For all the waspish energy and venomous hitting, it was Carlos Alcaraz’s ability to turn up the dial under pressure that saw him come through a testing encounter with Nicolas Jarry and move safely into the Wimbledon fourth round on Saturday.
The world number one was frequently on the ropes against the imposing Chilean but always managed to find another gear as he wrapped up a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 7-5 victory on Centre Court to set up a tantalising encounter with either Alexander Zverev or Matteo Berrettini.
What had looked like being a routine outing for Alcaraz when he claimed the first set after a solitary break, quickly turned into something more troublesome as Jarry raced into a 4-1 lead in the second.
While Alcaraz clawed back parity, the Chilean served like his life depended on it to level the match in the tiebreak.
Alcaraz got his nose in front once more but if he hoped to have dealt a decisive blow by winning the third set, Jarry had other ideas, racing into a 3-0 lead at the start of the fourth.
That, however, brought out the best in the Spaniard who finished off the contest with two further breaks, wrapping up the match with two massive serves that were just too hot for Jarry to handle.