The two players, who have known and rubbed shoulders with each other since childhood, had a hard time deciding between themselves in a high-intensity first round which ended in a tie-break won 7-6 (7/3 ) by the Spaniard and concluded by an angry “Vamos”.
With an Olympian calm, clean in his ball touch and clinical in the important moments, Alcaraz raised his level of play before taking over the Norwegian by a double 6-4 in the second and third sets. Hard, really, to imagine that the native of El Palmar only played his 16th match on grass this Wednesday…
“I was very nervous to play the quarter-finals here.”
Alcaraz: “To be the best, you have to beat the best”
“I was very nervous to play the quarter-finals here, admitted the interested party in the wake of the meeting. Even more against Rune. It was difficult but when you enter the court, there are no more friends. You have to be focused on yourself and I think I succeeded in that.”
Asked about his feelings after this first qualification for the semi-finals of the event, the Murcian added: “Honestly, it’s incredible for me. Getting good results here at Wimbledon has been a dream since I started playing tennis. I play at a very good level, I didn’t expect to play such a good level on this surface so for me it’s crazy.
Alcaraz, who now culminates in 45 wins for 4 losses this season, has become the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for some time… Novak Djokovic in 2007. A Serb, a few days earlier than the player from 20 years could find Sunday in the final of Wimbledon.
Before thinking about it, however, it will be necessary to dismiss Daniil Medvedev (ATP 3). The Russian, who will experience the last four of the English Major for the first time in his career, had to fight for a long time to get Christopher Eubanks (ATP 43) out. A real surprise of the tournament, the 2m01 American did not go far from a new feat after taking out Stefanos Tsitsipas (ATP 5) in the round of 16. Led two sets to one, Medvedev drew on his mind to reverse the course of the meeting before his opponent finally cracked: 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6 -1.
When the Wimbledon finalist became an assassin
“There was a moment in the match when I lost my game a bit, and he (Eubanks) was playing very well. But from the fourth set I managed to gradually come back and that gave me strength. ”, explained the protege of the Frenchman Gilles Cervara.
Asked about his future competitor, Alcaraz simply indicated that “turf 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.”
Their semi-final, as well as that of Djokovic against Sinner, will take place on Friday.
2023-07-13 06:33:56
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