Wimbledon, England — Carlos Alcaraz Though he’s just a few months shy of his 21st birthday, Grand Slam success is something he’s already experienced.
Alcaraz, who is one step closer to winning his second consecutive Wimbledon title and his fourth major title overall, overcame a shaky start on Friday to win. Daniil Medvedev The semifinal on Centre Court was 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
“I feel like I’m not a rookie anymore. I know how I feel before a final. I’ve been in this situation before,” Alcaraz said. “I’m going to do what worked last year and try to improve on it.”
After a mediocre opening set, Alcaraz once again transformed into an energetic, aggressive and crowd-pleasing player who had already become the first teenager to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings and the youngest player to win major trophies on three surfaces – grass, clay and hard courts.
The Spaniard is now one win away from matching Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg as the only men to win multiple times at the All England Club before turning 22 in the Open Era, which began in 1968.
Alcaraz also won the 2022 U.S. Open and last month’s French Open.
He is 3-0 in major finals and will face a player with 24 major championships under his belt. Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti The two met in the second semifinal on Sunday, Djokovic’s 49th appearance at this stage of a Grand Slam tournament and Musetti’s first.
A year ago at Wimbledon, Alcaraz beat 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev in straight sets in the semifinals before beating Djokovic in five sets in the final.
On this overcast afternoon (the retractable roof over the main stadium was open in the absence of rain that had fallen over the first week and a half of the tournament), the third-seeded Alcaraz had an up-and-down match against fifth-seeded Medvedev, the 28-year-old Russian seeking his seventh career Grand Slam final.
“I was really nervous coming into the match,” Alcaraz said. “He was dominating the match and playing great tennis. It was difficult for me.”
Medvedev did jump out to a 5-2 lead early on, but his play and temperament got him into trouble after that.
Alcaraz broke and hit a drop shot to go up 5-4, but chair umpire Eva Asderaki ruled it bounced twice before Medvedev’s racket hit the ball — a correct decision, according to television replays. Medvedev appeared to swear afterwards, and Asderaki got off her seat during the ensuing substitution to discuss the match with tournament umpire Dennis Parnell, who issued a warning to Medvedev for unsportsmanlike conduct.
He quickly recovered and played near-perfect in the tiebreaker of that set.
Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to get things going in the right direction, and it didn’t take long.
Three forehand errors from Medvedev led to a break for Alcaraz, who then led 2-1 in the third set with a backhand winner, capping off the longest point of the match, 27 strokes. The fans rose to their feet in roars. Alcaraz put his index fingers to his ears, and the commotion grew louder.
He got the final break he needed to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth set when Medvedev hit a backhand long, sat in a chair on the sideline, made eye contact with two coaches in the stands and began muttering and gesticulating.
Alcaraz can do that to his opponents.
The crowd erupted in an audible, two-syllable roar every time Alcaraz hit a powerful forehand, whether or not the point lasted, which it often did not: 24 of Alcaraz’s 28 forehand winners in the match came from his racquet.
Needless to say, that wasn’t his only skill: Serve-and-volley or not, he played great at the net, winning 38 of 53 points moving forward, including three with drop shots in the opening set alone.
He’s dangerous when playing at his best offensively, but his defensive ability is also phenomenal.
At times, it felt like the game would never end until he made that move. And if that’s what it looked like from the stands, imagine how frustrating that must have been for his opponent. At one point, Alcaraz sprinted to reach a ball that was clearly out of his reach, then slipped, leaving a few feet of skid marks on the turf. He unleashed a lob that deflected over Medvedev’s head in response.
Still, Alcaraz was determined to deny Medvedev the kind of prolonged baseline points he enjoys: Only 38 of his 244 points in the semifinals lasted more than nine shots.
“I tried not to play long rallies. I tried to hit slices, drop shots. I tried to get to the net as much as possible,” Alcaraz said. “I tried not to get into his game.”
Sunday’s sports schedule also includes the Wimbledon men’s final, as well as the men’s European football championship final in Germany, with Spain facing England.
“It’s going to be a really good day for the Spanish people,” Alcaraz alluded to in his on-court interview, drawing boos from the home crowd. Alcaraz smiled and added: “I never said Spain would win, I just said it was going to be a really fun day.”
