LONDON – Carlos Alcaraz has already made plans for Sunday: to try to successfully defend his Wimbledon title.
The Spaniard beat Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, won his thirteenth consecutive match at the All England Club and now awaits Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in the final with the goal of becoming a two-time champion.
Alcaraz looked uncomfortable with the conditions on the court at the start of the match on the cloudy afternoon of Friday, July 12. It is quite a paradox that the abnormality at Wimbledon is to play with an open roof. For the big names in this 2024 it is: Alcaraz and Medvedev reached the semifinals having played most of their matches with the retractable roof closed on Centre Court and Court 1 due to the lousy summer weather in London with rain interruptions almost every day.
“Happy to play outdoors again!”, said Alcaraz after the match.
Despite that happpines, the defending champion was very erratic in the first set, until the moment when Medvedev went to serve for the first serve and was met with deep returns from the Spaniard that unsettled him. The break came after the judge’s decision to stop the point after a drop shot from Alcaraz that found the double bounce. Medvedev, annoyed and in disagreement, rudely addressed the judge.
Medvedev insulted oficial Eva Asdaraki saying some words in Russian. The incident ended with the general referee on the court and a warning to the world number 5 for unsportsmanlike conduct. He would admit later in press conference he said something “not pleasant” in his language.
Medvedev hit with a code violation for saying…. 😳 #wimbledon pic.twitter.com/7zxESntqv5
– Pamela Maldonado (@pamelam35) July 12, 2024
Medvedev was lucky and saved himself from disqualification. Then, he did not lose his concentration and knew how to take the tiebreak of the first set thanks to the effectiveness of his serve.
Then came the rise of Alcaraz: with greater intensity and precision, he took the initiative with varied strokes and effects, pushed back his rival, and closed the points when he dared to go to the net. He showed his most authentic repertoire.
Alcaraz beats Medvedev
The fantasy shots were not lacking, and so the joy of the 21-year-old tennis player was released and his tennis was loosening up more and more until he became the absolute dominator of the game.
Alcaraz took Medvedev in the time machine a year ago, when in the semifinals, the Spaniard was a steamroller and removed the Russian with a triple 6-3.
Except for the “detail” of the start, history repeated itself. Alcaraz beats Medvedev.
The title defense is still alive, and the only champion outside the Big 4 in 20 years wants to continue to put his name among the legends. He will surely be excited to think that he can join Djokovic, Federer, Sampras, Becker, McEnroe, Borg, Laver and Newcombe as the club of those who successfully revalidated the crown.
