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Top seed and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will take on third seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the second semi-final of Wimbledon 2023 on Friday (14th July). Alcaraz beat Holger Rune in straight sets in the quarterfinals, while Medvedev prevailed over Christopher Eubanks in a thrilling five-setter.
Alcaraz will be looking to reach his first Wimbledon final and set up a much-anticipated summit clash with Novak Djokovic. However, for that to happen, he will have to get past Medvedev first and Djokovic will also have to win his semi-final against Jannik Sinner.
On that note, let us take a look two things to watch out for in the match between Alcaraz and Medvedev.
#1. Carlos Alcaraz’s net skills coming under stern test against Daniil Medvedev’s passing shots
It can be safely assumed that Carlos Alcaraz will come to the net quite often against Daniil Medvedev. He will also try to drag the 27-year-old Russian to the net through his drop shots and then finish points with lobs.
However, the 20-year-old Spaniard will have to be on guard against Medvedev’s passing shots. Eubanks found out the efficiency of them much to his peril in the quarter-final. The Russian will look to hit down-the-line passes off either wing to take Alcaraz by surprise.
Alcaraz’s volleying skills will be tested against Medvedev's groundstrokes and it remains to be seen how well the Spaniard withstands it.
#2. A battle between two wonderful movers
Both Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev move really well along the baseline, and hence, both can be trusted to retrieve the ball on most occasions. It might eventually come down to who plays the angles better on the day to make his opponent stretch towards either wing.
Medvedev has the better backhand of the two, and hence, will try to engage Alcaraz in crosscourt backhand exchanges as much as possible. The Spaniard, meanwhile, will try to play with his forehand to the highest possible extent and make the Russian stretch towards his right side with his crosscourt forehands.
Medvedev, however, has the better serve by some distance and will look to win easy points through it. Alcaraz returned very well in the match against Rune and will like to repeat the act against the big Russian too. All things considered, it should be an absorbing battle between the two players, but Alcaraz will start as the slight favourite.
