The great and the good of tennis’s history had come to watch tennis’s future. In front of the likes of Billie Jean King, Sue Barker, Stefan Edberg and Jan Kodes, Carlos Alcaraz was the marquee name as Centre Court opened for business.
To be fair, it was not just the aforementioned who were interested: the Royal Box was packed with sporting superstars, as is the custom on the middle Saturday of The Championships.
From Gary Lineker to Sir Steve Redgrave, from Leah Williamson to Eilish McColgan – they all wanted a glimpse of the world No.1 and US Open champion, the 20-year-old who seems ready to lead us into the next golden age of men’s tennis.
He did not disappoint, either. Alcaraz beat Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 in four minutes shy of four pulsating hours.
“It was really, really tough,” a happy and relieved Alcaraz said. “Nico is a really great player. He’s playing really well. We’ve played before and that was a tough match. He deserves to be at the top of the game.
"I’m just really happy with the level that I played to get through this match. And I’m really happy for the level of energy that both of us received from the crowd.
“The key was to stay focused all the time. I knew I would have my chances. In the third set he missed an easy ball and I would say thanks to that I won. It was really close – he has great touch. I would say the key is to believe all the time and stay focused all the time.”
Alcaraz and Jarry could not be more different. The Spaniard is a compact 6 feet of solid muscle; Jarry is a 6ft 6in beanpole. Alcaraz is the fastest thing on two legs with a racket around these parts and, a bit like a big puppy, he bounds around the place with innocent enthusiasm.
It was really close – he has great touch. I would say the key is to believe all the time
The best way to describe the big man from Chile is “measured”. He does nothing quickly and is firmly of the opinion that if he is allowed 25 seconds between points it would be rude not to use them. He moves as if in slow motion as he prepares to serve. He probably even sleeps slowly.
But when Jarry finally bursts into life, he is an impressive sight. The serve is huge and deadly accurate, the return can be positively venomous and he is more than willing to come forward. It was a combination Alcaraz had seen before and knew just how dangerous it could be.
Their only previous match had been in Rio de Janeiro back in February and while Alcaraz won 6-0 in the third set, the first two sets were as tight as it was possible to be. Alcaraz knew to be wary.
He could hardly believe his luck, then, when Jarry offered him a string of second serves towards the end of the first set. Alcaraz leapt on them and proceeded to steal the Chilean’s serve. Thank you very much.
You may have noticed that Alcaraz is a very smiley sort of chap. He loves what he does and he cannot help but show it. He even admits it: when he smiles, he wins. And he wins because he smiles. The trick must be to wipe the smile off his face. But how?
As it turned out, Alcaraz helped his opponent with that. At the start of the second set, his first serve went off the boil which, in turn, allowed Jarry to nail a couple of returns. In the space of a few minutes the tall man was 3-0 up and holding points for a two-break lead.
He didn’t get it, mind you, but he was now in full flow and even when the world No.1 broke back, Jarry was able to keep him at bay and close out the set in the tie-break.
By now, they had been at it for two hours and the pressure was beginning to tell on Jarry. As the errors crept into his game, so Alcaraz took the third set by the scruff of the neck. And when Jarry looked over the net, Carlos was smiling. That did not bode well.
The Chilean was not done yet, though, and marching on to the fourth set, he did what he had done in the second: he broke in the second game and was broken back in the seventh.
But this time he could not hold on; Alcaraz snapped the Jarry serve for a final time and, with two thumping service winners, booked his place in the fourth round. Unsurprisingly, he was smiling again.
Alcaraz now faces either Alexander Zverev or Matteo Berrettini.
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