The boy king of tennis has come through what may be his biggest test on the road to the Wimbledon final.

Matteo Berrettini was so formidable in his dismissal of Alexander Zverev in the third round that the vanquished pronounced the victor capable of lifting the title here. But Alcaraz proved that assertion wrong.

A scintillating winner at Queen’s just a couple of weeks ago, the Spaniard faced a giant step up in quality here against the Italian.

Yet in this contest of grass credentials, Alcaraz emerged the stronger. Already renowned for fast learning, he reframed the loss of the first set as a valuable lesson, forging on to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in a little over three hours.

In the quarter-final Alcaraz will face Denmark’s Holger Rune, his senior by just six days. For the first time in the Open era at Wimbledon, two men aged under 21 will fight it out for a place in the last four.

“The young guys reaching their dreams together is great,” said Alcaraz. “Last year I lost in the fourth round here and I really wanted this. I knew it would be really tough playing Matteo. After losing the first set I knew I would have my chances if I stayed focused.

“I’m hungry for more. My dream is to play a final here, win this title one day. I hope to reach that dream this year. Right now it’s great just to be in the quarter-final.”

Meanwhile, this was a noble campaign for Berrettini, who achieved startling stuff largely out of nowhere to reach this fourth round.

Embarking on this Fortnight he was heralded by few, his glory days as runner-up here two years ago obliterated by a dreary run of injury and illness that resulted in his ranking slumping to No.38, his lowest in four years.

Despite carrying an abdominal strain, round by round here he rekindled his love of the game, and no one who saw his victory over Zverev will forget the near perfection of his display. But he could not maintain it with Alcaraz on the other side of the net.

“It’s a tough loss,” said Berrettini. “He’s the best in the world so I expected this kind of level. He found a way to make me feel uncomfortable. I could have played better but that’s tennis. Two days before the tournament, I really thought about not playing, so this doing this is something I have to be proud of. I felt alive again.”

The first set came down to who took their key chances. Berrettini was so uncertain in the opening game that you wondered if the match could instantly congeal into anti-climax.

On serve at 4-3, with Berrettini’s delivery not quite in overdrive, the Spaniard’s shot selection was occasionally awry, which is how Berrettini acquired two break points.

The Italian mis-hit a forehand on the first chance, but on the second Alcaraz launched a crosscourt backhand marginally too far. The match had caught fire, if not quite in the style predicted, and it was only as he served out the set that Berrettini’s key weapon announced itself. The Italian whooped in celebration.

That missile helped him out of trouble at the start of the second set. Alcaraz could get his racket on the ball but no more, much to his bellowed annoyance.

When Berrettini slid painfully to the turf in the second game, Alcaraz rushed round the net to check on his welfare. There seemed to be no damage but a short while later a sudden rash of truly poor points gifted Alcaraz what he was looking for.

Where the first set had hinged on who grabbed the key opportunities, this one featured a clearly superior Spaniard. He was back in it.

The match was at a fulcrum, each player intent on tipping the balance his way. Five times Alcaraz saw key chances go by, but on the sixth he backpedalled furiously to fire a smash home.

As the match spun out, it wasn’t always simple for the Spaniard – his hold for 5-3 in the third set got him through a momentary crisis, while his two double faults to open the fourth chapter could have provided just the springboard Berrettini needed.

It didn’t happen. Alcaraz struggled to convert his many chances for a good deal of the match, but latterly Berrettini could not carve out any at all.

As evening fell, at 2-2 in the fourth set the match paused for the roof to draw over; but five games later it was Alcaraz who found closure. 

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