- Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev to reach Sunday’s Wimbledon final
- Medvedev was perhaps fortunate to avoid being defaulted early in the contest
- Alcaraz will face one of Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in Sunday’s final
Carlos Alcaraz is a game away from becoming back-to-back Wimbledon champion after he brushed Daniil Medvedev aside to reach Sunday’s final.
The Spaniard dropped the first set on a tie-break but looked unruffled thereafter and eased himself through with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win with one of Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in wait.
Events could well have concluded much earlier for the world No 3 had Medvedev been defaulted out of Wimbledon after what seemed to be a volley of foul-mouthed abuse at umpire Eva Asderaki.
The Russian was broken when serving for the first set, and on the final point umpire Asderaki called ‘not up’ as the ball bounced twice before Medvedev could reach it.
The No 5 seed responded and during the changeover Asderaki called supervisor Wayne McKewen and tournament referee Danise Parnell to the court, and the three had a lengthy discussion which delayed the resumption of the match.
In the end they decided to only issue a warning for verbal abuse, rather than throwing Medvedev out of the tournament and ending the first men’s semi-final after less than a set.
Tim Henman, commentating for the BBC, said: ‘It’s probably more around verbal abuse.
‘If you use a swear word you’re going to get a code violation and a warning and a fine, but if you verbally abuse the umpire, that’s when there’s a question mark. It could be a default.
‘Just from where we’re sitting to see the umpire get down off the umpire’s chair, to see the umpire and the supervisor to go on the court, that doesn’t happen unless something has gone on.’
For Alcaraz, even the antics of Medvedev early on could not detract from another landmark win.
The 21-year-old will contest a fourth major final and a second in a row after his first title at the French Open last month, and it could be a repeat of last year’s showpiece, when Alcaraz spectacularly defeated Djokovic in five sets.
The spark for Alcaraz here came in the third game of the second set, when he won a terrific all-court rally to hold serve, putting his finger to his ear to encourage the crowd to cheer louder.
And it was the third seed roaring towards his box, which included Real Madrid star Luka Modric, moments later when a forehand pass whipped cross-court gave him the break for 3-1.
Medvedev’s net adventures were now veering towards reckless and they became less frequent, the Russian concentrating on trying to resist the barrage of pressure coming from the other end.
Alcaraz had found his magician mode, drawing gasps from the crowd one moment with the power of his groundstrokes before feathering drop shots to leave Medvedev scrambling.
There were still bizarrely lackadaisical moments from Alcaraz, like the overhead miss late in the set that left him comically holding his head in his hands, or the careless game he played to allow Medvedev to break back at the beginning of the fourth set.
But those were far outnumbered by the sublime, and he wrapped up victory after two hours and 55 minutes when a final Medvedev forehand flew wide.