Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Coco Gauff loses

LONDON (AP) — There Carlos Alcaraz was, down on his backside at a baseline below the Royal Box, briefly taking a seat in the grass after doing the splits when he slipped while running to hit a forehand during his fourth-round match Sunday.

So now what? Give up on the point and get ready for the next? Ha. Not this kid. Alcaraz popped to his feet, sprinted to his left to get to a backhand wide of the doubles alley, then raced forward to reach a short shot and, eventually, watched his opponent send a volley long.

That allowed Alcaraz to claim the second set of what would become a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 victory against No. 16 seed Ugo Humbert at Centre Court. The defending champion at the All England Club celebrated the moment by raising his right index finger in a “No. 1” gesture and shouting “Vamos!” as thousands of spectators rose to salute him.

The 21-year-old Spaniard is making a habit of turning the impossible into the possible, figuring out ways to win points many other players would concede and, in the bigger picture, breaking new ground time after time. He’s been the first teenager to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings, and last month’s French Open championship made him the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on three surfaces: hard, grass and clay courts.

Asked during his on-court interview how he’d describe the remarkable sequence against Humbert, Alcaraz offered a huge smile and responded: “Unbelievable, I guess. I just try to fight every point, every ball. It doesn’t matter what part of the court.”

Unbelievable, maybe, but certainly not unprecedented. For him, at least. Later, at his news conference, he recalled having made that same sort of recovery from a fall during his thrill-a-minute marathon against rival Jannik Sinner at the 2022 U.S. Open, a tournament Alcaraz went on to win.

“I think,” Alcaraz said, “that I can reach every ball.”

There is a possible rematch against the No. 1-ranked Sinner looming in the semifinals. Each just needs to win once more to get there. In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, Alcaraz will face No. 12 Tommy Paul, and Sinner goes up against 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev.

Sinner was bounced in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals by