Wimbledon: Defending champion Alcaraz beats Medvedev to return to final

LONDON: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to return to the Wimbledon final as he seeks his fourth Grand Slam title at age 21.

After a so-so opening set, Alcaraz transformed back into the energetic, attacking, crowd-pleasing force who already was the first teenager to be No. 1 in the ATP rankings and is the youngest man to have won a major trophy on three surfaces: grass, clay and hard courts.

Now the Spaniard is one victory away from joining Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg as the only men in the Open era, which began in 1968, with multiple championships at the All England Club before turning 22.

Alcaraz also triumphed at the US Open in 2022 and the French Open last month.

A year ago at Wimbledon, Alcaraz eliminated 2021 US Open champion Medvedev in straight sets in the semifinals before defeating Djokovic in five sets in the final.

This time, on a cloudy afternoon at Centre Court, the No. 3-seeded Alcaraz went through some ups and downs against No. 5 Medvedev, a 28-year-old from Russia who was trying to get to the seventh Slam title match of his career.

Medvedev grabbed an early 5-2 lead, then got into trouble with his play and his temper.

Alcaraz broke to get within 5-4 with a drop shot that chair umpire Eva Asderaki ruled — correctly, according to TV replays — bounced twice before Medvedev got his racket on the ball. He appeared to curse afterward, and Asderaki, after climbing down from her seat to huddle with tournament referee Denise Parnell during the ensuing changeover, issued a warning to Medvedev for unsportsmanlike conduct.

He regrouped quickly and was just about perfect in that set’s tiebreaker. His own defensive abilities — if Alcaraz relies on pure speed and reflexes, Medvedev is all about instincts and the long limbs on his 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) frame — combined with some strong serving and a return winner to take it relatively easily.

Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to get headed in the right direction, which didn’t take long.

Three forehand errors by Medvedev translated into a break for Alcaraz and a 2-1 lead in the third set, accomplished with a backhand winner that capped a 27-stroke point that was the match’s longest. Alcaraz held an index finger to his ear, and the noise only grew louder.

Alcaraz got the last break he would need for a 4-3 edge in the fourth when Medvedev sailed a backhand long, then sat in his sideline chair, locked eyes with his two coaches up in the stands and started muttering and gesticulating.

That’s what Alcaraz can do to an opponent.

Nearly every time Alcaraz emitted one of his “Uh-eh!” two-syllable grunts while unleashing a booming forehand, spectators audibly gasped, regardless of whether the point continued. Often enough, it didn’t: Of the match’s 28 forehand winners, 24 were produced by Alcaraz’s racket.