Carlos Alcaraz was hailed as the Crown Prince of Wimbledon after his stunning 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over best mate Holger Rune. In front of Queen Camilla in the Royal Box, the Spanish infante produced a performance to which even king Novak Djokovic himself needs to take heed.
The 20-year-old was not even born the last time the famous trophy was etched with a name other than Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Murray. Each year a group of wannabe contenders would gather, battle each other for supremacy, then come up short when it came their moment to challenge the old guard.
Now, with Djokovic isolated by the injury of his peers and Murray’s frustrating early exit, the opportunity finally seems to be a real one. And Alcaraz showed here that he is single-minded enough and clinical enough to take it.
He has known Rune since the two of them were 12-year-old, competing side-by-side in prestigious junior doubles tournaments while strangely seeming to avoid each other generally in singles combat. Here we were, though, finally with the pair of them locked head-to-head in a battle that lasted 2 hr 21 min but in reality was decided in the first 65 minutes.
That was how long it took a mesmerising first set to unfold – an exhibition of next-generation tennis that was fast, powerful and raw. Both were duelling with a fearsome serve as the weapon of choice and a single Rune break point in the opening game was largely testament to that.
No quarter was given in the rallying, but it was only on the change of ends in the tie-break that Alcaraz seemed to find that extra gear. Rune double-faulted and the mistake proved deadly. Three masterful, dominant points later and first blood was drawn.
The remainder was a measure of the Dane’s refusal to surrender. With the greater range of shots, Alcaraz was beginning to toy with his opponent but the break did not arrive until late in the second set.
Slowly but understandably, Rune’s resistance was seeping away. In the fourth game he was docked a point for taking too long over his serve and another break arrived. Rune still had the strength to save one match point on his serve and fire down two more bullets to force Alacaraz to get to the line the hard way.
His anointing was by now so inevitable he could even afford a double fault on his second match point and a loose forehand on his third. A tired, long return brought a slightly anti-climactic end to proceedings, but the roar of triumph suggests Alcaraz is very much ready for more.
Daniil Medvedev on Friday as the tournament meanders to the final denouement it was always set up for.
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