Wimbledon 2024: Medvedev sets up last four clash with Alcaraz

By James Toney at Wimbledon

In a sport of big forehands and big serves, Daniil Medvedev is perhaps best known for just being big.

If so many in the world's top 100 are cast from the same mould, Medvedev, like quarter-final opponent Jannik Sinner, revels in being a little different.

But one of these towering oaks was going to be felled and 6'6" Medvedev was certainly value for his 6-7 6-4 7-6 2-6 6-3 win over the 6'2" world number one Italian, revenge for his defeat in the Australian Open final earlier this year.

He looked exhausted at the first changeover, God knows how he felt over four hours later - the sixth longest match of the championships - when he'd finally booked his progress to a second consecutive Wimbledon semi-final.

Sinner appeared even worse for wear, spending more than ten minutes off the court to have his heart rate checked as the top seed was clearly struggling to move.

Medvedev's game isn't going to win him many awards for style and swagger but you still have to admire his stubborn determination to stay in every point as long as possible.

He is a modern-day grinder, using the twin threats of consistency and patience to exhaust opponents into submission. He can slouch around the court like a recalcitrant teenager and then conjure up something brilliantly quirky from the most obtuse angle.

John McEnroe - a notoriously hard to please observer - has called him a chess master, using guile and brains ahead of brawn and power, though a 128mph top service speed is hardly pedestrian.

His game is remarkably unremarkable, there is no one-handed backhand to make you purr like Federer or a Nadal style thumping banana forehand that makes you wince.

However, the world number five is good at getting the job done - surely the only metric for success - and this will be his ninth Grand Slam semi-final. He has won six of the last eight but converted just one of those into a trophy, his US Open win in 2021.

"I'm feeling great, it was a bit of an up and down match, so I'm just happy to win," said Medvedev, who will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the last four.

"I need to play better against Carlos. I have to serve better, that's the most important thing on grass. He can hit strong. He can slice. He can dropshot. He can volley. He just knows how to play tennis."

Medvedev is a confidence player - he lost his first five five set matches but has now won five of his last six, the defeat coming in the final in Melbourne in January. In a career of near misses, he remains bullish about hitting the target.

"I always said a lot of things in my life come with experience," he added. "Every time I do something for the first time, I'm super nervous. I can do it, but I'm super nervous.

"I lost in the first round of my first four or five Slams, it took me a long time to win a match in a Masters 1000 event too.

"I would work hard to be ready and then I'd lose it. If matches go five sets now I know what I have to do and how to play them.

"I try my best and I fight my best. Hopefully, I can win some more Grand Slams. I believe in myself and I believe in my tennis. For me, it's always important when I finish my career to have no regrets."

Sinner refused to blame his defeat on his time off court and he'll now reset his sights on the Olympics at Roland Garros, where he reached the semi-finals a few weeks ago.

"I didn't feel great when I woke up but that takes nothing away from Daniil, he played very smart tennis," said Sinner.

"You never want to retire in the quarter-final of a Grand Slam, so I was determined to stay out there.

"I felt I was playing good tennis here and it gives me confidence because the season is very positive for me.

"Losing feels different now because I've won a Grand Slam, I know I can do it. I just need to keep giving myself the chance of winning these big trophies. My level of tennis is there and I've a positive mindset that I can do something great at the Olympics."

Alcaraz rebounded from losing the first set to American Tommy Paul to win confidently 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2.

It sets up his seventh match with Medvedev and a rerun of last year's semi-final, which the Spaniard won 6-3 6-3 6-3 on his way to lifting the trophy for the first time.

"He's been playing some unbelievable tennis on grass and this was a really difficult match," said Alcaraz.

"I felt like I was on clay in that first set, he was making all the rallies so long and just seemed to get everything back.

"I stayed strongly mentally and I had to find the solutions to get the win. I always believed I could get back in the game and find my rhythm. I believe in myself, all the time.

"Daniil is another great player, it's the same as last year's semi-final and hopefully I get the same result. He's just beaten the best player in the world, so he's in good shape."