By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) – Carlos Alcaraz stayed on course for a potential quarter-final showdown with six-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic after taking care of tricky German opponent Oscar Otte with a no-nonsense 6-3 6-1 6-2 third round win on Friday.
Otte had stretched twice champion Andy Murray to five sets in a late-night second-round blockbuster 12 months ago but any hopes of a repeat were quickly extinguished by the fifth seed who seems to have found his comfort zone on grass.
The 19-year-old Spaniard, who had won only one match on grass before this year’s championships, appears to have found his feet on the lush surface as he saved the only break point he faced on Friday while capturing his opponent’s serve six times.
He wrapped up the contest when Otte misfired the ball into the sky and will next face Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner. If he wins that match and Djokovic beats Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven, the pair will meet in the last eight next week.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Ken Ferris)