Daily Tennis Tips – Men’s Semi-Finals

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev lock horns in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second year in a row.

Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 4-2 but it’s been an absorbing rivalry. Medvedev won their initial clash at Wimbledon in 2021, but Alcaraz redressed the balance by winning last year’s semi-final in straight sets.

Medvedev then turned the tables in the US Open semis, while Alcaraz has won both encounters since – at the ATP Finals and, for the second consecutive year, the Indian Wells Masters final.

Playing just two matches on grass after his French Open triumph, Alcaraz’s Wimbledon title defence has had its tough moments. Frances Tiafoe pushed him to five sets in the third round, while he beat top-20 seeds Ugo Humbert and Tommy Paul (after losing the first) in four sets.

Medvedev moved into the quarters relatively stress-free, beating Aleksandar Kovacevic, Alexandre Muller, Jan-Lennard Struff and, in a first-set walkover, Grigor Dimitrov. He produced a stellar performance to upset world No.1 Jannik Sinner 6-7 6-4 7-6 2-6 6-3.

Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champ, has a 6-2 record in grand slam semi-finals. Three-time major winner Alcaraz is 3-2.

Alcaraz is a warm $1.30 favourite and is hard to back against, but this should be a lot closer than last year’s 6-3 6-3 6-3 drubbing at the same stage. Medvedev will be full of confidence – if a little tired – from his win over Sinner and ready to push the Spanish whiz’s limits.

The surprise packet of a relatively predictable men’s draw at Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti lines up in his first grand slam semi-final against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Musetti has already got over that rare and important milestone: a win over Djokovic, winning their encounter at last year’s Monte-Carlo Masters.

Djokovic has won both clashes since, but Musetti took him to five sets at the recent French Open (as he did in their initial meeting in 2021).

Hinting at a dark horse run by reaching the Stuttgart Open semis and the Queen’s Club final, 25th seed Musetti required four sets to beat Constant Lestienne, Francisco Comesana and Giusesppe Mpetshi Perricard, and five to subdue Luciano Darderi.

But the Italian produced arguably the biggest win of his career to outlast 13th seed Taylor Fritz in the quarters, eventually prevailing 3-6 7-6 6-2 3-6 6-1.

Djokovic, who overcame knee surgery that forced his French Open quarter-final withdrawal, remains in pursuit of equalling Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles. He wasn’t pushed overly hard by Vit Kopriva, Jacob Fearnley, Alexei Popyrin or Holger Rune, though he has dropped two sets.

Alex de Minaur pulled out of their quarter-final, a rest that won’t do the 37-year-old any harm at all.

Djokovic boasts an eye-watering 36-12 record in grand slam semi-finals, winning an incredible 22 of his last 24. The two players to beat him in semis during that period were both top-five stars. Musetti has had a great run but is not at that level yet and will find the going tough against a fresher Djokovic.