Carlos Alcaraz rescues Princess Kate by thrashing Daniil Medvedev to set up Djokovic clash

Carlos Alcaraz breezed through to his first-ever Wimbledon final like a red-hot wind of change. It was a glorious contrast to the icy cold atmosphere that might have gripped Wimbledon this weekend if Russia’s Daniil Medvedev made it through to Sunday’s final.

The Royal Box applauded Alcaraz with the rest of the Centre Court crowd and if she was watching from home, Kate, the Princess of Wales, will have breathed a sigh of relief. When she is here handing out the trophies this weekend, none of the players from Wimbledon last year in response to the war in Ukraine will be in contention for any of the prizes.

Thankfully for the diplomats, the usually resolute Medvedev had been blown away in just 1hr 50 minutes as Alacaraz fired off a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win to book his own place against Novak Djokovic. The 23-time grand slam champion had boasted how, with his work done earlier in the day, he could lie back and enjoy this match from his massage table.

Pretty soon, though, it would have been his eyes that needed rubbing rather than muscles which were suddenly feeling every one of their 36 years. Medvedev was very much the danger man in the path of the generation game final the tournament always wanted.

The US Open champion may have only got as far as the fourth round here but he had been five years inside the world’s top 10. He’d also beaten Alacaraz in straight sets when the pair had met in the second round two years ago.

But the 20-year-old Spaniard has done a lot of growing up since then and this summer has very much found his grass-court game in what is still only his fourth tournament on the surface. The drop shot, for instance. Time and again he drew the Russian uncomfortably off his baseline and when Alcaraz himself went into the net his volley was generally impeccable.

But it was the speed of his movement from front to back and side-to-side Medvedev could not cope with. He was spared conceding his first break point in the opening set by a canny Hawkeye overrule. But the power of Alcaraz’s return coupled with how early he was hitting the ball meant his serve was always vulnerable.

Early breaks in each of the sets gave the world No 1 all the additional momentum he needed - although just when it looked like Alcaraz was in the home straight, he carelessly allowed Medvedev to break back courtesy of a double fault.

He broke back again - after Medvedev tenaciously defended four break points. But an unnecessary tweener in the very next game showed a youthful lack of focus as the third set began to drag on. The only thing that saved Alcaraz from these transgressions was his incredible ability to dig himself out of the mess by breaking Medvedev.

Djokovic will not allow him such clumsy dips in concentration. One thing is for sure, though - that massage was not as relaxing as he had anticipated. Luckily he missed the match point as he was in the media theatre. Because the way Alcaraz covered every inch of his side of the court to hit the final winner, his muscles looked ready for Sunday already.