Carlos Alcaraz’s clinical brilliance sends warning to Wimbledon rivals
After more than an hour of Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune serving up a classic opening set of futuristic tennis, the door suddenly closed. Standing in its way was the World No 1, as Alcaraz took the match away from his young rival and raced through the second and third sets to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final.
This first grand slam meeting between Alcaraz and Rune, and first Wimbledon quarter-final played between two players under the age of 21, burned immensely bright to begin with. The stunning attacking play on both sides, creating fun points and absorbing rallies, seemed set to last until it reached the fading evening light on Centre Court.
There was a shine to it, a gleaming freshness, until Alcaraz put his foot down. Staggeringly, after edging ahead by taking the first-set tiebreak, Alcaraz didn’t make a single unforced error in the second set and only one in the third. This was a performance that Novak Djokovic would have been proud of.
Rune may have tired as the young Dane’s game dropped - he later explained that he carried an illness into the match - but this was also a crushingly clinical performance from Alcaraz in which he showed his greater experience. Even at 20, Alcraraz had already accumulated much more of it at this stage of the grand slams. But as he found his level when it mattered and played more consistently when it counted, he did so while remaining pure Alcaraz: displaying his instinctive variety, wonderful touch and feel at the net, and his huge forehand swing, all mixed in with ruthless attacking strikes against Rune’s second serve. For Alcaraz to blast Rune apart like this sets an ominous tone for the future.
The first set stood out because Rune matched Alcaraz, bringing his own aggressive and attacking play. It may have fizzled out, but it was electric and everything everyone had hoped it would be while it lasted, with intense hitting, entertaining rallies, eye-catching winners and clever net play from the opening game. Alcaraz and Rune, who have known each other since they were 12 years old, are tipped to be the sport’s next great rivals and compete for multiple grand slam titles. Based on the first hour of this, there’s a lot to look forward to, but the next 75 minutes showed why Alcaraz is expected to dominate once Djokovic is no longer around.
There’s still not enough evidence to suggest whether Alcaraz can trouble Djokovic’s winning run at Wimbledon should they meet in the final, while the Spaniard must first pass a tough test against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals. Alcaraz, though, is getting better as the problems get tougher and this was his most convincing win yet. There’s an edge to Rune, an attitude that emanates from his cut-off sleeves and backwards cap that has occasionally rubbed opponents the wrong way. It was unlikely to ever bother Alcaraz, who manages to play with his own childlike enthusiasm while remaining mature and level.
Yet Rune’s talent and attitude came close to disrupting it in the first set. The sixth seed had what turned out to be his only break point of the match in Alcaraz’s opening service game. Alcaraz saved and from there it was the Dane who came under more pressure to hold as he initially struggled to find his first serve, with Alcaraz targeting the second on the returns. Rune escaped from difficult spots as he started to match Alcaraz by smacking the forehand winners. Adjusting to the level superbly, he continued to handle Alcaraz well in the rallies, particularly on the backhand wing which he took early to draw errors and frustration from the Spaniard.
Rune emerged from a pivotal deuce game at 4-5 in the first, powering the backhand winner past Alcaraz and then standing firm at the net as Alcaraz looked to pull out the flashy forehand pass on the spin. The sixth seed then made it to the tiebreak as he placed a forehand winner down the line, with Rune’s speed and movement proving a match for Alcaraz’s drop shots and net play.
Alcaraz, though, raised his game in the tiebreak. As both players continued to push and probe, stretching the court to its limits, Alcaraz found greater accuracy and dared to hit closer to the lines. After nudging a backhand volley, Rune made a costly double fault at 3-3, giving Alcaraz a lead in the tiebreak that he would not relent. In two explosions from his racket, Alcaraz crushed a forehand bullet down the line and then, on set point, steered Rune’s serve for a clean pass, his roar rising as it flashed past his opponent at the net.
The second set began at a steadier level, with the games skipping by as Rune found more dominance on his serve but with continued moments of brilliance from both sides, rallies that were played out as if on fast-forward. At 4-4, Rune came under pressure following another double fault and Alcaraz snatched at the opening, producing an improvised return to Rune’s body serve as he bent his knees. Digging in on the defence, he hung up a lob that Rune crashed into the bottom of the net. On the only break point of the set, Alcaraz did exactly what he did to close out the tiebreak, targeting the Rune second serve to guide a backhand return winner down the line.
There was no roar this time, just an assured nod and fist pump as me moved a set away. Rune, playing erratically now, received a time violation and was punished again as Alcaraz picked off another second serve, before edging a net exchange to bring up break point. There, Alcaraz continued to be clinical, with Rune slumping his backhand into the net. With Rune unable to threaten Alcaraz’s accurate serve, it felt like the match was gone.
It was closed out in two hours and 21 minutes, Alcaraz pulling a majestic backhand down the line to reach match point, the second and third sets whizzing by and over too soon. There was a further roar from Alcaraz, a reminder that although he made this easy, he has little right to be entering his first Wimbledon semi-final on just his fourth tournament on grass. "For me, it is a dream to be able to play a semi-final here,” he beamed. “I think I am playing great, a good level. On this surface, it is crazy.” But for Alcaraz’s future rivals, it’s also very, very worrying.
Ons Jabeur gets revenge on Elena Rybakina in rematch of Wimbledon final
Ons Jabeur got her revenge on Elena Rybakina to knock the defending champion out of Wimbledon. In the reverse of last year’s final, Jabeur fought from a set down to earn a brilliant 6-7 6-4 6-1 win and set up a semi-final clash with Aryna Sabalenka. The Tunisian flashed a stunning array of winners to break Rybakina twice in the third set and end the 24-year-old’s title defence.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, coasted into the last four with a 6-2 6-4 victory over the 25th seed from the United States, Madison Keys. The Belarusian’s match will be second on Centre Court on Thursday, after the first semi-final between Elina Svitolina and Marketa Vondrousova.
In the other men’s quarter-final on Wednesday, Christopher Eubanks’ dream run was ended in a five-set thriller by Daniil Medvedev, the third seed. The American was two sets to one up but eventually Medvedev prevailed in an enthralling match on Court One with a 6-4 1-6 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1 victory.
