Athletistic / Tennis. The semi-finals of the men’s singles at Wimbledon 2024 will take place in London on July 12. The first place in the final will be played by the world’s fifth racket Daniil Medvedev and the third number in the ATP ranking, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. This will be their third match on the London grass.

On July 14, 2023, these tennis players met in the semifinals of Wimbledon. A year ago, the match went to Alcaraz, who defeated the Russian in three sets with a score of 6:3, 6:3, 6:3. And for the first time they crossed paths on the “Casque” grass in 2021.

At the beginning of 2020, 16-year-old Carlos Alkaars won several futures, and in the second half of the year, after turning 17, he played in four Challenger finals, winning three of them. As a result, Carlos made a huge jump in the ATP rankings, finishing 141st at the end of the year. As a result, Alcaraz received the ATP award for the best newcomer of 2020. At that time, Daniil Medvedev was already conquering the heights of the ATP circuit, in 2019 he reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament (US Open) for the first time, and in 2020 he won the ATP Finals tournament.

At the beginning of 2021, Alcaraz played for the first time at TBS, reaching the second round of the Australian Open, while Medvedev lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Melbourne tournament. At the end of June, the Russian won an ATP tournament outside of hard court for the first time, becoming the champion of the grass court competition in Mallorca. As a result, Daniil arrived at Wimbledon as the second racket in the world, and Alcaraz received a wild card to participate in the main draw of the tournament.

Photo source: Reuters

In the first round, Medvedev defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff with difficulty (6:4, 6:1, 4:6, 7:6), and Alcaraz managed to break the resistance of Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama (6:3, 6:7, 6:2, 3:6, 6:3). By the will of fate, Daniel and Carlos met in the second round.

Alcaraz, already at the age of 18, was called the heir to Rafael Nadal. Carlos showed even at junior tournaments that with the right development, he will shine on the ATP circuit in the next 15-20 years. The praises of the young Spaniard were already deservedly sung, which could not but affect Medvedev’s mood. Already in the first games, the Russian got down to business and, quickly making the break, led with a score of 3:0. At the end of the first set, due to a series of errors, Danya gave his serve to Carlos, who failed to serve for the set – 5:4. But Medvedev immediately recovered, breaking again and closing the match with a score of 6:4.

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During the match, Medvedev wondered why the fans in the stands were against him: after all, he was then the second racket of the world, and Alcaraz was in 75th place in the ATP ranking. However, this behavior of the audience on the central court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club only gave additional strength to the Russian. This time, Daniil turned his anger into positive energy and began to take the games one by one. All this led to the fact that in the second set, Kalos was never able to take his serve. Result – 6:1 in favor of Medvedev

In the third game, the game continued according to the already familiar scenario: Daniil perfectly held the first serve, skillfully took advantage of Alcaraz’s mistakes and did not allow his opponent to raise his head. Medvedev led with two breaks with a score of 4:0, after which he slowed down a little, but nevertheless confidently closed the match – 6:4, 6:1, 6:2.

Photo source: ATP

In 2021, Daniil Medvedev ended his performance at Wimbledon in the 1/8 finals (fourth round), disappointingly losing to Pole Hubert Hurkacz – 6:2, 6:7, 6:3, 3:6, 3:6. In 2022, due to sanctions from the British sports authorities, neither Medvedev nor any other Russian representative played at Wimbledon. And Alcaraz failed that year in London, losing in the first round to German Jan-Lennard Struff. A year later, the Spaniard will become the winner of Wimbledon, and Medvedev will reach the semifinals of the tournament in London for the first time. I would like to hope that in 2024 the Russian and the Spaniard will switch places.

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic