Carlos Alcaraz sets up blockbuster final with Novak Djokovic

Career trajectories of tennis prodigies head into several different directions. Monica Seles won eight of her nine Grand Slam titles as a teenager before she was tragically stabbed on court, never to see those heights again. Boris Becker won Wimbledon twice as a teenager but saw fame and the public eye turn his boyish charm into self-critical defiance.In more recent years, Coco Gauff, despite showing such steady development, has struggled to cope with sky-high expectations. Felix Auger-Aliassime has gone from promising teenage sensation to once-promising teenage sensation.But what sets apart Carlos Alcaraz, the 20-year-old World No. 1 from Spain, from most, if not all, tennis prodigies, is control. Control in all aspects of his game, public perception and life, and results. Not just raw talent, but a well-formed, well-honed version of it.

Blockbuster 🏆@carlosalcaraz and @DjokerNole coming soon… 🔜#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Z0ZTEt8W3Q
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023
And just as they had been all fortnight, the Centre Court crowd bore witness to that talent as Alcaraz went about dismembering and dismantling the limited but very effective tennis repertoire of Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon final. doing so, the Spaniard has set up what will be one of the biggest tennis events of recent years as he takes on four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
Over the course of their last two meetings, Alcaraz has made Medvedev, a former World No. 1 and US Open champion who is at the peak of his physicality at the age of 27, disintegrate on the big stage. The Spaniard routinely routed him in the final at Indian Wells 6-3, 6-2 earlier this year, using his drop shot and serve and volley to take advantage of Medvedev’s extremely deep return positioning.
After winning his quarterfinal, Medvedev said their next matchup will be different, claiming the quicker courts in London will aid his flat groundstrokes and allow him more cheap point on his first serve.

Sealed in extraordinary fashion 🤯@carlosalcaraz’s incredible match point is Play of the Day presented @BarclaysUK #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Ss79HIFEKi
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023
The first two sets would prove the Russian emphatically wrong. Medvedev’s one-dimensional playing style played to his disadvantage again as Alcaraz continued stepping into the baseline, buoyed the extra time Medvedev’s position well behind the baseline gave him, to take control of the rallies. His monstrous forehand – rev for rev one of the most hard-hitting shots in present-day tennis – being a huge mismatch to Medvedev’s weaker wing crosscourt. His drop shot running his opponent around the court tying his feet into knots. His backhand slice skidding on the worn-out SW19 grass and staying impossibly low.
Two sets and a break down, at 0-3, Medvedev sat at the changeover and stared at his box. He did not look exhausted, frustrated, or amused, but instead it was a look of total befuddlement – ‘What am I doing wrong?’
For brief moments thereafter, Medvedev seemed like he got a read on what he was doing wrong. He took more risks stepping inside, added more speed to his return which he began smashing down the line, and brought his backhand into play. Alcaraz let his level slip ever so slightly, but not enough for a beaten Medvedev to take advantage, eventually serving out a win in a set in which his serve was broken twice.

“It’s time to keep dreaming” ✨@carlosalcaraz is daring to dream at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/hc55mMXmxZ
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023
Very few tennis events make headlines in the general sporting world as Alcaraz’s matchup with Djokovic in the French Open semifinal last year, in which Alcaraz succumbed to cramp and lost in four sets. There were nerves and watchful expectations. Clay was Alcaraz’s best surface and the tennis world was still on the heels of an 18-month run in which he had built his phenomenon.
Their upcoming encounter will have a different feel to it. Djokovic’s pedigree – over 10 years unbeaten on Centre Court, six years unbeaten in a completed Wimbledon match – makes him the dinct underdog, and takes the pressure off. Momentum is also behind him after getting through a tricky draw, beating 2021 final Matteo Berrettini, and fellow promising teenager Holger Rune before Djokovic himself got the job done 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) against a deflated Jannik Sinner in the day’s first semifinal, but made light work look like an arduous task, visibly uncomfortable and irked an array of things he usually uses to whip himself into focus. There were lapses, which Sinner hardly took advantage of, but Alcaraz would see as positives.

Sunday 16 July. Centre Court. No.1 vs No.2.#Wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/DWTjbrwr1u
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023
“Everybody knows it is going to be really difficult,” Alcaraz said of the final in his on-court interview. “But I will fight. That’s how I am. I will believe in myself, believing that I can beat him here. I am ready for this, I’ve trained for this my whole life, to play a final here. And it’s a final, there is no time to be afraid or tired, we will go for it.”