With a stunning style moulded on the legends of the sport, Carlos Alcaraz is a step closer to joining the greats after progressing to Sunday’s Wimbledon final with a dashing victory over Daniil Medvedev and will play Novak Djokovic in a rematch of last year’s decider.
The 21-year-old, who is bidding to defend a grand slam title for the first time in his career, struggled with his serve in the infancy of his 6-7 (1) 6-3 6-4 6-4 triumph when ending the Russian’s charge for the second straight year in the semifinals.
The Roland Garros champion required 2hr 55min to defeat Medvedev, but the match could have finished far earlier after the Russian avoided being defaulted for his vulgar abuse of umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore late in the first set.
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Both the tournament referee and court supervisor were summoned to the court with Medvedev leading 5-4 in the first after the Russian lost his temper when Asderaki-Moore ruled he had failed to reach a drop shot when facing break point.
Instead he was issued with a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct and the crowd was treated to two more hours of superb shotmaking, particularly from the three-time major winner Alcaraz, who elevated his came after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker.
But it was not all smooth-sailing for the Spaniard. After the controversy surrounding Djokovic’s scolding of the crowd last Monday, Alcaraz drew a chorus of boos after his triumph. But this was lighthearted, for the Spaniard made a quip about the European Championships final between Spain and England, which will be played in Germany after the Wimbledon final.
The Real Madrid fan was supported by Croatian great Luka Modric, who watched the semi-final from Alcaraz’s players box.
“I feel like I am not new any more,” Alcaraz said.
“I feel like I know how I am going to feel before the final. I have been in this position before. I will try to do the tings I did last year … and will try to be better.”
Should the Spaniard triumph on Sunday over the 24-time grand slam champion, he will join Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker as the only men in the Open era to win multiple Wimbledon titles aged 21 or younger.
The right-hander would join that pair and Swede Mats Wilander as the only players to win four major titles at such a young age. His triumph at Roland Garros last month saw him become the youngest man to win a grand slam title on all three surfaces.
“I’ve played Novak a few times in grand slams, final of Masters 1000, multiple times against him,” he said.
“I know what I have to do. I’m sure he knows what he has to do to beat me. It’s going to be a really interesting one if I’m going to play against Djokovic for sure. But I’m ready to take that challenge and I’m ready to do it well.”
There were periods in his semifinal against Medvedev where the thrills seemed to come every minute, such is the flair the new superstar of the sport possesses.
Having watched Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic from his youth, he has borrowed from each to mould a style that is both phenomenally effective but also phenomenal to watch. He possesses the ultimate array of weapons and showcased them on Friday.
When he was not striking thunderstruck forehands, he was whipping backhand winners. Alcaraz’s drop shots were sublime, but so too his hands at the net as he adjusted to the missiles Medvedev motored at him.
He zoomed after shots that should have been out of reach, slipped and slid and tumbled, experimented with shots and failed on occasion in what proved a highly-watchable affair, for Medvedev certainly tested the Spaniard in a vastly more competitive match than a year ago.
The variety he delivered was part of a ploy to break down the defence of the Russian he described as “the wall”.
“(I was) trying to do different things. I tried not to play long rallies. I tried not to play his game,” Alcaraz said.
“Obviously there were a few points where there were really long rallies, but I tried not to play ten to 12 shots in the game, but it was difficult to break the wall.”
Medvedev, who ended Djokovic’s dream of completing a calendar year Grand Slam in the US Open final in 2021, later said he believed Alcaraz was the toughest player he has come across.
“I think where Carlos is different from many players. We all have a little bit our preferences, someone prefers defense, someone prefers counterattack, someone prefers to be super aggressive. He can do all of it,” he said.
“He can sometimes slice, even bad slice and then run and try to win like this. Then when you hit him many times, when guys do this, you can play with them.
“You can hit them the easy shot back, and they don’t want to attack, but that’s not Carlos. Hit him easy shot, you know it’s over for you. That what makes it tough. Probably in my career he’s the toughest opponent I have faced. But I have time, I have time to try to do better.”
Medvedev was the steadier player in the first set as Alcaraz struggled to find rhythm, with his first serve percentage hovering in the 30s for a significant portion of the first set, which is well below his tournament rate of 63 percent leading into semifinal.
Even then, he still managed to find a way back in a set where he trailed 2-5, only for the 2021 US Open champion Medvedev to produce a brilliant tiebreaker.
Medvedev, whose serve is flatter than his rival’s, directed more than half of his deliveries down the middle on both wings. Alcaraz, in contrast, is capable of producing more shape with his serve and was less predictable in where he aimed the ball.
He still used his slicing serve – the one that moves wide to the deuce court and splits the centre on the advantage court – most frequently but was also able to cramp Medvedev more regularly with deliveries that cut into his body.
Medvedev had won eight of his previous 10 career matches at Grand Slams against ATP top 10 opponents after taking the opening set, but has now lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Australian Open final, Jannik Sinner in this year’s edition in Melbourne and Alcaraz in a semifinal at Wimbledon.
The Spaniard made his move early in the second set when whipping a forehand across of the front of the advancing Medvedev to move to a 3-1 lead.
The explosiveness of the pursuit and forehand brought the crowd to its feet and drew a roar of approval and, from there, he never looked back.
“After that, I could put my own game and I could enjoy a little bit more, the match. I generally think I played a really good match,” he said.