Andy Murray sends cheeky Wimbledon request after settling score with Carlos Alcaraz

Andy Murray has hinted that he got one over on defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard plays Andrey Rublev in the fourth round at the All England Club on Sunday as he bids to retain his title, but he has also been involved in another competition.

Alcaraz has seen off Italy’s Fabio Fognini, Britain's Oliver Tarvet and Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff to set up a match with Russia’s Rublev. But rather than put his feet up and stick to the practice courts at Wimbledon on his days off, Alcaraz has been playing a different sport.

The 22-year-old enjoys playing golf – something he has in common with Murray, who has become obsessed with the sport since retiring from tennis last summer. While focused on his title defence at Wimbledon, Alcaraz has also been busy on the golf course with the 2013 and 2016 champion.

The pair played before the start of Wimbledon and, after beating Struff on Friday, Alcaraz revealed the score after a second match. Annabel Croft interviewed him on-court and dug into the brewing rivalry between the two.

READ MORE: Iga Swiatek admits she could get Wimbledon ban after leaving fans disgusted

READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz relationship challenges, Jannik Sinner behaviour and ban reason

“He said to you to ask this question, right?” Alcaraz replied with a smile. “I know, I know, because he beat me that day. But then, a few days later, we played again and I beat him, so it’s 1-1. We’re tied.”

Asked if they had planned another match, Alcaraz said: “Let’s see. I love playing golf on my days off. I know he has a busy schedule so I guess I will try to set it up a round again of nine holes. We have to see who wins because we’re tied 1-1, so I have to play again, absolutely.”

Well, it seems they played that rematch on Saturday, judging by Murray’s comments on social media. “We played the deciding match this afternoon. Maybe ask him what happened after the next match,” Murray wrote on X with a wink emoji. On Instagram he added: “I’ll let him tell you the outcome after the next match.”

Being a born competitor Alcaraz will be smarting from the defeat on the golf course, but things are going extremely well on the tennis court, where his winning streak now stands at 21 matches. Asked if this was the best tennis of his career, he said: “ Yeah, I think so. It wasn't the best tennis the whole 21 matches that I've won.

“But I think I maintain myself really, really calm in the tough moments in those 21 matches that I won in a row. But yeah, I think I play a really good tennis lately. Really high confidence right now.

“But yeah, as I say many, many times, I think when you approaching the matches, I doing in a really great way, that I'm really happy about. And during those matches I've saved really difficult moments. So I'm going to say that, yeah.”