LONDON — Carlos Alcaraz is only a couple of months past his 21th birthday, and yet this whole Grand Slam success thing is already a bit been-there, done-that for him.
Moving a step closer to a second consecutive Wimbledon trophy and fourth major championship overall, Alcaraz overcame a shaky start to beat Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals at Centre Court.
“I feel like I’m not new anymore. I feel like I know how I’m going to feel before the final. I’ve been in this position before,” Alcaraz said. “I will try to do the things that I did well last year and try to be better.”
Like last year, his opponent in the title match will be Novak Djokovic, who advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory against No. 25 seed Lorenzo Musetti in the second semifinal. Djokovic won 15 of 16 points when he went to the net in the first set and finished 43 for 56 in that category.
It’ll be the first time the same two men meet in consecutive Wimbledon finals since Djokovic beat Roger Federer in 2014 and 2015.
Djokovic, who hadn’t reached a final at any tournament all season and needed surgery in June for a torn meniscus in his right knee, will be vying for his eighth championship at the All England Club. That would tie Federer’s mark for the most by a man — and put him one behind Martina Navratilova’s record of nine — while making the 37-year-old from Serbia the first player in tennis history with a career total of 25 Grand Slam titles.
“I know what I have to do,” Alcaraz said. “I’m sure he knows what he has to do to beat me.”