Carlos Alcaraz again tested the nerves of his legions of fans on Sunday before dismissing Andrey Rublev to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and stay on track for a third straight title.
The Spaniard lost the first set to the Russian 14th seed under the Centre Court roof but found his feet to win 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, roared on by a partisan crowd.
While Alcaraz's main rivals, seven-time winner Novak Djokovic and world No 1 Jannik Sinner, are in ominous form, the second seed has blown hot and cold so far.
It was the same story on Sunday as he struggled to find his rhythm early in the match, despite occasional flashes of brilliance, before raising his level.
Alcaraz, who will face Britain's Cameron Norrie in the last eight, said Rublev was one of the most powerful and aggressive players on the men's tour.
"I think I played intelligent and smart today against him, tactically," he said. "A really good match, which I'm really proud about."
The five-time Grand Slam champion said he always believes in himself, even when facing adversity.
"Tennis is a sport that it can change just one point," he added. "One point can change the match completely, turn everything around.
"In tennis, you have to stay there all the time. Being strong mentally, to stay there. I knew that I was going to play better."
ALCARAZ COMEBACK
Rublev took the first set on a tie-break but Alcaraz engineered a break in the eighth game of the second set and served out to level the match.
The Russian matched his opponent blow for blow in the third set but squandered chances and Alcaraz brought the crowd to its feet with a sensational forehand winner to force a break, sealing the set with an audacious drop shot.
The writing was on the wall when Rublev lost his serve in the fifth game of the fourth set and Alcaraz made no mistake.
The Spaniard was taken to five sets by veteran Italian Fabio Fognini in his opening match and also dropped a set against journeyman Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.
Sinner, by contrast, has not dropped a single set, losing just 17 games on his way to the fourth round, and Djokovic was in imperious form in dispatching Serbian Davis Cup teammate Miomir Kecmanovic.
Alcaraz and Sinner are the undisputed top dogs of men's tennis, sharing the past six Grand Slams between them as the era of the "Big Three" fades.
But the 22-year-old has the edge on grass, winning 33 of his 36 Tour-level matches on the surface.
Alcaraz's last defeat at Wimbledon came against Sinner in the fourth round in 2022 and he is on a career-best 22-match winning run since April.
Having vanquished Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals, Alcaraz is looking to join an elite group of Wimbledon icons.
He hopes to become the fifth man in the Open era to win at least three consecutive Wimbledon titles after Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Djokovic.
Alcaraz finds magic touch at Wimbledon as Sabalenka storms into quarter-finals
Carlos Alcaraz found his best form after a shaky start to beat Andrey Rublev and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Sunday as hot favourite in the women's draw Aryna Sabalenka also progressed.
The Spaniard, hunting a third straight title at the All England Club, has taken his fans on an emotional rollercoaster but is into the last eight after a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win.
While Alcaraz's main rivals, seven-time winner Novak Djokovic and world No 1 Jannik Sinner, are in ominous form, the second seed has blown hot and cold so far.
He will next face Cameron Norrie, who is the last British player standing at Wimbledon after beating Chile's Nicolas Jarry in five gruelling sets.
Alcaraz lost three sets across his first three matches and fell behind against Russian 14th seed Rublev under the Centre Court roof.
But he turned the match around in style, producing some of his best tennis in front of his adoring fans.
"I think I played intelligent and smart today against him, tactically," said the 22-year-old. "A really good match, which I'm really proud about."
The five-time Grand Slam champion said he always believes in himself, even when facing adversity.
"One point can change the match completely, turn everything around.
"In tennis, you have to stay there all the time. Being strong mentally, to stay there. I knew that I was going to play better."
SABALENKA POWER
Women's world No 1 Sabalenka has yet to drop a set in four rounds at the All England Club as every other top six seed has fallen, but was given a tough workout by Belgian world number 23 Mertens.
The Belarusian came through 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) against her former doubles partner to set up a clash against Germany's Laura Siegemund.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is making up for lost time after missing last year's Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury. She was excluded in 2022 as part of a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
"With your support guys I think everything is possible," said Sabalenka, who has never been beyond the semi-finals. "I don't know. It's such a beautiful tournament.
"I always dreamed of winning it. Every time I'm here I'm trying to give my best and really hope for the best."
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also progressed at the expense of Britain's Sonay Kartal, but had to mentally reset after a bizarre electronic line-calling failure.
At 4-4 in the first set, Pavlyuchenkova held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline but no call came and the umpire ordered the point be replayed.
Kartal went on to break for a 5-4 lead.
Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "They stole the game from me, they stole it". But she broke back and won the tie-break, which proved a launchpad for a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory.
The technology glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by other players.
The All England Club released a brief statement on the incident.
"Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question," said an spokesman. "The chair umpire followed the established process."
Russia's Karen Khachanov was the first winner of the day, brushing aside Polish player Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Two.
The 17th seed will face US fifth seed Taylor Fritz, who was only on court for 41 minutes before Australia's Jordan Thompson retired injured, trailing 6-1, 3-0.
America's Fritz faced gruelling five-set battles in his opening two matches but it was a different story in his fourth-round encounter on Court One.
The Eastbourne champion broke Thompson twice to seal the first set in just 21 minutes and led 3-0 in the second set when the Australian decided he could not go on, due to an apparent thigh injury.