Tennis: “Fun day” – Alcaraz moves into the Wimbledon final

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz spread his arms and gave a thumbs up – and his parents kissed in the stands. Last year’s champion prevailed against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals and now has the chance of his second Wimbledon triumph. After initial problems, the 21-year-old Spaniard won 6:7 (1:7), 6:3, 6:4, 6:4 and moved into the final of the most traditional tennis tournament for the second time in a row.

“I’m really happy with my performance. I started off very, very nervous,” said Alcaraz with relief. At the start of the second set, he tried to get rid of his nervousness: “It was helpful to be leading 3-1. After that, I was able to play my own game. All in all, I think I played a very good match.”

Impeccable record in Grand Slam finals

In his fourth Grand Slam final, Alcaraz will either face Serbian top star Novak Djokovic in a repeat of 2023 on Sunday or he will face Italian outsider Lorenzo Musetti. Just over a month ago, Alcaraz was crowned French Open winner in the final in Paris against Alexander Zverev. The young Spaniard has triumphed in all three of his Grand Slam finals to date.

The situation before the title decision in Wimbledon is no longer new to him, explained Alcaraz: “I know how I feel before the final.” He will try to be even better than in 2023, when he dethroned seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, said Alcaraz. And then alluded to the final of the European Football Championship between Spain and England on Sunday in Berlin.

“It will be a good day for the Spanish,” said the 21-year-old, trying to calm the groaning crowd. “I didn’t say Spain would win. I just said it would be a fun day.”

Jasmine Paolini wants to secure the first ever Italian Wimbledon victory in the women’s singles on Saturday (3 p.m. CEST/Prime). The French Open finalist is aiming for her first Grand Slam title against Barbora Krejcikova. For the Czech, it’s her second major coup after her 2021 triumph in Paris.

Warning for Medvedev

The renewed semi-final victory against Medvedev can be a good omen for Alcaraz. A year ago at the same venue, Alcaraz won the duel against Medvedev in three convincing sets.

This time, the 15,000 spectators on the completely full Centre Court saw a weaker start from the exceptional Spanish talent. As the match progressed, however, Alcaraz made many things look easy. “I tried to do different things. I tried not to play too many long rallies,” he explained.

The semi-finalists offered a changeable first set with four lost serves and plenty of back and forth. Alcaraz varied the tempo. However, he made an unusually high number of minor errors. His first serve was clearly too rare.

The atmosphere briefly heated up when Medvedev received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from referee Eva Asderaki during the change of ends at the end of the first set. The referee called the supervisor because Medvedev had apparently sworn. The referee had previously ended a point with an interjection that the ball had bounced twice before Medvedev reached the stop ball.

Alcaraz demonstrates his class

Medvedev nevertheless secured the first set and clearly dominated the tiebreak. However, the match then turned around. Alcaraz responded to the set deficit by raising his level and playing more offensively.

In the second and third rounds, the Spanish world number three broke the 2021 US Open winner’s serve early on, laying the foundation for a 2-1 set lead. When Medvedev conceded another break in the fourth set, it looked like a sure win for Alcaraz. Medvedev came back again, but Alcaraz was unstoppable and won after 2:55 hours.