Third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain fought off nerves and a slow start to defeat Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to his second straight Wimbledon final on Friday in London.
Alcaraz, the defending champion, also beat the Russian in 2023 in the semifinal round before topping Novak Djokovic for his first Wimbledon title. He has a 17-2 overall record at the All England Club.
Friday’s match on the grass courts started in favor of Medvedev, who jumped to a 5-2 lead but gave it back when Alcaraz broke him to get back on serve. In the tiebreak, Medvedev dominated, winning seven of eight points.
Despite having the momentum, Medvedev couldn’t hold it, losing serve to go down 3-1 in the second set and giving Alcaraz the only opening he’d need.
In all, Alcaraz broke Medvedev’s serve six times out of 15 chances. Entering the match, the Russian had been broken only eight total times in his five matches during the fortnight.
Alcaraz hit 55 winners compared to 31 for Medvedev, whom he said was a tough opponent and was glad to get past him. The key, he said, was figuring out how to avoid long rallies.
“I started really, really nervous,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I think he was dominating the match, playing great, great tennis with his serves. He was difficult for me; he tried to pull out all the nerves. At the beginning of the of the second set, it was really helpful to be up 3-1, and after that I could play my own game. … I think I played a really good match.”
Alcaraz won 86 percent of his service games (18 of 21), broken just three times. Medvedev managed to break his serve just once after the first set.
In Sunday’s final, Alcaraz will meet the winner of Friday’s later semifinal between seven-time Wimbledon singles champ Djokovic, the second seed, and Lorenzo Musetti, the No. 25 seed from Italy.
Alcaraz, 21, is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals. He said he is happy to have Saturday off and will escape tennis by playing a round of golf.
“I’m so, so bad compared to my tennis,” he said. “I love playing golf. I’m not too good … I can’t hit straight but, yeah, it helps me a lot to, you know, to turn off my mind a little bit, not think about tennis and relax.”
–Field Level Media
