Carlos Alcaraz survives Frances Tiafoes third-round Wimbledon challenge

LONDON — Carlos Alcaraz found himself pushed to a Grand Slam fifth set again, this time at Wimbledon, this time against good pal Frances Tiafoe.And as he usually does under such circumstances, no matter how much trouble he might have been in, Alcaraz surged to the finish.Alcaraz avoided a surprising exit and got past Tiafoe, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Friday to reach Wimbledon’s fourth round in an entertaining match filled with moments of brilliance and a series of momentum swings across its 3 hours, 50 minutes.“It’s always a big challenge playing against Frances.

As I’ve said many, many times, he’s a really talented player.Really tough to face.

And he showed it once again,” Alcaraz said.“It was really, really difficult for me to adapt my game, to find solutions, to try to put him in trouble.

But really happy to do it at the end.”In front of a Centre Court crowd that included Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, and under a closed retractable roof that amplified the thuds of rackets-on-balls, grunts and cheers, the third-seeded Alcaraz was outplayed for stretches by No.29 Tiafoe.But Alcaraz was better at the business end and improved to 12-1 in his nascent career in fifth sets — including victories in the semifinals and final at the French Open after being down 2-1 in sets en route to the title there last month.

Tiafoe fell to 6-13 in five-setters.Tiafoe was unable to pull out what would have been a surprising victory for someone who arrived at Wimbledon with a sprained ligament in his right knee and a losing record this season.Sure came close, though.The 26-year-old American was two points away from getting the chance to serve for the win, getting to love-30 on Alcaraz’s serve at 4-all in the fourth set.But Alcaraz steadied himself and claimed the next four points, capped by an ace at 130 mph (210 kph).He then dominated the ensuing tiebreaker, grabbing a 5-0 lead.“I served (at) ...