It was always going to be a slightly strange Wimbledon tournament this year and most felt that the men’s side of the draw was wide open for a potential Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios repeat, or a tie featuring Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz following Roger Federer’s retirement and the injury sustained by Rafa Nadel.
Kyrgios himself then had to withdraw with a wrist injury, and we could well be on for a Djokovic v Alcaraz tie on centre court. The Serbian second seed is going for a record equalling eighth men’s title and he now faces Italian eighth seed Jannik Sinner, but in one of the most eagerly awaited match ups Alcaraz finally defeated the also very impressive sixth seed Holger Rune in their quarter final on Wednesday. Those using P1 Travel to attend the game, would have considered it money very well spent.
The two 20-year-old talents more than established themselves as firm crowd favourites in their matches so far, and both undoubtedly have very big careers ahead of them given the talent and technique they have already shown, but ultimately Alcaraz won out 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4, and he now progresses through to the semi final stage for the first time ever at Wimbledon, where he will face Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev himself, finally won out against impressive unseeded American, Chris Eubanks, but he needed all five sets to do so.
The Wimbledon era of Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray, may well be over for all intents and purposes, but there is certainly a new one on the horizon for fans who like the Grand Slams and would buy Australian Open tickets, given the emergence of Alcaraz and Rune, we now simply have to see which members of the new generation will step up alongside them.
Despite Alcaraz’s tender age, he has a slightly more formed over all game than Rune (particularly when it comes to grass) – but the two know each other well from the youth circuit and did play doubles together. Although the Spaniard was clearly better on the day, it should not be forgotten this was only his fourth senior grass tournament and the Queen’s champion used every ounce of that experience to beat his very rated opponent.
Rune’s grass development has come on leaps and bounds in recent months, as it should also not be forgotten that the Dane had never won on the surface until this very summer, so reaching the quarter final stage is a good achievement in and of itself, and although he did lose in the end, he pushed his former doubles partner almost all of the way.
One thing is for sure, tennis fans (not just those of Wimbledon and the grass court game) will be seeing a hell of a lot more of these two for far longer than the next decade.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
