Carlos Alcaraz has already carved his path at the top of men’s tennis at a quicker rate than all but a select few players before him. Even with the unenviable task of following up a generation that included three of the greatest male players of all time, he has still, somehow, managed to excel in his own unique way. The one big question surrounding his career was when his bursts of brilliance might become week in, week out, exhibitions of his supreme ability.
Just under a month after he battled through to win his first French Open title and his third overall on as many different surfaces, Alcaraz demonstrated his growing maturity by working his way back into his tough semi-final with Daniil Medvedev after a tepid start. From a set down, Alcaraz calmly turned the match around to win 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and return to the Wimbledon final for a second consecutive year.
At just 21, Alcaraz has now reached four major finals. He is the fifth man in the Open era to reach four major finals by the age of 21 and he is also the fourth to reach multiple Wimbledon finals at his age. Most importantly, this is the first time that Alcaraz has reached multiple major finals in a calendar year: with every major, and even every match, he is gaining a better understanding of how to navigate these draws over two gruelling weeks and react to adversity while winning.
“I feel like I’m not new any more,” said Alcaraz. “I feel like I know how I’m going to feel before the final. I’ve been in this position before. I will try to do the things that I did well last year, try to be better.”
As the fifth seed, Medvedev had been handed an unenviable task this year. After producing the biggest grass-court win of his career to topple Jannik Sinner, the No 1 seed, in a tough five-set tussle, an even greater challenge awaited him in the form of the defending champion. Last year, when they met at this stage, Alcaraz completely outplayed Medvedev in all facets of the game to reach the final in three routine sets.
From the beginning of this encounter, though, Medvedev made it clear that he was ready for a battle. He frustrated Alcaraz throughout the first set with his depth, shot tolerance and discipline, quickly establishing a 5-2 lead. Despite landing a pitiful 35% of first serves in, and with a growing error count at that point, Alcaraz forced a tie-break. But Medvedev kept his head alongside his depth, consistency and forehand aggression to roll through it.
During Alcaraz’s short-lived first set recovery, things could have ended quickly for Medvedev. He received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct after he appeared to swear at the umpire, Eva Asderaki, after Asderaki decided that an Alcaraz drop shot had bounced twice before Medvedev reached it on break point at 3-5. After the set, the tournament referee and supervisor were called to the court and there was a long discussion before play restarted.
Although the first set had been difficult, there was no reason for Alcaraz to panic. Not only had the set still been tight despite his poor serving, he was also consistently putting Medvedev’s own service games under pressure. He started the second set finding slightly more first serves and the match quickly shifted at 2-1 on Medvedev’s serve. While Alcaraz returned brilliantly and continued to attack while moving forward, Medvedev missed an easy forehand volley at 0-15. After breaking serve, Alcaraz held on to close out the set.
With the match level again, Alcaraz relaxed and dominated the exchanges, mixing in net forays and drop shots while demonstrating his superior firepower. For much of the final three sets, Medvedev was reduced to chasing shadows from behind the baseline as Alcaraz closed out yet another massive win, continuing an epic start to his short, young career.
“I started really, really nervous,” said Alcaraz. “He was dominating the match, and it was difficult for me. I tried to pull out all the nerves at the beginning of the second set. It was really helpful to be up 3-1, after that I could [play] my own game. I could enjoy the match a little bit more, trying to hit great shots and move pretty well. In general, I think I played a really great match.”
With Alcaraz reaching another Wimbledon final, Sunday could represent a significant day in the history of Spanish sport. In his on-court interview, Alcaraz referenced Spain’s Euro 2024 final against England by suggesting that Sunday will be “a good day for Spanish people”. He was greeted with playful boos from the Centre Court crowd in response: “I didn’t say Spain’s gonna win, I’m just saying that it’s going to be a pretty fun day,” said Alcaraz, flustered but still smiling widely.
Source: theguardian.com
