Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was made to work hard by Jan-Lennard Struff to make it to the fourth round of the men's singles event at Wimbledon 2025 on Friday, July 4. Cameron Norrie and Elise Mertens also secured their passage into the next round with wins over Mattia Belucci and Elina Svitolina.
Alcaraz extended his career-best winning streak to 21 matches as he defeated Struff 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, digging deep to absorb the pressure from the German. With this, the Spaniard made it 17 wins on the trot at Wimbledon as he aims to become the fifth man in the Open Era to complete a hat-trick of titles at the grass-court major. Alcaraz was facing Struff for the fifth time in his career, and the No.2 seed was aggressive from the get-go.
Alcaraz made life difficult for the German, making him run from one corner to the other and breaking him twice in the first set. However, there was a small break in rhythm for the defending champion in the second set as he won only 53 per cent of his first-serve points and struggled to challenge Struff’s serve.
This turned out to be a momentary lapse as he found his rhythm again in the third set before dispatching the German in the fourth with a number of stunning drop volleys to end the match in two hours and 25 minutes.
Alcaraz will face Andrey Rublev in the fourth round.
Cam Norrie secured his place in the fourth round with a straight-sets win over Mattia Belucci. Norrie’s 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 victory meant he was the only British player remaining in the men’s draw after Jack Draper’s exit on Thursday.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for Norrie, as Belucci had the upper hand early in the first set, breaking the British star in the opening game and holding serve in the second. However, Norrie bounced back and clinched the first set in an intense tie-break.
After that, the British star made light work of the Italian and will face Nicolas Jarry in the next round.
Elise Mertens progressed to the fourth round as she defeated two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina in straight sets with a scoreline of 6-1, 7-6.
