On a day when ears were pricked for boos on Centre Court, no one predicted it would be Carlos Alcaraz who would unleash the wrath of the crowd.
“Sunday is going to be a good day for the Spanish people,” said the 21-year-old after beating Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals to set up a possible Wimbledon and European Championship double for Spain on Sunday night.
The crowd responded with enthusiastic boos and Alcaraz protested: ‘I didn’t say Spain were going to win!’
Only Novak Djokovic and Gareth Southgate stand in the way of one of the greatest days in the history of Spanish sport.
These parallel races to the final have been intertwined this fortnight, with Alcaraz winning his previous two rounds on the same night the players advanced.
Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in Sunday’s men’s singles final after a dominant performance
Daniil Medvedev took the first set but faltered against the defending Wimbledon champion.
The teams keep a close eye on each other’s progress; Alcaraz watched his team’s win over Germany on his phone in an ice bath and his good friend and Spanish centre-forward Alvaro Morata prepared for their semi-final against France by watching Alcaraz beat Tommy Paul.
If Spain is back in action on Sunday, at least one result will be popular in England: Alcaraz is the new Centre Court favourite and he literally took their breath away with some of his shots.
Medvedev, a natural party pooper and disruptor, had denied us the Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner semi-final we were hoping for and almost denied us a semi-final at all, narrowly escaping being penalised for swearing at the referee.
The 28-year-old Russian was serving for the first set but missed break point when he rushed in on a drop shot from Alcaraz. He thought he had got there in time, but umpire Eva Asderaki quite rightly judged the ball had bounced twice. As he walked to his chair, Medvedev had a few words for the umpire.
“I said something in Russian. It wasn’t nice, but I didn’t exaggerate either,” he said.
Asderaki called the umpire and the tournament supervisor onto the court. The three agreed that a warning was sufficient, but Medvedev appeared to be very close to being disqualified.
Asked if he was worried about being kicked out of the tournament, Medvedev replied: “Not at all, because, as I say, I didn’t say anything too bad.”
He shrugged off that incident to take the first set, showing marked improvement since being defeated by the same opponent in last year’s semi-final.
Alcaraz took control of the match in the second set and did not let go on his way to victory.
That match was characterized by Alcaraz exploiting Medvedev’s deep position – almost shoulder to shoulder with the linesmen – with drop shots and serve-volleys.
Medvedev forced himself forward on the return on Friday and that change of serve perhaps contributed to Alcaraz’s woeful first-serve percentage of 48 in that first set.
The Russian’s coach, Gilles Cevara, explained his tactics against Alcaraz to French newspaper L’Equipe this week: “You have to take Alcaraz into a zone where he can hesitate. When he hesitates, he can get emotional and start making mistakes.”
There were certainly some doubts in that first set, but once Alcaraz settled in and got his serve into play, he took complete control.
“I started off very, very nervous,” the No. 3 seed said. “I started to get all the nerves out at the beginning of the second set. It was really helpful to get 3-1 up, I started to play my shots.”
Alcaraz’s only real weakness is the impatience of youth; a tendency to seek the spectacular rather than the efficient.
As he was rolling to victory, he had an easy finish but instead attempted an overhead drop shot.
Alcaraz said he felt ‘calm’ in the final moments before his victory on the centre court
“At that moment I felt very calm. I felt confident to make these kinds of shots,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a disaster, but it helps me a lot to relax, smile, have fun on the court. Sometimes it’s difficult to make simple shots.”
Alcaraz has racked up 55 winners by the end but is yet to put together a truly complete performance this fortnight. He suffered several nervous breakdowns during his run to the French Open title and has lost the first set in three of his last four matches here.
She will need to keep her nerves in check and find another gear if she is to maintain her unbeaten record in Grand Slam finals and win a second of what will surely be many Wimbledon titles.