LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz is a win away from claiming a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles after beating Taylor Fritz to move into yet another Wimbledon final.
The world No.2 overcame a stern test to prevail 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6), over Fritz and claim his 20th win in a row at the grass court major. Alcaraz has become the 10th man in the Open Era to reach three consecutive Wimbledon singles finals and the fourth to reach three finals under the age of 22.
In his latest performance on Centre Court, the five-time major champion won 88% of his first service points and produced 38 winners. However, it wasn’t a perfect performance from Alcaraz, who produced a poor service game when serving to stay in the second set and ended up getting broken. Meanwhile, a determined Fritz battled hard and managed to win 19 out of his 22 service games.
“It was a really difficult match, as always when I have to play against Taylor. Even tougher with the conditions, it was really hot today,” said Alcaraz.
“I’m just really happy with everything that I’ve done today. I dealt with the nerves – playing here in a semi-final is not easy.
“I’m really proud with the way I stayed calm and thought clearly. I’m pleased about my level today.”
As temperatures at The All England Club hit 30 degrees, two-time defending champion Alcaraz got off to a perfect start by breaking Fritz’s serve. On break point, a backhand shot from the second seed brushed the top of the net and landed on the American’s side of the court, which elevated him to a 1-0 lead. This breakthrough was key to Alcaraz sealing the opener in 36 minutes with relative ease against somebody ranked fifth in the world who reached the US Open final in 2024. Although, to Fritz’s credit, he did save off a set point when down 3-5 by hitting a clean winner. Not that this stopped Alcaraz from closing the set out with a love service game.
Not to be disheartened, Fritz kept working on the court in search for a breakthrough. During the second frame, he had a break point opportunity to lead 5-3 but was denied by a 136 mph Alcaraz serve. Eventually, he got his reward, but it came at the expense of an error-stricken service game from the Spaniard when serving to stay in the set at 5-6.
Despite Alcaraz’s lapse in concentration, he roared back in the third set, where at one stage he won 13 points in a row. As for Fritz, his unforced errors proved too costly with a double fault followed by a backhand mistake two points later to move his opponent to a two-set lead.
Alcaraz was made to work right until the very end after he narrowly avoided the match entering a fifth set. In the tiebreaker, he lost a 4-2 advantage and then had to save two set points when down 4-6 before going on to seal victory after almost three hours. He has now won 24 matches in a row.
“It’s just not thinking about those things. That’s the first thing. Not thinking about the winning streak, not thinking about the results at all,” Alcaraz said of trying to deal with the pressure of maintaining his winning streak.
“I’m just thinking this is my dream. My dream is competing on these courts, playing tennis on the most beautiful courts in the world. That’s all I try to think about in every tournament. That’s why I try to bring all the joy to the court.”
As for Fritz, he is now 2-11 against top five players at Grand Slams, with both of those victories being over Alexander Zverev. He has won 18 matches at Wimbledon so far in his career, which is more than at any other major event.
In contrast, Alcaraz has now won five out of his last six matches played against top-five opposition at Wimbledon, with his only loss being to Daniil Medvedev on his debut in 2021. Two of those victories have been over Novak Djokovic, whom he could play in the final on Sunday. Djokovic will face world No.1 Jannik Sinner in his semi-final clash later today.
“Right now, I don’t want to think about Sunday, to be honest. I just want to enjoy this moment and enjoy that I qualified for another final, the third in a row. This is really difficult.” He commented.
So far in his career, Alcaraz has not lost in a Grand Slam final.
