CARLOS ALCARAZ challenged Andy Murray to a deciding golf game this Wimbledon fortnight – even though he is aiming to win £3million on a different type of grass.
The Spaniard made it 17 wins in a row at the tournament as the two-time defending champion beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Centre Court in round three.
There were some tough moments, particularly the second set he lost, but he was grateful the 35-year-old German missed a volley in a key part of set four.
Alcaraz, 22, is a crowd favourite and loves to take his mind off lawn tennis by playing rounds of golf on courses in Surrey.
Pre-tournament, he had two nine-hole challenger matches with Murray, Britain’s two-time champion, and at the moment the score is tied at 1-1.
Another contest will be set up at some point next week provided their schedules align.
Talking to Annabel Croft in a court-side interview, the reigning French Open champion said: “He said to you to ask me this question, right?
“He beat me that day. He beat me in golf that day. But then a few days later, I beat him.
“So, it’s 1-1. We are tied. We are tied.
“Will we play again? Let’s see. I love playing golf on my days off. I know he has a busy schedule.
“I will try to set up a golf round again, nine holes, and we will see who wins. We are tied at 1-1. We have to play again, absolutely.”
Alcaraz will now face Russian Andrey Rublev in the last 16 on Sunday as he chases a hat-trick of titles in SW19 – with Cameron Norrie a possible quarter-final opponent.
All roads continue to lead to a possible final against his great rival Jannik Sinner, whom he beat in thrilling fashion in a five-set, five-and-a-half-hour French Open final.
Yet he said his encounter on Friday caused him plenty of “stress” and it was not a straightforward passage.
The world No2 said: “I knew it would be really, really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot, my service games and returns. His game serves pretty well to the grass.
“Big serves. He approached the net as much as he can. Really pleased about everything I have done, fighting, running, making great shots.
“I tried to make the opportunities he brought to me in the match. I am proud to get the win in four sets.
“It was stressful as well. To be honest, I was suffering in every serve game that I did today.
“Love-30s, break points down, yeah it was stressful. Every time he could push me, he did it. It was survival.
“I’m really happy that at the end I got the break. He missed a volley in front of the net. I cannot believe I am standing here 6-4.
“I tried to run every ball, tried to fight for every ball. Tried to see if he was going to miss some easy shots.
“I was lucky in that shot and I made the most of it. I made the break. I still don’t know how he missed that volley.”
American No5 seed Taylor Fritz has spent close to TEN HOURS on court and played 14 sets across three matches as he knocked out Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-3 6-7 6-1 after FOUR delays for emergency health scares and medical time-outs.
Former world No1 Naomi Osaka apologised for her loss ahead of her daughter’s second birthday as she was beaten 3-6 6-4 6-4 by former quarter-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Japan star, 27, said: “I’m just going to be a negative human being today.
“I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on.”
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