From “losing to clowns”, as Frances Tiafoe had said of his desperately average form of late, to this. The exhilarating and most unexpected of afternoons under the lights of the closed Centre Court roof – inside Wimbledon’s big top, if you like – when the American came close to eliminating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. 

Big Foe gave everyone around this rectangle of grass a five-set, almost-four-hour adrenaline rush. In the end, though, it was Alcaraz who advanced, with the Spaniard raising his intensity to fight back from two sets to one down for a 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 victory. 

The day after the tears and the heaviness of Andy Murray’s farewell ceremony on Centre Court, Tiafoe was changing the emotion around this arena, and across the All England Club, from sadness to shock.

“Barely seeded” at The Championships this summer – he’s down at No. 29 of the 32 protected players as a consequence of his uneven results this season – Tiafoe almost didn’t make it this far in the Fortnight, as in the opening round he had to come from two sets down for the first time in his career.

They say that Tiafoe is never better than when he’s playing on the sport’s grandest stages, but who actually imagined that he had it in him, given his results this season, to really threaten his friend here? 

Another loss for Tiafoe, then, but there’s nothing clownish about Alcaraz. It was the day when his winning streak on the grass hit double figures. And a day when he moved a match closer, after landing a first Roland-Garros title last month, to doing the mythical Paris-London double in the same season. 

“It’s always a big challenge playing against Frances – he’s a really talented player and tough to face. It was really difficult for me to adapt my game but I’m happy I did it,” said Alcaraz. “I was telling myself to ‘fight one more ball, fight one more ball’.” 

Murray’s never going to play singles here again – and that’s still going to take some processing – but the show continues with the younger generations who, while going about their serious business, are also bringing some fun and dazzle to the grass.

In the circumstances – the very first match on Centre Court since Murray formally said goodbye to Wimbledon – this was just about the ideal combination of players. 

Alcaraz is the most dynamic of champions. Tiafoe is a reliably engaging presence on any tennis court. Put Big Foe and Carlitos together – for what was their first meeting since Alcaraz’s five-set victory in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open, which Tiafoe remembers as “a tremendous battle” – and they created something special, even if the defending champion wasn’t always at his best.

This was hugely entertaining. Within a few games, many in the crowd were gasping at the quality of some of the tennis, which included a through-the-legs ‘tweener’ from Alcaraz and all sorts of athleticism and shot-making from both. 

With nowhere for the sound to escape to, this was loud, and it got even noisier when Tiafoe was gesticulating to the crowd to become even more involved in this contest.

When Tiafoe took the third set, he appeared to be on his way to removing Alcaraz from The Championships. When Alcaraz was serving at 4-4 in the fourth set, and found himself 0-30 down, he looked to be in real danger. Defeat for Alcaraz would have meant that Novak Djokovic, who has won the pineapple-topped trophy seven times already, would have been the only former champion remaining in the gentlemen’s singles.

But it wasn’t to be for Tiafoe. It was Alcaraz who prevailed.