Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon title defense keeps charging for the final with a dominant comeback victory over the Queen’s Club Championships’ winner, Tommy Paul. The Spaniard was the first player to defeat Novak Djokovic on Center Court in the 2023 final since the Serbian lost the 2013 final on that court to Andy Murray.
The 21-year-old Spaniard will face Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal after the Russian overcame Jannik Sinner in a real rollercoaster of a quarterfinal clash. This will be a rematch of their 2023 semifinal clash. On that occasion, Carlos Alcaraz was the victor.
Carlos Alcaraz Pegs A Resilient Tommy Paul Back
The first set clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Tommy Paul was a firecracker. The clash was a show of forehand prowess and dominance at the net as well as a mixture of winners and sleek drop shots from both players.
Alcaraz’s superb court coverage was matched by Tommy Paul’s resilience as they dragged each other towards a tiebreak. While Alcaraz was preparing for a tiebreak, Tommy Paul had other ideas. The American whizzed a powerful backhand winner down the line on set point to break Alcaraz’s serve in the 12th game and steal the first set at the death.
The first set lasted an hour and ten minutes. Things didn’t start for Carlos Alcaraz in the second set according to plan as Tommy Paul broke his serve in the second game of the set to lead 2-0. However, this wasn’t the first time Alcaraz had found himself in such a position and the Spaniard replied immediately to break the American’s serve and peg him back at 2-2.
Carlos Alcaraz then went on to flip the game on the Queen’s Club Championships winner, breaking his serve in the seventh game. Tommy Paul struggled to find a reply, but the Spaniard held firm to serve out the set to a 6-4 win.
Dominance Sends Alcaraz To The Semifinal
The momentum was surely with Carlos Alcaraz from this point. As soon as the third set began, the Spaniard pulled all the stops, unleashing his trademark dominant forehands to break Paul’s serve in the first game. Paul didn’t relent though, firing back immediately to tie the set at 1-1.
However, Tommy Paul was no match for Carlos Alcaraz who showed him why he was the defending champion. The Spaniard broke his serve again in the third consecutive break of a player’s serve in the set.
At 3-2, both players played a very long game on Tommy Paul’s serve, struggling with four deuces till Carlos Alcaraz finally broke the American’s serve to lead 4-2. Alcaraz’s shout of, “Vamos!” showed how much it meant to him.
Alcaraz sealed another break of Tommy Paul’s serve to lead 5-2, then served out the match to win the third set and lead in the tie.
Tommy Paul then fell away in the fourth set. Carlos Alcaraz raced to two breakpoint opportunities in the first game. The Spaniard then quickly raced to a 4-1 lead before holding his serve to lead 5-1. Tommy Paul held his serve to extend the match but the inevitable remained inevitable as the defending champion served out the match to reach the semifinal.
Alcaraz Vs Medvedev: Another Wimbledon Semifinal
Well, he has been great tennis here on grass. He won Queen’s. I think he has been doing great stuff here in Wimbledon, beating great players, and of course, today was a really difficult match for me.
At the beginning of the first set and the beginning of the second set, it was kind of like I’m playing on clay. I’m playing big rallies, I mean with over 10, 15 shots for every point. So, I had to just stay there strong mentally.
At the beginning when I lost the first set, it was kind of difficult for me a little bit, but I knew that this is a really long journey, a really long match. So, I had to stay there and I’m really happy to find the solution.
With Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Tommy Paul, the 21-year-old Spaniard joined the elite list of Rafael Nadal and Manuel Santana, who was the first Spanish male player to win a Wimbledon title in 1966, to reach multiple semifinals in Wimbledon.
The defending champion’s charge to defend his 2023 Wimbledon title is still alive as he’d have the opportunity to repeat his 2023 semifinal victory over Daniil Medvedev on Friday when they both face each other in the 2024 semifinal.
Well, he’s a really great player. It’s the same semi-final as last year. Hopefully, I’m going to get the same results. But I mean, he just won Jannik Sinner, the best player right now, so I know that he’s in a really good shape. So, I have to play my best, I have to believe in myself, and have to keep going if I want to beat him. So, it’s going to be a difficult one, but I’m going to enjoy.
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