WIMBLEDON, England — Carlos Alcaraz is barely a couple of months past his 21st birthday, and yet this whole Grand Slam success thing is already a thing of the past.
Moving a step closer to his second consecutive Wimbledon title and fourth major championship overall, Alcaraz overcame a shaky start Friday to beat Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals on Centre Court.
“I feel like I'm not a newbie anymore. I feel like I know how I'm going to feel going into the final. I've been in this position before,” Alcaraz said. “I'll try to do the things I did well last year and try to be better.”
After a so-so first set, Alcaraz transformed himself back into the energetic, attacking, crowd-pleasing force who was already the first teenager to be number one in the ATP rankings and the youngest man to have won a major trophy on three surfaces: grass, clay and hard courts.
The Spaniard is now one win away from joining Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg as the only men in the Open era, which began in 1968, to win multiple championships at the All England Club before turning 22.
Alcaraz also triumphed at the 2022 US Open and the French Open last month.
He is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals so far and will face either 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti on Sunday. That duo was playing in the second semifinal, the 49th appearance at that stage of a Grand Slam tournament for Djokovic and the first for Musetti.
A year ago at Wimbledon, Alcaraz eliminated 2021 US Open champion Medvedev in straight sets in the semifinals before defeating Djokovic in five sets in the final.
This time, on an overcast afternoon (the main stadium’s retractable roof was open because none of the rain that fell during the tournament’s first week and a half had fallen), the third-seeded Alcaraz went through some ups and downs against the fifth-seeded Medvedev, a 28-year-old Russian who was trying to reach his seventh career Grand Slam title match.
“I started off very, very nervous,” Alcaraz said. “He was dominating the match, playing fantastic tennis… It was difficult for me.”
In fact, Medvedev took an early 5-2 lead, but then got into trouble with his game and his temperament.
Alcaraz broke serve to go 5-4 up with a drop shot that chair umpire Eva Asderaki ruled — correctly, according to television replays — bounced twice before Medvedev put his racket on the ball. He appeared to swear afterward and Asderaki, after getting out of her seat to meet tournament umpire Denise Parnell during the ensuing changeover, issued a warning to Medvedev for unsportsmanlike conduct.
He quickly regrouped and was almost perfect in the tiebreak of that set.
Then it was Alcaraz's turn to head in the right direction, which did not take long.
Three forehand errors by Medvedev resulted in a break for Alcaraz and a 2-1 lead in the third set, achieved with a backhand winner that capped a 27-stroke point that was the longest of the match. The fans roared and rose to their feet; Alcaraz put his index finger to his ear and the noise grew louder.
He got the final break he needed for a 4-3 lead in the fourth set when Medvedev hit a backhand long, then sat in his chair at courtside, stared at his two coaches in the stands and began mumbling and gesticulating.
That's what Alcaraz can do to an opponent.
Almost every time Alcaraz let out one of his two-syllable grunts as he unleashed a powerful forehand, spectators gasped, regardless of whether the point continued or not. Often, that wasn't the case: Of the 28 forehand winners in the match, 24 were the work of Alcaraz's racquet.
Needless to say, that's not his only skill. He was fantastic at the net, whether serving and volleying or using any other technique, and won 38 of the 53 points he played. He won three points with drop shots in the first set.
As dangerous as he can be at his most aggressive, his defense is also something to be admired.
Sometimes, it seems like an exchange is never over until he decides it is. And if it seems that way from the comfort of the stands, imagine how frustrating it must be for opponents. At one point, Alcaraz left a mark several feet long in the turf when he ran and then slid to reach a seemingly unreachable ball. He launched a lob that drew Medvedev, who swerved, over his head in response.
Still, Alcaraz was determined not to fall for the kind of baseline points Medvedev loves. Only 38 of the 244 points in the semifinal lasted nine or more shots.
“I tried not to play long points. I tried to do slices, drop shots. I tried to come to the net as much as I could,” Alcaraz said. “I tried not to play their game.”
In addition to the men's final at Wimbledon, Sunday's sporting agenda includes the final of the men's European Football Championship in Germany, where Spain will face England.
When Alcaraz alluded to this in his on-court interview, saying: “It's going to be a really good day for the Spanish as well,” he drew boos from the home side. Alcaraz smiled and added: “I didn't say Spain were going to win. I just said it was going to be a very, very fun day.”
