Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz into Wimbledon final

LONDON – Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached his fourth Grand Slam final on July 12 when he recovered from a set down at Wimbledon to defeat Daniil Medvedev.

World No. 3 Alcaraz beat his fifth-ranked opponent 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and will face either seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti for the title on July 14.

Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the 2023 final in a five-set thriller.

“Obviously, it will be a really difficult match. Let’s see who I am going to play on Sunday. I feel like I am not new any more. I know how I am going to feel before the final. I have been in this position before,” said Alcaraz, who crunched 55 winners to the 31 from Medvedev.

On his semi-final triumph after two hours and 55 minutes, he said: “I’m really happy about my performance today.

“I started really nervous today. Daniil was dominating the match, playing great tennis with his serve and his return game.

“It was difficult for me, but I tried to push out the nerves at the beginning of the second set.

“It was really helpful to be up 3-1 and, after that, I could play my own game and enjoy the match a little bit more.

“I tried to hit great shots, I moved well, so in general I think I played a pretty good match.”

Medvedev, beaten by the Spaniard at the same stage in 2023, twice led with breaks in the first set only to be pinned back.

Such was his frustration that he was handed a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct by umpire Eva Asderaki for an apparent foul-mouthed reaction to a ball called for bouncing twice as he was broken in the ninth game.

The tournament referee and supervisor were even summoned to Centre Court by Asderaki, but Medvedev shrugged off the incident to sweep through the tiebreak and take the opening set, in which he committed only eight unforced errors to the Spaniard’s 15.

It was the third time at this tournament that Alcaraz had dropped the first set.

He recovered impressively, breaking Medvedev for a 3-1 lead in the second, having come out on top in the previous game on the back of a 27-shot rally. The 21-year-old then hit 14 winners in the third set, pocketing the only break in the third game.

“I tried to do different things,” said Alcaraz. “I tried to not play long rallies and tried to go to the net as much as I could, and tried to not play his game.

“Obviously, there were a few points with really long rallies, but I tried to play my own game, not go past 10 or 12 shots in the points. It was difficult to break the wall.”

Medvedev, who had knocked out world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, retrieved a break early in the fourth set. But his 100 per cent conversion rate on break points was not enough.

Alcaraz kept up his assault, edging ahead again for 4-3 on his way to victory and a 5-2 head-to head record against the Russian in his favour.

Alcaraz is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals after his triumphs at the 2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon and 2024 Roland Garros, which made him the youngest man to win a Major on all three surfaces.

If he can retain his title at SW19, the Spaniard will be just the sixth player to complete the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic.

Alcaraz does seem confident, if not cheeky.

During his on-court interview, Alcaraz had to take Centre Court boos in his stride after joking that July 14 would be a “good day” in reference to his Wimbledon final appearance and his country’s Euro 2024 final against England.

“It will be a good day for Spanish people as well,” said the Real Madrid fan, the second Spanish man to reach multiple Wimbledon finals after Nadal, when asked to look ahead to the weekend.

That triggered light-hearted boos from fans before Alcaraz countered with a smile: “I didn’t say Spain is going to win, but I say it will be a fun, fun day.” AFP