourth round

Day Five: The Championships - Wimbledon 2024

Following his win over Frances Tiafoe, Carlos Alcaraz will take on either Brandon Nakashima or Ugo Humbert in the fourth round at Wimbledon. The duo are locked at two-sets-to-one in favor of the Frenchman, with the fourth going to a tiebreaker before their match was interrupted by rain.

In the quarterfinals, Alcaraz is likely to face off against 12th seed Tommy Paul, with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner remaining on course for now to meet the Spaniard in the semifinals.