Carlos Alcaraz gets past stubborn Ugo Humbert to reach last eight

Reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was broken five times by Ugo Humbert but regrouped to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz had spent nearly four hours on court during a dramatic victory over Frances Tiafoe on Friday and looked in a hurry to progress when he raced into a two-set lead.

Humbert responded with aplomb to break Alcaraz three times to force a fourth set where two more breaks put him 4-3 up.

But the world number three moved through the gears to claim a 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-5 triumph on day seven of the Championships.

The Spaniard had produced slow starts in his previous three matches, winning first-set tie-breaks against qualifier Mark Lajal and unseeded Aleksandar Vukic before he lost the opener to Tiafoe, but it was a different story this time.

With the centre court roof closed in anticipation for wet weather, Alcaraz broke his opponent in the fifth game.

A first set point came and went on Humbert's serve but a lovely forehand pass by Alcaraz forced a second, which was taken.

Humbert had barely laid a glove on Alcaraz’s service game by this point, but that changed midway through the second set.

A marathon game saw Humbert create four break point opportunities at 2-2.

Alcaraz dug deep to repel the Frenchman, with brilliant net play able to thwart the final chance before he showed the ruthlessness of a three-time grand slam champion with a break to take the set.

Humbert sent a simple volley wide to gift Alcaraz the break, with the current Wimbledon champion earning the adulation of centre court after he twice scrambled across the baseline to return before a third slide along the grass helped force the error.

History looked set to repeat itself for Humbert, who had lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets when he