Alcaraz douses Rune fireworks to reach Wimbledon semis for first time
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[July 13, 2023]
By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) -It was billed as the battle of the 20-year-olds
but Carlos Alcaraz pulled rank on his childhood buddy Holger Rune as
he doused the Dane's fireworks to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals
for the first time with a 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4 victory on Wednesday.
The two tyros, who were born six days apart, were contesting a men's
Wimbledon quarter-final that for the first time in the professional
era featured two players aged under 21.
Despite his youth, Alcaraz is already at home among the elite of
men's tennis and produced the form that has carried him to the top
of the rankings by never allowing Rune to gain the upper hand, no
matter how many flashy shots the Dane conjured.
"It's amazing for me, a dream since I started playing tennis. It's a
dream to be able to play a semi-final here," Alcaraz said after
setting up a semi-final showdown with Russian third seed Daniil
Medvedev on Friday.
"I am playing at a great level, I didn’t expect to play such a great
level on this surface. For me, it is crazy," added the Spaniard who
has been more at home on clay and hard courts.
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After saving a break point in the opening game of the match, Alcaraz
put on a majestic performance in front of Britain's Queen Camilla to
end Rune's hopes of becoming the first Danish player in 65 years to
reach the All England Club semi-finals.
Sixth seed Rune certainly won most of the crowd-pleasing points,
whether it was a tweener between the legs or a stupendous reflex
volley he hit at the net after Alcaraz had dashed back to the
baseline to retrieve a lob.
But the top seed, already in the Grand Slam winner's club after
triumphing at the U.S. Open last year, refused to get flustered and
kept winning the points that mattered.
The look of utter disgust on Rune's face when he hit a double fault
to go 4-3 down in the first set tiebreak summed up his feelings.
Alcaraz pounced on that mistake to win four points on the trot and
let out an ear-splitting scream in the direction of his box as he
sealed the set with a thundering service return winner.
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![](../images/071323PIX/sports13.jpg)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn
Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 12, 2023 Denmark's
Holger Rune leaves the court after losing his quarter final match
against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
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BREAK POINT
Rune tried his best to get the crowd behind him, as he raised his
arms to urge the fans to pump up the volume on Centre Court.
But seconds later he was left red-faced and staring into the turf in
disbelief when he spectacularly smashed the ball into the net
despite having an open court at his disposal.
That handed Alcaraz his first break point of the match and the
Spaniard gleefully pocketed the game with a yet another scorching
service return.
That wobble from Rune was enough for Alcaraz to run away with the
set and from then on he proved to be unstoppable, with the Spaniard
breaking again in the fifth game of the third.
After Alcaraz failed to convert his first three match points,
including a double fault on one of them, he sealed victory when Rune
slapped a service return long.
The two friends, who grew up playing doubles together as baby-faced
boys, shared a warm embrace at the net before the Spaniard leaned
back and let out an almighty roar into the skies - showing just how
much this win meant to him.
"At the beginning I was really nervous playing in the quarter-finals
at Wimbledon, but even more against Rune," said Alcaraz, who has
already won 12 titles in his young career.
"Someone the same age as me playing a great level. It was tough to
play against him but once you get into the quarter-finals there are
no friends.
"You have to be focused on yourself and I think I did great in that
part.”
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ken Ferris)
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