Champion Carlos Alcaraz has overcome another sluggish start to blast past an outclassed Daniil Medvedev into another Wimbledon final.
The 21-year-old Spaniard lost the first set for the third time in the Championships in Friday’s semi-final, yet again it only prompted him to move up several gears and race to victory 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4.
His victory, rather harder earned than his straight-sets victory at the same stage last year against the Russian, has set up the prospect of another final against Novak Djokovic, who was set to play Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the other semi-final on Centre Court later on Friday.
And it sets up a huge day of sport on Sunday, when Alcaraz will play his final just hours before Spain take on England in the Euro 2024 soccer final.
“It’s going to be really good day for Spanish people as well, with the Euros,” said Alcaraz, whose mention of the big match inevitably drew an animated reaction with plenty of boos mixed with laughter from the Centre Court crowd.
It prompted Alcaraz to add quickly to get them back onside: “I didn’t say Spain is going to win, I just said it’s going to be a really fun day!”
Alcaraz hasn’t been consistently at his best through the whole tournament, and it was the same again against the No.5 seed as he mixed a selection of the most dazzling shots with careless mistakes.
But, just as in the rest of the tournament after losing first sets against Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, Alcaraz raised his game to end up dominating with a total of 55 winners to offset his 37 unforced errors in an absorbing contest that lasted just five minutes under three hours.
“I’m glad to play outdoors again,” said Alcaraz, who’s had to march through the rest of the tournament mainly under the Centre Court roof, such has been the incessant rain.
“Different conditions, but really happy about my performance today. I started off nervous, and it was difficult for me, but after I went 3-1 up in the second set, I moved pretty well and played a pretty good match.
“I tried to do different things, trying not to play long rallies, trying not to play his game, but it was difficult to break the wall.”
Before the wall did come crashing down, Medvedev may have been lucky to escape being defaulted in the first set when he was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct from umpire Eva Asderaki.
Asderaki ruled Medvedev had not got to an Alcaraz drop shot before it bounced twice, leading to a break of serve for the Spaniard, and the Russian reacted with an angry tirade against the official.
It prompted Asderaki-Moore to get down from her chair and take the rare step of talking to the referee and supervisor, before eventually giving Medvedev only a warning. Replays showed she had made the right call.
Before the match, Medvedev had bemoaned how Alcaraz was capable of hitting winners from anywhere on the court, and he was reminded of that in the final three sets even while the Spaniard made some casual showman-style misses, including one comical attempt at a smash-cum-drop shot which flopped into the net.
Still, though, Alcaraz moved comfortably to within one match of pulling off the rare cross-Channel French Open-Wimbledon double and a fourth grand slam crown.
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