Carlos Alcaraz has avoided the top-five upset curse at this year’s Wimbledon event. The defending champion faces Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday, while Taylor Fritz takes the court against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
(2) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Carlos Alcaraz has already passed a five-set test at the All-England Club this year. The two-time defending champion spent five long sets agains Italian veteran Fabio Fognini, who has announced his retirement at the end of the 2025 season. In the third round the Spaniard is set to take on Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who is ranked 125th in the world.
It’s a bit of a deceptive ranking. Struff has had an admittedly bad season, having won seven matches all year–including the two he won this week. And yet he is not only capable of taking a set off Alcaraz, but I’m even expecting him to. Alcaraz and Struff have played at Wimbledon before, a five-set marathon of a match back in 2022. Alcaraz won, but only just. And although Struff isn’t the player he was a few years ago, he is experienced and has already proven that he isn’t afraid of Alcaraz.
Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 4
Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 4
(5) Taylor Fritz vs. (26) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Taylor Fritz and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are quite familiar with each other. They just squared off last week in the Eastbourne semifinals, where Fritz won in three sets en route to the title. The world No. 5 has escaped the flurry of upsets that have taken the All-England Club by storm this week, but he had to work quite hard at it during the first two rounds.
Both of Fritz’s maches were hard-fought five-set victories against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo. And unfortunately for him, the situation isn’t likely to be much better on Friday. Davidovich Fokina is having a great year. And while he hasn’t won any titles, he has advanced to the business end of the tournament with impressive frequency–including a pair of finals not too long ago. This is shaping up to be another tough one for Fritz; he may be looking at yet another contest that goes the distance.
Cheryl pick: Fritz in 5
Ricky pick: Fritz in 4
