LONDON (Reuters) -Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was pushed all the way by fellow-Spaniard Jaume Munar in a thrilling contest before clinching a 6-4 6-7(7) 7-5 win and advanced to the Queen's Club Championships quarter-finals on Thursday.
Alcaraz recently came out on top in an epic French Open final against Jannik Sinner, and while this second round clash in London may not have reached those same dizzying heights, the British crowd were served up an enthralling battle.
The world number two was a break down in the deciding set but showed his strength once more as Alcaraz stretched his winning run to 15 matches, the longest streak of his career.
"It was a really tough battle that we had today," Alcaraz said after more than three hours on court.
"He's a great competitor and he showed how difficult it is to beat him."
Alcaraz, the 2023 champion, looked well in control as he eased to take the opening set, and after saving four break and set points at 5-4 down in the second he forced Munar to a tiebreaker.
The pair traded early breaks with neither player holding serve over the first four points, before a Munar double fault allowed Alcaraz to take a 5-4 lead. He smashed an ace but then hit a double fault of his own on match point.
Munar made him pay this time to force a deciding set.
After Alcaraz went 2-0 up, the French Open champion was broken in his next two service games and Munar went into a 4-2 lead.
Alcaraz, however, was not done yet, and two more breaks of serve sealed a hard-earned victory as he continued his preparations for Wimbledon, where the Spaniard will be aiming to complete a hat-trick of triumphs.
"I'm proud of the level I showed today. It's my second match on grass this year," Alcaraz said.
"There were moments I struggled a lot mentally and physically. I still don't know how I'm standing here. But I'm really happy I've given myself another chance in the quarter-finals."
Alcaraz will face French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech after his 7-5 7-6(3) win over American Reilly Opelka. Rinderknech has lost both previous meetings with Alcaraz, the last loss coming at Queen's in 2023.
FEARNLEY ADVANCES
British number two Jacob Fearnley reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final with a 6-3 2-6 6-2 win over French qualifier Corentin Moutet.
"I'm very happy to be in my first quarter-final, it's even better to do it here in the UK," Fearnley said.
"I tried to stick to my game plan and be aggressive. I did that better in the third set and the result speaks for itself."
Fearnley raced into a 3-0 lead, and while Moutet broke back, the Briton responded immediately with another break of his own to ease through the first set.
Moutet did likewise in the second, sailing 3-0 ahead before breaking for a second time to clinch the set and force the decider, where Fearnley broke twice before holding serve to love to clinch victory in style.
The 23-year-old will now face Jiri Lehecka after the Czech beat Canada's Gabriel Diallo 6-4 6-2.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
