London: Carlos Alcaraz moved a step closer to winning back-to-back men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, rallying back from a set deficit to beat Daniil Medvedev in four sets in the semifinals here on Friday. The 21-year-old Spaniard rallied past Medvedev 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday afternoon to reach the championship match at the London major.
Alcaraz kept his cool after struggling to find his best level in the opening set and raised his game, particularly on serve, to seal a two-hour, 55-minute triumph on Centre Court.
Alcaraz, who also defeated Medvedev in the Wimbledon semifinals last year, faces a potential rematch of his epic 2023 final against 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic. The Serbian faces 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the other semifinal as he continues his bid to equal Roger Federer’s record eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles.
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. At Wimbledon 2023, the Spaniard prevailed over Djokovic in an epic five-set thriller. If he can successfully defend his title at Wimbledon on Sunday, Alcaraz 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 Novak Djokovic.
“I’m really happy about my performance today,” said Alcaraz in his on-court interview. “I started really nervously. He 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,” he said.
The way Alcaraz fought back and ended Friday’s semifinal against Medvedev was in stark contrast to the tennis he produced in the opening set. He was uncharacteristically wayward with his drop shots and landed just 48 per cent (16/33) of his first serves. Despite clinching two breaks of serve of his own to force a tie-break, Medvedev cruised through it to claim an early lead.
Ranked No. 3 in the ATP Rankings, Alcaraz immediately tightened his game at the start of the second set. He clinched the only break of serve of the set in the fourth game, and another early break in the third brought him within a set of victory.
Although Medvedev did not let his head drop and reclaimed an early break in the fourth, Alcaraz’s ability to disrupt the rhythm of the rallies proved crucial. The Spaniard broke serve for the sixth time in the match for 4-3 and went on to seal victory having struck 55 winners to his opponent‘s 31. With his win, Alcaraz improved his ATP head-to-head record against Medvedev to 5-2.
–IANS
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