Alcaraz suffers, but advances at Wimbledon

AFP and Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 5, 2025, p. a11

World number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain struggled yesterday to defeat world number 125 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the third round; however, he advanced to the round of 16 at Wimbledon, where he is seeking his third consecutive title.

As happened several times on his way to winning the trophy at the recent Roland Garros, the Iberian suffered some setbacks during the match and had to work extra hard to secure a four-set victory, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 27 minutes.

I knew it was going to be very difficult, that I had to be very focused. It was stressful. To be honest, I struggled in every game today on my serve , Alcaraz admitted.

In the round of 16, the Spanish star will face Russian Andrey Rublev (14), who in turn defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-2 and 6-3.

After her titles at Roland Garros and Queen's, Alcaraz extended her winning streak and now has 21 consecutive matches won.

Should he win a third consecutive Wimbledon title, the Spaniard would become the fifth player to achieve such a streak at the iconic tournament, following Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Novak Djokovic.

In the rest of the men's draw, American Taylor Fritz, fifth-ranked player in the world, won in four sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7) and 6-1 against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (27th in the ATP).

Fritz will face Australian Jordan Thompson (44) in the round of 16, who beat Italian Luciano Darderi (59) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3.

In the women's draw, Madison Keys, the eighth-ranked player in the WTA and recent Australian Open champion, fell in the third round, 6-4, against Germany's Laura Siegemund, who will face Argentina's Solana Sierra (101) in the round of 16. Sierra qualified after defeating Spain's Cristina Bucsa 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. Keys was the sixth member of the women's top 10 to be eliminated.

The global number one, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, was able to overcome the resistance of the British Emma Raducanu (40), whom she defeated 7-6 (8/6) and 6-4.

In the round of 16, Sabalenka will face her former Belgian doubles partner Elise Mertens (23).

Meanwhile, Mexican Giuliana Olmos and British player Lloyd Glasspool were eliminated in the mixed doubles event after falling 6-3, 6-3 to American Jackson Withrow and Russian Irina Khromacheva in the first round.

Thus, Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela, competing in men's doubles, remains the only active Mexican tennis player at Wimbledon. This Saturday, he will play alongside Indian Sriram Balaji in his second-round match against seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.

Reuters and AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, July 5, 2025, p. a11

Silverstone. British driver Lando Norris (McLaren) made the most of his home advantage and set the fastest time yesterday in the second free practice session for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, held at the legendary Silverstone track.

Norris was the fastest with a time of one minute and 25.816 seconds, followed by the Ferraris of Monegasque Charles Leclerc (0.222 seconds behind) and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton (0.301 seconds behind), who was the fastest in the first practice.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri (McLaren) finished fourth, while reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) of the Netherlands and Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), who will lose three places on the grid for the race, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Canadian Lance Stroll finished seventh for Aston Martin, and Briton George Russell finished eighth in his Mercedes. Racing Bulls' Frenchman Isack Hadjar finished ninth, and his New Zealand teammate Liam Lawson finished tenth.

Last year's race winner, Hamilton, fueled hopes of another home victory after setting a fastest lap of 1:26.892 in early practice, while 17-year-old Briton-Swede Arvid Lindblad looked strong in his debut session for Red Bull.

Hamilton is on a 13-race run without a podium finish, the worst of his career, but holds a record of nine home wins and will be looking to end the long drought.

It's the first time the seven-time world champion has raced on home soil in the red Ferrari car. The Italian team has yet to win this season, the only one of the top four to do so.

Piastri leads Norris by 15 points now that the championship has reached Silverstone, the midpoint of the season. McLaren has a solid 207-point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors' standings.

The third practice session will take place today, as well as the qualifying session that will determine tomorrow's starting order.