Top seed Alcaraz reaches first Wimbledon semi-final
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is through to his first Wimbledon semi-final
London – Carlos Alcaraz saw off Holger Rune in straight sets on Wednesday to stay on course for a Wimbledon title showdown against defending champion Novak Djokovic.
The top seed won the key moments during the quarter-final on Centre Court to progress 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4 and will play Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
There was just a single break point created in the first set between the 20-year-old friends, which almost inevitably went to a tie-break.
The start of the breaker was tight but Rune’s double-fault gave Alcaraz a 4/3 lead and he won the next three points to take the first set.
It was a similar story in the second set until Rune dumped a forehand into the net in the ninth game to give the Spaniard break point.
Alcaraz made no mistake, smoking a backhand down the line to break and holding with ease to move two sets up.
The US Open champion broke again in the fifth game of the third set, giving Rune a mountain to climb.
The Danish star saved one match point on his own serve but was powerless to stem the tide as Alcaraz served out to reach his first semi-final at the All England Club.