(Wimbledon) The world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz qualified for his first semi-final at Wimbledon by dismissing Dane Holger Rune (6th) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
“The match was very difficult, I was very nervous at the beginning, to play a quarter at Wimbledon and more against Rune,” commented the 20-year-old Spaniard who will face Russian Daniil Medvedev (3rd) on Friday for a place. in the final, his second in a Grand Slam after that won last year at the United States Open.
“It was hard playing against Rune, but when you step onto the court, there are no friends. You have to be focused on yourself and I think I’ve done that very well,” added Alcaraz.
“In the second and third rounds, I had fun. Winning the first one and yelling ‘vamos’ really freed me up to play at my best,” he said, not wanting to expand too much on his next opponent.
“The grass suits his game well. But we don’t play semi-finals at Wimbledon every year, so I’ll take advantage of that first and prepare for the match when we get closer to it,” he said. declared. The men’s semi-finals are scheduled both on Friday.
Alcaraz thus won the first Wimbledon quarter-final contested between two players under the age of 21 in the Open era (since 1968).
He also becomes the youngest player to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since Novak Djokovic in 2007 (also 20 years old, but a few days younger than him: the Serb was born on May 22 and Alcaraz on May 5).
Both Alcaraz and Rune were extremely solid on their face-offs, so break points were very rare: three for the Spaniard who made two, and only one for the Dane, who his opponent saved.
In the end, Alcaraz therefore controlled the game without too many fears, chaining a fifth victory in a row on grass after his title at Queen’s.
In the first set, only Rune got a break point, from the very first play of the game, but without managing to convert it.
The two players came to the tiebreaker where, from 3/3, the Spaniard lined up four consecutive points to pocket the set.
In the second, the two players quietly kept their serve until the ninth game when, on a completely missed smash, Rune gave Alcaraz their first break point. The Spaniard seized the opportunity with a backhand return winner that sent a cloud of chalk up as he touched the line.
In the process, he served at 5-4 to break away two sets to nil.
The third set was like the previous one: Alcaraz managed the only break of the set, this time to lead 3-2. He then had a first match point on Rune’s serve at 5-3, but the Dane managed to stay in the game, forcing the Spaniard to serve for the game.
What he did with authority: he quickly led 40/0 and concluded on his third match point of the game, the fourth overall, taking advantage of an overlong return from Rune.
Led two sets to one by the American Christopher Eubanks, untenable for four sets, Medvedev ended up turning the tide and winning 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6 -1.
After a fight of just three hours, Eubanks, 27, 43rd in the world, but who had never taken a Grand Slam round in his career, made a heart-shaped sign with his hands to the public leaving under a deserved ovation.
Having become his darling thanks to his flamboyant game, the slender American (2.01 m for 81 kg) came close to a second consecutive feat after taking out Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th) in five equally disheveled rounds.
The two players offered an incredible spectacle to the spectators with a real lawn tennis match where risk-taking was assumed on both sides and success was achieved with 45 aces plus 81 winners.
Just take a look at Medvedev’s stats to realize the level needed to eliminate the American.
In the first set, the Russian committed only one unprovoked foul, against eleven for his opponent and even on the match, his total of 13 unforced errors remains remarkably low.
Eubanks, for his part, with 11 unforced errors in the first set alone and only 46% of the points won (6/13) when he came to the net, was far from his standards.
But things gradually fell into place in the second and third sets, with 67% (10/15) and 73% (11/15) volley success, respectively, and a largely unforced shots-to-win ratio. positive, allowing him to turn in the lead.
“After the first set I would have liked to avoid a fifth set but at the end of the third I was hoping we would play it,” the Russian joked after the match.
“There was a point in the game where I lost my game a bit, and he was playing so well, but from the fourth set I was able to gradually come back and that gave me strength,” he added.
Round four was the turning point, with Medvedev winning five shutouts from his six faceoffs and “smashing” ten aces.
Eubanks, who had won the five tiebreakers played so far, began to struggle physically as Medvedev benefited from the abandonment of Jiri Leheck (37th) after two sets.
Beaten 7-4 in the deciding game, Eubanks lost his serve on a shutout at the start of the decisive set, then a second time to find himself trailing 4-0.
When he came back to 4-1, avoiding a 6-0 that would have been cruel and undeserved, he raised his fist in the sky one last time with a smile.
But he pushed Medvedev to his limits.
