Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz puts on a show to beat Daniil Medvedev on Centre Court... and he is now one game away from defending his Wimbledon crown
- Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev to reach Sunday's Wimbledon final
- Medvedev was perhaps fortunate to avoid being defaulted early in the contest
- Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic in a rematch of last year's men's singles final
On a day when ears were peeled for boos on Centre Court, no one predicted it would be Carlos Alcaraz to trigger the wrath of the crowd.
'Sunday is going to be a good day for the Spanish people,' said the 21-year-old after beating Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals to set up the potential of a Wimbledon-Euros double for Spain on Sunday night.
The crowd responded with enthusiastic boos and Alcaraz protested: 'I didn't say Spain are going to win!'
Only Novak Djokovic and Gareth Southgate stand in the way of one of the great days in Spanish sporting history.
These parallel runs to the final have become intertwined this fortnight, with Alcaraz winning his previous two rounds on the same night as the footballers advanced.
Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in Sunday's men's singles final after a dominant performance
Daniil Medvedev took the first set but faltered against Wimbledon's defending champion
The camps are following each-other's progress closely; Alcaraz watched his side's win over Germany on his phone in an ice bath and his good friend and Spain centre forward Alvaro Morata prepared for their semi-final against France by watching Alcaraz beat Tommy Paul.
If Spain do double down on Sunday, one result at least will be popular in England; Alcaraz is the new darling of Centre Court and he had them literally gasping with some of his shotmaking.
Medvedev – a born spoiler and disruptor – had denied us the Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner semi-final we were hoping for and he almost denied us much of a semi-final at all, narrowly escaping being defaulted for abusing the umpire.
The 28-year-old Russian was serving for the first set but break point down when he hustled for an Alcaraz drop-shot. He felt he got there in time but umpire Eva Asderaki – quite correctly – judged the ball had bounced twice. As he walked to his chair Medvedev had a few choice words for the official.
'I said something in Russian, not pleasant but not over the line,' he said.
Asderaki called the tournament referee and supervisor to the court. The three put their heads together and decided a warning was sufficient but Medvedev looked extremely close to a default.
Asked if he was worried he might be thrown out of the tournament, Medvedev replied: 'Not at all because, as I say, I didn't say anything too bad.'
He shrugged off that incident to take the first set, showing a marked improvement since he was thrashed by the same opponent in last year's semi-final.
Alcaraz took control of the game in the second set and he didn't let go en route to victory
That match was characterised by Alcaraz exploiting Medvedev's deep positioning – almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the line judges – with drop shots and serve-volleying.
Medvedev forced himself forward on the return on Friday and that switch-up perhaps contributed to Alcaraz's woeful first-serve percentage of 48 in that opening set.
The Russian's coach Gilles Cevara explained his tactics against Alcaraz to French newspaper L'Equipe this week: 'You have to bring Alcaraz into a zone where he can doubt. When he doubts, he can get emotional and starts making mistakes.'
There were certainly some doubts in that first set but once Alcaraz settled down and brought his serve to bear he took full control.
'I started really, really nervous,' said the No3 seed. 'I started to pull out all the nerves at the beginning of the second set. It was really helpful to go 3-1 up, I started to play my shots.'
Alcaraz's only real weakness is the impatience of youth; a tendency to go for the spectacular rather than the efficient.
When he was rolling towards victory he had an easy smash but instead attempted an overhead drop shot.
Alcaraz said he was feeling 'calm' in the final moments before his victory on Centre Court
'That moment I was feeling really calm. I was feeling the confidence to hit these kind of shots,' he said. 'Sometimes it's a disaster but it helps me a lot to relax, smile, have fun on the court. Sometimes it's difficult to do the simple shots.'
Alcaraz racked up 55 winners by the end but he is yet to produce a truly complete performance this fortnight. He suffered various bouts of nerves during his run to the French Open title and has dropped the first set in three of his last four matches here.
He will need to keep the nerves at bay and find another gear if he is to maintain his unbeaten record in Grand Slam finals and win a second of what will surely be many Wimbledon titles.
