Carlos Alcaraz faces Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final for the second successive year as he looks to repeat his excellent triumph over the Serbian.
Alcaraz eliminated Daniil Medvedev with a 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 semi-final win on Friday as he looks to defend his Wimbledon trophy and clinch a Channel Slam.
Despite last year’s success in SW19, it won’t be easy for Alcaraz against Djokovic, who defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the last four to reach the final.
Alcaraz and Djokovic have played each other twice since their showdown at the 2023 Championships and the 37-year-old emerged victorious in both meetings.
So what must Alcaraz do to beat Djokovic again and become one of the few players to land the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same calendar year?
Carlos Alcaraz’s ‘sliding backhands’ can hurt Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic lauded Carlos Alcaraz last year, highlighting his ‘sliding backhands’ and ‘incredible defence’ as two of his biggest strengths.
Alcaraz will very much need those skills if he is to triumph over his older foe once again at the All England Club.
‘I didn’t expect him to play so well this year on grass, but he’s proven he’s the best player in the world,’ Djokovic said about Alcaraz, who beat him in an epic five-set final back in 2023.
‘I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest. I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that.
‘He’s got basically the best of all three worlds. He’s got this Spanish bull mentality, fighting spirit and incredible defence that we’ve seen with Rafa. I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands, some similarities with my backhands. He is a complete player.’
Played without fear, take risks and throw in the occasional serve-and-volley
Novak Djokovic narrowly beat Carlos Alcaraz 5-7 7-6 7-6 in Cincinnati last year, but even when the Serbian pulled ahead in the third set, Alcaraz didn’t give up.
He played without fear and took a number of risks – throwing in the occasional serve-and-volley – saving 12 of the 13 break points he faced in the final set to keep the match close and eventually forcing a tie-break at the end.
‘It’s something I feel comfortable playing, serve and volley, sometimes,’ Alcaraz said. ‘Of course, in that moment I was seeing that from the baseline, for me it was even tougher to win a point. So I decided to do serve-and-volley.
‘My coach told me the same from the stands, ‘Go to the net! Go to the net!’ – I was seeing that it was working, so I decided to do it more often in the third set because, as I said, physically I was on the limit.’
Turn it into another marathon match
Carlos Alcaraz needs to try and ensure the 2024 Wimbledon final becomes another absolute marathon.
When Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz played a three-set match in Cincinnati after last year’s Wimbledon final, it lasted three hours and 49 minutes. Alcaraz was very close to winning that clash, only tasting defeat after a tie-break in the decider.
The only other time they’ve played after the 2023 Wimbledon final was at the ATP Finals – and that wasn’t a marathon at all – with Djokovic winning the match 6-3 6-2 in less than 90 minutes.
But Alcaraz is younger, quicker and has more stamina than the veteran. The longer that matches go on, the better chance he has of coming out on top.
‘All matches we played this year were marathon matches that went the distance,’ Djokovic said in November. ‘I think everyone expected, including probably both of us, that we were going to have a long night, a big fight, a long match.
‘I just managed to I guess step it up [to win 6-3 6-2]. When I broke his serve at 4-3 in the first set, played a really flawless match until the end of the match.’
Combine defence with counter-attacking and be ‘super aggressive’
Daniil Medvedev, speaking after his semi-final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, was asked how he felt the young Spaniard compared to the traditional Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and what makes him so special.
The Russian explained how Alcaraz is capable of combining defence with counter-attacking while remaining ‘super aggressive’ – something the others cannot do.
‘The thing is, I played the Big Three when they were, let’s call it ‘old’ or over 30,’ Medvedev said. ‘It’s a bit different. They’re all different. All different in their own way, in their game. I feel like you can’t even take something from one and compare it to another because Roger plays on the line.
‘He hits his beautiful technique, shots, goes to the net. Novak plays also on the line but completely different. Amazing defense, like a pinball player where the ball comes back so fast at you. Rafa is completely different. He can stand 10 meters behind but he’s gonna run to every ball… banana shot… lefty.
‘I don’t think Carlos has anything from them. It’s a different game style. I think where Carlos is different from many players… we all have our preferences. Some prefer defence, some prefer counter attack, some prefer to be super aggressive.
‘He can do all of it. He can sometimes slice… Even a bad slice, and then run and try to win like this. Many times when guys do this, you can hit an easy shot back and they don’t want to attack.
‘But that’s not Carlos. If you give him an easy shot, you know it’s over for you. That’s what makes it tough. Probably in my career, he’s the toughest opponent I have faced. But I have time to try to do better.’
Stay relaxed and ‘have fun on the court’
Carlos Alcaraz went for a drop smash at 5-3 in the third set of his semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev.
The Spaniard was quizzed after the match about how tough it is to go for the simple shot versus the fun shot, revealing the latter helps him to relax during matches.
If it’s going to give him a mental boost in the Wimbledon final, it’s something he should keep doing.
‘Sometimes I have to go for the effective one rather than the other options,’ Alcaraz said. ‘Sometimes I do it because I feel so nervous and it’s the kind of thing that relaxes me.
‘Because I’ve got a smile on my face doing disaster sometimes. In that moment I was feeling really calm. I was feeling that I can do these kind of shots. I have the confidence that when I hit these shots, I think they’re going to go in.
‘Sometimes as I said, it’s a disaster. But it helps me a lot to relax, smile and have fun on the court. But sometimes it’s difficult to do the simple shots!’
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