Carlos Alcaraz reached the final at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships for the second year in a row, proving that last year’s victory was not just a stroke of luck. The 21-year-old Spaniard had a bad start against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal, but he reacted in the best way and prevailed in 4 sets expressing fantastic tennis in the second part of the match.
The former world number 1 will try to win the fourth Slam of his young career, the second in 2024 after triumphing at the French Open last month. ‘Carlitos’ level grew with the passing of the day, having seriously risked elimination against Frances Tiafoe in the third round and against Ugo Humbert in the following round.
Carlos Alcaraz will face Djokovic again
In the final there will be the rematch of last year’s final against the seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The Serbian defeated Lorenzo Musetti in three sets and confirmed that he was in excellent shape despite surgery on his knee last month. The Serbian champion will do his best to avenge the defeat of 2023 and to win his eighth title at Church Road, which would allow him to match the record of his great rival Roger Federer. Fans and experts expect an epic final like last year’s, in which Alcaraz came back to Djokovic and prevailed on the fifth, also taking advantage of some indecision from the Serbian.
During a recent interview with Tennis Channel, former American player Jim Courier praised the great work done by Carlos Alcaraz: “Ferrero has set up a system that Alcaraz finds extremely comfortable.”
The Spaniard had difficulties on grass at the beginning, but he was able to find the right feeling on this surface with the passing of the matches. After winning the French Open this year, Carlos did not play well at the Queen’s Club losing to Jack Draper in two sets. The 3-time Grand Slam champion has been patient, has trained intensively and is just one win away from his second consecutive Wimbledon title.
During the press conference after the Wimbledon semi-final, the Russian Medvedev praised Alcaraz: “I felt like I was serving good, definitely not worse than the other matches. Only five aces. He seemed to touch almost every ball on the court, like running well. I made some good points. I could have finished some maybe at the net, but didn’t manage to do it. Carlos, I don’t think he has anything from them. It’s different game style. I think where Carlos is different from many players, we all have a little bit of our preferences, someone prefers defence, someone prefers to counterattack, someone prefers to be super aggressive. He can do all of it.”
Alcaraz remained calm
After a bad first set, the Spaniard was good at changing tactics by becoming more aggressive and often showing up on the net. Former World number 1 is satisfied with his performance: “I tried not to play long rallies [to combat Medvedev’s game], I tried to hit drop shots, go to the net as much as I can, to not play his game.
First of all, I’m glad to play outdoors. Different conditions, but yeah really happy about my performance. I started really nervous, he was playing great tennis. It was difficult for me, but I tried to pull out the nerves at the beginning of the second set. After that I could play my own game, hit great shots and enjoy the match. In general, I think I played a really great match.”
Carlitos doesn’t want any more pressure on himself: “I try not to think about defending the title. I play every game knowing there’s a chance of losing. Every game is a war. The opponent will give his best tennis to beat you. I think I have to be a good player for the team.” The Spaniard is also trying to be calmer on the court: “It’s something I’m working on. Having nerves is normal, but you have to control them. When you don’t control them, it’s hard to play your best tennis or deal with situations. That’s what happened to me in the first set. At that moment I suffered from playing with the service. I was in too much a hurry, it seemed that Daniil Medvedev was in control. Then I started to calm down and play better, to feel that I would have fun”.
Alcaraz and Djokovic are ready to give a show on the grass of Wimbledon in what promises to be an electrifying final. A generational clash that is destined to remain in the history of this sportm
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