Top seed Carlos Alcaraz has become the youngest man in 16 years to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon after beating fellow rising star Holger Rune in straight sets.
Playing in the tournament for only the third time in his career, Alcaraz roared his way to a 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4, victory in what was a close encounter. During large majorities of the match, there was little difference between the two. However, a couple of blips from the Dane proved to be pivotal in the outcome of the match. The victory is Alcaraz’s 45th of the season and his 34th at a major event.
“Honestly it’s amazing for me. It has been a dream since I started playing tennis,” Alcaraz said of reaching the last four at SW19. “Having good results here at Wimbledon, which is such a beautiful tournament, is a dream.”
For the first time in the Open era, two players under the age of 21 were contesting a quarter-final match at Wimbledon. Both Alcaraz and Rune are tipped to be the future stars of men’s tennis given what they have already achieved at such a young age. Alcaraz is a world No.1 and Grand Slam winner whilst his opponent already has a Masters 1000 trophy to his name, as well as three other ATP trophies.
The highly talked about encounter lived up to expectations from the onset with both players frantically running around the court to chase down balls and producing stunning shots. Throughout the opener, there was little to distinguish between the two who have known each other since childhood. Midway through the opening set tiebreaker, a Rune double fault cost him dearly as the top seed capitalized on the blip to move ahead 6-3. Alcaraz then closed the set out with a stunning backhand return that prompted him to let out a huge roar of sheer delight.
It was a similar story in the second frame with the majority of it being a close contest that was decided by a blip from Rune. This time it occurred at 4-4, 30-30, when the Dane had to hit a smash at the net but with the sun in his eyes ended up making a mess of it. Then on the following point, Alcaraz broke for the first time with a blistering backhand shot deep to the baseline. He then closed out the set with a 103 mph serve out wide which his opponent returned out.
Wearing down a rapidly tiring Rune, Alcaraz struck his next blow five games into the third set by breaking once again for 3-2. At this point, it was only a matter of time before the Spaniard clinched victory.
“I think I’m playing at a great level and honestly I didn’t expect to play at such a great level on this surface. For me, it’s crazy.” Said Alcaraz. “At the beginning, I was really nervous. Playing in a Wimbledon quarterfinal and playing against Rune who is the same age as me and playing at a great level.’
“The first set was really tough. The second and third I enjoyed a lot and played my game. That put a smile on my face.”
Alcaraz will next take on Daniil Medvedev who battled to a thrilling 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1, win over American underdog Chris Eubanks. A player who was on a nine-match winning streak on the grass.
“After the first set, for sure I didn’t want to go five [sets]. When I lost the third [set], I wanted to go to five. I had no choice.” Said Medvedev.
“There was a moment in the match I completely lost the game itself. He played well; I started to sink. I started to do a lot of mistakes not serving well enough.”
It will be the second time the two have faced each other at Wimbledon after 2021 when Medvedev won in straight sets. However, in their most recent match in Indian Wells this year, Alcaraz dropped just five games en route to victory.
“We have played two times. It’s going to be a tough one. His game suits well on the grass but right now I am going to enjoy this moment.” He said of his next opponent.
