Preview: Alcaraz and Medvedev meet again at Wimbledon | ATP Tour

Wimbledon

Preview: Alcaraz and Medvedev meet again at Wimbledon

The final will be decided this Friday at the All England Club

July 11, 2024

The golden cup is just a few steps away and that reality invades the interior of all the aspirants. This Friday the semi-finals of Wimbledon will take place with a stage full of excitement in the British capital. The current champion will try to keep alive his defence of the throne against a team with infinite desire: a man in search of revenge, a talent on the way to his first Grand Slam final and a legendary tennis player with the possibility of becoming the most historical champion of the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz will open Centre Court with the aim of reaching his second consecutive final at The Championships. The Spaniard, who is defending the title he won a year ago, will once again walk on familiar ground: facing Daniil Medvedev in the penultimate round of the tournament. A year ago, the Murcia native barely conceded nine games in one of the most unbalanced duels of the rivalry, although the intensity seems guaranteed in London.

Medvedev will come into the match on the back of one of his biggest wins of recent months, beating world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in five sets in the quarter-finals. After contesting the Australian Open final at the start of the year, losing two sets to the Italian, Daniil is once again proving to be one of the most reliable Grand Slam players of his era. And he will have reason to take to the court with faith in his chances.

Last September, Daniil was the one who dethroned Alcaraz at the US Open, the same role he will try to play on the grass at Wimbledon. If there is a player who puts the stage weight of his rivals into perspective, it is the current world No. 5, capable of turning an adverse situation into his greatest motivation. Present for the second consecutive year in the London semi-finals, Medvedev has shown that he has perfectly understood the laws of grass.

If Alcaraz represents freshness, on the other side of the net he will find a player full of experience. Medvedev will seek his seventh Grand Slam final in London with a light at the end of the tunnel. Although Alcaraz leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head record by 4-2, Daniil opened the rivalry by defeating the Spaniard on the grass of the All England Club, against a Carlos who is barely 18 years old in his first visit to Wimbledon.

For his part, Alcaraz will face the most difficult match of the tournament, facing a world Top 10 player for the first time in this edition of The Championships. The Murcia native, who has lost sets in his last three encounters, will be immersed in a battle of hard serves and a wall of backcourt, the main weapons that Medvedev will use to keep him from defending his throne.

The Murcian will try to become the second Spaniard capable of reaching multiple Wimbledon finals (after Rafael Nadal) and equal Manolo Santana as the second Spanish man with the most Grand Slam finals reached (4).

Two familiar faces will be the protagonists of the second semi-final, with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic trading blows with Italian Lorenzo Musetti, making his debut at this stage of a Grand Slam.

London will witness the rematch of one of its greatest champions. The Serbian saw his enormous reign at Wimbledon cut short a year ago, falling in the final after having won four consecutive trophies. Once again on the verge of fighting for glory, Novak will need to revive his champion’s instinct without having tasted a title in the entire 2024 season.

The match will have an interesting question mark over the former world No. 1’s rhythm. Djokovic will come into the match without having competed since Monday, with three clean sheets after not having to play the quarter-finals due to Alex de Minaur’s injury. The Serbian, who dropped two sets heading into the penultimate round, will have to open his eyes to the game of the Italian, capable of opening the court with extreme skill.

Although Djokovic leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Musetti 5-1, their Grand Slam clashes have been spectacle. The Italian dragged the Serbian to the fifth set in their two previous clashes on the clay at Roland Garros, the last of which was just a few weeks ago in the French capital. On the unpredictable grass of London, where Lorenzo’s aesthetic game continues to fit like a glove, the challenge will be set for the Balkan great.

The match will be a historic date for Djokovic. The Serbian will be seeking his sixth consecutive Wimbledon final, something that only Swiss Roger Federer and Swede Bjorn Borg have achieved in the Open Era.