OFF TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain hits a return during the men's singles semifinals between him and Daniil Medvedev of Russia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championship in London, Britain on July 12, 2024. Alcaraz will meet Serbian Novak Djokovic at the finals on Sunday. (Xinhua)
LONDON – Last year's finalists Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Serbia's Novak Djokovic have set up a final clash at Wimbledon again after taking victories in the men's singles semifinals here on Friday.
Reigning champion Alcaraz overcame a slow start to see off Russia's 5th seed Daniil Medvedev.
The 21-year-old Spaniard faced the same opponent as he did in last year's Wimbledon semifinals where he won in straight sets. But Medvedev refused to repeat the same scenario as the 28-year-old took the first set after dominating the tiebreak 7-1.
Alcaraz, winning his first French Open title last month, raised his game since the second set. He kept trying to play drop shots to break Medvedev's resilience in the baseline and saved many balls with his tireless run.
"Since the tournament began, I didn't think I'm the defending champion," said Alcaraz. "I try to be better every day to play better tennis every match."
Alcaraz said he did not play at his best on Friday but "I'm coming into a final feeling great with really high level of tennis, really high level of confidence."
After winning the succeeding sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, Alcaraz was only one victory away from defending his title at the All England Club.
The last man who could hold him off is Djokovic again, as the 37-year-old Serb defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti to reach the Wimbledon finals for the 10th time.
Musetti, 22, dragged Djokovic into a five-set battle at the French Open last month and challenged the 24-time champion again on Friday with an amazing performance.
"I'm really happy to make the finals because I was not thinking about, particularly in the first couple of matches, of the eventual title match," said Djokovic who had knee surgery less than a month ago right after the injury forced him to pull out of the quarterfinals of the French Open.
"I was just thinking about moving well, not injuring myself, to be honest, and feeling more free, so to say, in my movement."
"That's what happened, I think, in the third and particularly fourth round. I felt like I'm actually playing close to my best and I can have a shot at the title," Djokovic added. (Xinhua)
