Dreams come true and Carlos Alcaraz’s wish to play the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic will take place this Sunday (from 3:00 p.m.) on center court at the All England Club. There the Spanish will face the Serbian for the Wimbledon title; the first for one, the eighth for the other. The assault on the throne for the Murcian, the mouthful of sport and history for the man from Belgrade.
Alcaraz, barely 20 years old, is already the third Spanish man to play in the Wimbledon final, along with Manolo Santana (1966) and Rafael Nadal (from 2006 to 2011) and the sixth in total, adding Arantxa Sánchez Vicario ( 1995 and 1996), Conchita Martínez (1994) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2015 and 2017).
The Murcian is also, after defeating Daniil Medvedev (6-3, 6-3 and 6-3), the youngest quarterfinalist in the Wimbledon Open Era, only behind Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Nadal.
Defeating the Russian is breaking down a moral barrier that was etched in his memory when he fell to Djokovic in the recent Roland Garros semifinals. There they seized him and tied his nerves, those that only appeared this Friday in the final bars when Alcaraz was close to executing Medvedev, a shadow of what he should have been.
The Russian had no weapon to compete with Alcaraz. Nothing. He was a lost man, at the mercy of what the Spanish game dictated, which generated both good and bad. It was his racket that led the match and as soon as he saw an escape route he decided to enter the victory.
Alcaraz and his team appreciated a crack in the Russian’s second serve and went for it -leaving Medvedev to 30% of points with second service won (10/33)-. Thus came the first break, after two winning returns in a row, one of the most difficult shots in tennis. The long-legged Russian also had problems finding the drop shots of the Spaniard, who found another vein there and won the first four plays.
Thus, Alcaraz pocketed the first set, suffered a ‘break’ ball in the second that he solved with an ‘ace’ and rushed to increase the advantage in the second with three consecutive games. With 6-3 and 3-1, Medvedev was upset, asking his bench for explanations and with completely flat and docile tennis against Alcaraz’s, much richer in nuances and much more difficult to overcome from the bottom.
The Spanish hammer continued hitting until the abusive score of 6-3, 6-3 and 3-0. Only three games separated Alcaraz from achieving his most overwhelming victory in a Grand Slam, but the striking thing is that it was not in a first round in Paris or New York, it was in a Wimbledon semifinal and against the third best racket in the world.
That’s why his nerves attacked him. There were four breaks in a row, two for each side, and always with the feeling that the game was still under control because it was Alcaraz who failed or won. Not even Medvedev’s powerful serve was able to grab him by the bib and get him out of the rut. He was sunk and when Alcaraz finished him off, with a running right-handed passing, he could only shake hands and leave the track. There was Alcaraz, with his arms raised and with the ticket to the Wimbledon final achieved.
“It’s a dream come true,” he confirmed, while giving himself a chance against Djokovic in the final. “I believe in myself and I am confident that I can beat him,” he said.
On Sunday, the third duel between the two best on the planet, after the semifinals of Madrid 2022 (Alcaraz) and those of Roland Garros 2023 (Djokovic). In addition, the number one will be at stake, the winner will keep it.
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