Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after beating Taylor Fritz in the semifinals of the Wimbledon championships on Friday.
| Photo Credit: AP
On his best days, Carlos Alcaraz treats his opponents like how a child handles a newly acquired toy. There is a testing phase, then there is a teasing and toying phase, before the whole thing is tossed out in search of a fresh, exciting challenge.
Friday on Centre Court was one such day as the two-time defending Wimbledon champion outclassed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) to enter his third straight final at the All England Club.
It was the World No. 2’s 24th straight success, a streak that includes Roland-Garros, and now puts him in line for a second consecutive French Open-Wimbledon double, a feat last achieved by the legendary Bjorn Borg (1978, 79, 80).
Standing in his way is World No.1 Jannik Sinner, whom he beat last month in Paris over five spectacular sets. The Italian got to the title round by handing 24-time Major winner Novak Djokovic – who was physically sub-par – a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 beat-down.
Jannik Sinner made short work of Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
| Photo Credit:
AP
It was seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic’s first defeat before the final at SW19 since 2017, and only the second straight-sets loss in a completed match in southwest London after 2013.
“I could never imagine I’d play here in the final,” said Sinner, who has now reached the summit clash at every Slam. “It shows I’m growing as a player. I struggled five years ago when I started on this surface. Now, I’m much better.”
This means Alcaraz has a mighty challenge on his hands and it is fair to say that he warmed up rather well against Fritz. The match was played at a frenetic pace – just 2 hours and 49 minutes for four sets – and witnessed some remarkable serving and outrageous shot-making.
Alcaraz set the tone from the first point with a forehand drop-shot winner, and broke the American in a jiffy, and gave away precious little by taking the set 6-4 with an authoritative last hold that saw two big aces.
In the second stanza, Fritz’s return improved and he even managed a break-point in the eighth game only for it to be erased by a monstrous body serve. But at 5-6, Alcaraz was uncharacteristically broken to love, with two errors, a double fault and an imperious inside-out winner from Fritz doing the damage.
But the five-time Major titlist dusted it off to play his best set of the contest, winning 16 of his 17 service points. The two breaks of serve established his overall superiority over the 2024 US Open finalist as the third set lasted just a little over 30 minutes.
However Fritz, despite staring down the barrel, did not throw in the towel, and there was thus an inevitability about the fourth-set tie-break. And fittingly, it emerged as a microcosm of the afternoon.
Alcaraz jumped to a 4-1 lead only for Fritz to roar back to 6-4 and get two chances to drag the semifinal into a decider. But Alcaraz came up with two strokes of enormous depth before earning a match-point with a powerful pass that Fritz barely got the racquet to.
The 22-year-old then sealed it with a deep backhand to draw an error from the World No. 5 and set the stage for a fantastic three-peat
Published – July 12, 2025 12:53 am IST
