Carlos Alcaraz in the match against Holger Rune in the Wimbledon quarterfinals | Photo: Sebastien Bozon/ AFP
Spain’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz qualified for his first Wimbledon semifinal on Wednesday, where he will face Russian Daniil Medvedev in hopes of reaching a final showdown with champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
Alcaraz defeated Dane Holger Rune 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4. They are both 20 years old.
In a very even match against the world number 6, the Spaniard managed to impose his genius at key moments.
«I did not expect to play at such a good level on this surface. For me this is crazy, “he acknowledged after the game on grass, a surface that until recently he did not master.
“At first I was very nervous about playing a quarterfinal here, but also playing against Rune, someone my same age who plays at a high level,” he explained.
“But I have always said that when you enter the track there are no friends,” he added. And he recognized that from the second set she began to feel better sensations.
The match between Alcaraz and Medvedev
Carlos Alcaraz shakes hands with the Danish Holger Rune after beating him in the quarterfinals | Photo: Sebastien Bozon/ AFP
The first set between two tennis players who have competed together since they were children saw them prudently attack and defend from the baseline, with a single break point being unsuccessful leading to a tie-break.
This also started very close, but a double fault from Rune gave the Spaniard a 4-3 lead, which Alcaraz took advantage of to win the next three points.
Also in the second set the level of both players, already looser, remained balanced, displaying a variety of spectacular shots, until Rune crashed a forehand into the net in the ninth game.
With a backhand on the bottom line, Alcaraz broke his serve, putting himself up two sets.
When the Spanish, US Open champion, broke the Dane’s serve again in the fifth game of the third set, Rune’s match was uphill and he could no longer turn it around.
The number one wants to enjoy the semifinal
The number one in the world expressed his concern ahead of the Wimbledon semifinal | Photo: Sebastien Bozon/ AFP
In the semifinal, facing Medvedev “is going to be very tough,” admitted Alcaraz. “But you can’t play a semifinal here every year, so I’m going to enjoy this moment,” he said.
The Russian, the third racket in the world, will also play his first semifinal at Wimbledon, where on Wednesday he beat the American Christopher Eubanks, number 43 and revelation of this tournament, with great effort, who gave him a hard battle.
After trailing by two sets to one, Medvedev turned the tables to end up winning 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) and 6-1.
Eubanks, 27 years old, who had eliminated the Greek Stefanos Tsistipas (N.5) in the previous round, was trying to become the third tennis player in Wimbledon history to reach the semifinals in his first participation in the tournament.
However, his dream was dashed in the final set of a very close contest.
“After the first set, I didn’t want to go to five, but when I lost the third, I was happy to go to five,” Medvedev said after the match.
“There were times when I was losing, so to speak, and he was playing well. I started sinking and making mistakes, but from the third set I started to build something. I had more chances in the fourth set and after the tie-break I played amazing,” he added.
Alcaraz has already said that he came to Wimbledon with the intention of playing a final, perhaps the revenge of the final lost in June against Djokovic on the clay of Paris, when he got nervous despite playing on a surface that he dominates.
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