July 9, 2024; London, England; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates winning his match against Tommy Paul of the United States (not shown) on day nine of the Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports Third seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain fought off nerves and a slow start to beat Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to his second straight Wimbledon final on Saturday in London.
Alcaraz, the defending champion, also defeated the Russian in 2023 in the semi-finals before defeating Novak Djokovic for his first Wimbledon title. Alcaraz has an overall record of 17-2 at the All England Club.
Alcaraz and Djokovic will have a rematch Sunday after seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Djokovic, the second seed, won 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 against Italian 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti. .
“He deserves to be one of the greatest 21-year-olds we’ve seen in this sport,” Djokovic said after his match against Alcaraz again. “And we will be seeing a lot of him in the future….
“He beat me in the Wimbledon final (last year) in five sets. I didn’t expect anything. He is a complete player as he is now. It will take the best of my ability to beat him on Sunday.”
The first match on the grass court started for Medvedev, who jumped out to a 5-2 lead but gave it back when Alcaraz broke him to get back on serve. In the tiebreak, Medvedev dominated, winning seven out of eight points.
Despite having the momentum, Medvedev couldn’t hold it, losing serve to go 3-1 down in the second set and give Alcaraz the only opening he needed.
In all, Alcaraz broke Medvedev’s serve six times out of 15 opportunities. Going into the match, the Russian had been beaten just eight times in five matches in two weeks.
Alcaraz hit 55 winners compared to 31 for Medvedev, who he said was a tough opponent and was happy to get past him. The key, he said, is to think of ways to avoid mass gatherings.
“I started to get really nervous,” Alcaraz said in an interview in court. “I think he dominated the match, played good tennis and was good with his serve. He was difficult for me; he tried to get rid of all the nerves. At the beginning of the second set, it was really helpful to go up 3 -1, and after that I was able to play my own game.. .I have played a great game.
Alcaraz won 85.7 percent of her service games (18 of 21) and was broken just three times. Medvedev managed to break his serve just once after the first set.
Djokovic and Musetti each had 34 winners in the fight and Musetti committed nine errors less than Djokovic’s 31.
Musetti led 3-1 in the second set before Djokovic recovered to force a tiebreaker. Serbia won the first three points and rolled to take a 2-0 lead.
Djokovic can tie Roger Federer’s record for most Wimbledon titles (8) if he beats Alcaraz. Victory would also give Djokovic a record 25 Grand Slam titles. Margaret Court won 24 Grand Slam crowns on the women’s side.
“I’m very happy and happy to be in another final,” Djokovic said. “But I don’t want to stop here. I want to take the trophy on Sunday.”
Djokovic’s strong run comes after he underwent surgery June 5 on his right knee to repair meniscus damage. He had to withdraw from the French Open in the quarter-finals after suffering an injury during his win against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on June 3.
“There are a lot of doubts,” Djokovic said. “Arriving in London about eight days before the tournament started, I didn’t know if I would be part of the tournament or not. Always open everything until the day of the round. I played a few practice sets with top players and exhibition matches that proved that I was in a good enough situation to not only be a part of Wimbledon but also to enter the tournament.”
Djokovic is 3-2 all-time against Alcaraz.
Alcaraz won 3-0 in the Grand Slam final. He said he was glad it was Saturday and would escape tennis by playing golf.
“I’m really, really bad compared to my tennis,” he said of his golf game. “I like to play golf. I’m not very good … I can’t do it right away, but, yes, it helps me, you know, to turn off my mind a little bit, not think about tennis and relax. .”
–Field Level Media
