Carlos Alcaraz stayed on course for his second consecutive Wimbledon title after storming back to defeat Daniil Medvedev and could face Novak Djokovic once again on Sunday.
In a repeat of the 2023 semi-final, third seed Alcaraz found himself 5-2 down during the first set on Centre Court, which Medvedev eventually claimed on a tie-break.
The Spaniard had struggled with his serve throughout the Championships, but eventually found his radar to level before he produced his best for the key moments in sets three and four to clinch a 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory in just under three hours.
Alcaraz was briefly jokingly booed during his on-court interview after he made reference to Sunday’s Euro 2024 final between England and Spain.
“It will be a good day for Spanish people as well,” defending champion Alcaraz bravely said when asked to look ahead to his own final.
Boos followed before Alcaraz countered with a smile: “I didn’t say Spain is going to win but I say it will be a fun, fun day.
“Obviously it will be a really difficult match. Let’s see who I am going to play on Sunday.
“I feel like I am not new anymore. Yeah, I know how I am going to feel before the final. I have been in this position before, I will try to not do the things I did wrong last year, I will try to be better and try to keep doing the right things.
“I started really, really nervous. Daniil was dominating the match, playing great tennis. It was difficult for me.
“I tried to pull out all the nerves in the second set and it was helpful to be up 3-1. After that I could start to put out my game. I think in the end I played a really good match.”
Medvedev seemed fortunate not to be defaulted during the opening set.
After umpire Eva Asderaki decided Medvedev had not got to an Alcaraz drop shot before it bounced twice, resulting in a break of serve to the 21-year-old, Medvedev reacted with what appeared to be a foul-mouthed rant at the official.
Asderaki climbed down from her chair and talked to the referee and supervisor – an unusual occurrence – before eventually giving Medvedev just a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Medvedev then changed his tactics, not only trying to keep a more aggressive position but coming to the net with surprising regularity.
While his forays were not always successful, they put question marks in the mind of Alcaraz, who lacked discipline on his groundstrokes, too often making errors on regulation shots.
A slew of them presented Medvedev with a break in the fourth game. Alcaraz immediately hit back only to drop serve again, this time his favoured drop shot letting him down.
It did the business with Medvedev serving for the set at 5-3, leading to the Russian’s indiscretion, for which he could be heavily fined.
But it was the Russian who dominated the tie-break, winning the opening five points and finishing it off with a 121 miles-per-hour second serve.
The spark for Alcaraz came in the third game of the second set, when he won a terrific all-court rally to hold serve, putting his finger to his ear to encourage the crowd to cheer louder.
And it was the third seed roaring towards his box, which included Real Madrid star Luka Modric, moments later when a forehand pass whipped cross-court gave him the break for 3-1.
Medvedev’s net adventures were now veering towards reckless and they became less frequent, the 28-year-old concentrating on trying to resist the barrage of pressure coming from the other end.
Alcaraz had found his magician mode, drawing gasps from the crowd one moment with the power of his groundstrokes before feathering drop shots to leave Medvedev scrambling.
He forged ahead early in the third set and, when he disagreed with Asderaki’s call of ‘not up’, he merely wagged his finger in her direction.
There were still bizarrely lackadaisical moments from Alcaraz, like the overhead miss late in the set that left him comically holding his head in his hands, or the careless game he played to allow Medvedev to break back at the beginning of the fourth set.
But those were far outnumbered by the sublime, and he wrapped up victory after two hours and 55 minutes when a final Medvedev forehand flew wide.
Alcaraz is 3-0 in major finals so far and will go up against 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Mussetti on Sunday.
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