Carlos Alcaraz's semi-final opponent sends warning to Wimbledon champion
Alcaraz is just two wins away from a third successive Wimbledon title after he thumped Great Britain's Cameron Norrie in straight sets.
There have been questions over Alcaraz's form in SW19 after he was taken to five sets by the retiring Fabio Fognini and went behind against Andrey Rublev.
But the 22-year-old was at his scintillating best as he dropped just eight games on his way to an emphatic straight-sets victory over Great Britain's last remaining Wimbledon hope.
Fritz stands between Alcaraz and the Wimbledon final after the American fifth seed defeated Karen Khachanov in his quarter-final tie.
World number four Fritz had to overcome two gruelling five-setters in his opening two games but has enjoyed a more straightforward run since then.
Alcaraz has won his two previous meetings with Fritz but the big-serving American hopes the grass courts of Wimbledon can be an 'equaliser' when they meet on Friday and says 'there's not much' his opponents can do if he plays his best tennis.
Asked about facing Alcaraz before the Spaniard beat Norrie, Fritz said: 'Well, if it's him, I'm happy. I'm happy that we're not playing on clay at the French Open because that would be an absolute nightmare!
'I think grass is very much so an equaliser. It can be an equaliser. So I'm going to trust how I'm playing. I truly know the way that I played the first two sets today, there's not much any opponent on the other side can do.'
Fritz reached the final of his home Grand Slam last year but came up against an inspired Jannik Sinner, who he could yet meet at Wimbledon.
'That run has given me a lot of confidence in those moments and situations, just having been there, that I can do it again,' said Fritz, who won his fourth Eastbourne title on the grass in the run-up to Wimbledon.
'I've said this a couple times, but I feel like other years that I was in the quarter-finals here specifically, it felt like a really big deal for me.
'But going into the match today, I was much more calm and relaxed. It didn't feel like that, just having the experience of making some deep runs in some slams over the last couple of years.
CARLOS ALCARAZ
R1: Fabio Fognini (five sets)R2: Oliver Tarvet (three sets)R3: Jan-Lennard Struff (four sets)R4: Andrey Rublev (four sets)
QF: Cameron Norrie (three sets)
TAYLOR FRITZ
R1: Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (five sets)R2: Gabriel Diallo (five sets)R3: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (four sets)R4: Jordan Thompson (walkover in second set)
QF: Karen Khachanov (four sets)
'I think the same goes for having that run at the US Open. It gives me a lot of confidence that I've been here before, and I've played the pressure matches.'
While Fritz is more than content with his game going into his Wimbledon semi-final, the same can be said for Alcaraz, who appears to be peaking at the right time.
'I am really happy,' he said after outclassing Norrie. 'To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special. More Trending
'I want to go as far as I can and I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam.
'He is an amazing guy. No one works harder than him and it is nice to see him fighting for great things.'
On the threat of semi-final opponent Fritz, five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz added: 'He is playing great. Grass works for him and he has been successful so far on it.
'I am going to be ready for that battle. I have played him a few times and he is tough. I will try to play similar to how I did today. I will focus but first, I want to enjoy this moment.'
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: John McEnroe clarifies 'disrespectful' Rafael Nadal comment during Wimbledon coverage
MORE: Jannik Sinner injury update drops amid Wimbledon withdrawal fears
MORE: Wimbledon umpire forced to halt match after another glitch as crowd boo
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Shelton's need for speed proves costly against Sinner
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - American Ben Shelton said he paid the price for trying to serve too fast after losing 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday. The 22-year-old left-hander cranked out some huge firepower as he tried to knock the ice-cool Sinner off his stride but in the big moments his big weapons failed him. Top seed Sinner won seven successive points from 0-2 in the first set tiebreak, then broke Shelton's serve for the first time to capture the second set and repeated the trick as the 10th seed served to stay in the match. "You feel consistent pressure playing a guy like him, who returns as well as him throughout the match," Shelton, who was also beaten by Sinner in this year's Australian Open semi-final and has now lost 15 successive sets to the Italian, said. "I think possibly trying to go a little bit too big on the first serve in those moments or hitting it too hard. "Being able to stay calm and keep my emotions the exact same and know that my normal service motion where I go after a first serve, it's going to show up at 140mph on the clock. "It's not like when I go and hit my smooth service motion, it's going to come off 122mph. If I go from a flat serve with a smooth motion, it's going to come off 140, but chasing 147 sometimes in those moments is stupid." Shelton did not do much wrong against world number one Sinner but said playing him was like being on fast-forward. "His ball speed is really high. Never seen anything like it. You don't see anything like it when you're going through the draw. When you play him, it's almost like things are in two times speed," he said. Shelton reached a career-best fourth round at last month's French Open, losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, and leaves Wimbledon with another personal best run. But he is hungry for more. "I know that I can play at the Grand Slams at this point. I know that I have the ability to be deep in the tournament when it's three-out-of-five sets," he said. "I could sit here and be like, 'wow, 22 years old and I've been able to do these things and achieve these things.' "But my mind is critical. I'm a critical thinker. I'm trying to solve problems," he said. "I know that I'm not where I want to be. That's kind of what I'm focusing on."
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Wimbledon line-calling system leaves spectators in dark
Amid all the frenzied debate about the accuracy and reliability of Hawk-Eye's electronic line-calling (ELC) system at Wimbledon, there has been one patently obvious flaw during its use across the tennis tour: the lack of any visual indication after a ball has landed out. Those who have sat watching matches at Wimbledon this fortnight will know the feeling that this correspondent has repeatedly experienced at the biggest tournaments around the world. The awkward two to three seconds in which you are unsure about who has just won the point because it has been difficult to hear the automated audible call, perhaps because of a loud roar from the crowd or the constant din from air-conditioning units attached to roofs. It is only when the scoreboard updates that the confusion is settled. In the bygone era of human line judges, there was no issue in this regard. Even if it was challenging to pick up the shout of 'out' from the mouths of the staff standing to the back or side of the court, confirmation would immediately follow with an outstretched arm to the side. Even balls that narrowly landed in were occasionally followed with a visual signal of both hands hanging downwards in a central position. Now, it can sometimes feel like a guessing game in which you are trying to gauge the winner of the point from the reactions of the players. It is particularly challenging for those spectators who are deaf, and it is understood that both the All England Club and the LTA — which organised the warm-up tournaments at the likes of Queen's and Eastbourne — have received letters and emails pointing this out. It is surprising that this issue has never been addressed in a system that was first tested eight years ago at an under-21 tournament titled the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan, but safe to say it will be added as feedback to 'The List' that the All England Club famously puts together after each championships to improve on the following year. One high-ranking official here privately acknowledged to The Times that it was worth considering the potential addition of a visual 'out' display on the courtside scoreboards. There are some people who go as far as suggesting that ELC be done away with completely after several controversies here, but there is no prospect of that. Tim Henman, the normally mild-mannered former world No4 who has been a member of the All England Club's board for several years, summed up the firm and impassioned defence here of the system when he described criticism of its accuracy by the likes of Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu as 'utter garbage'. Undoubtedly, however, there are flaws to iron out in tennis's use of officiating technology. The most notable incident on Sunday during the match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova highlighted this, in which Kartal clearly hit a long backhand that was not picked up by ELC. The reason for this, as the All England Club later explained, was that some of the cameras had been accidentally deactivated on Pavlyuchenkova's side of the court by a human operator. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. A small change was subsequently made to the system in which a manual deactivation, involving the unticking of a box, was no longer possible. In the long term, though, organisers may wish to consider allowing umpires to conduct an additional video review to clear any confusion and resolve these issues. A quick check, for example, of a replay of Kartal's backhand would have clearly shown that the ball landed long. An incident on Tuesday flagged up another potential tweak when a rally between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov was brought to a sudden halt when a call of 'fault' was made after the third shot, which landed inside the lines. The reason for this was that Fritz had begun his service motion when a ballboy was still running across the court, meaning that the system considered the third shot to be the start of the point rather than the serve. Perhaps then, in future, the umpire should make sure that all ballboys and ballgirls are back in their positions before the point can get under way. The irony is that this same Hawk-Eye technology has been considered successful at Wimbledon since 2007, first as the popular challenge system alongside human line judges before becoming fully integrated this year as a live officiating tool. Twelve cameras are placed around the court to capture the movement of the ball, with the computer interpreting its location in real time. This produces a 3D representation of the court, showing the trajectory and landing point of the ball. The hub for all of this is referred to as 'The Rack Room', which is tucked away in a quiet corner of the site behind the broadcast centre. Inside are approximately 50 operators — all placed on a rota system (two hours on, one hour off) — with each court covered by eight screens at specific desks. A review official is also assigned to every court. This is the person contacted by the umpire on the old-school telephone sets when an issue arises. Installation of the system started on site in mid-May and took six weeks, involving rigorous testing to meet strict certification standards. More discreet testing had also taken place during last year's championships as a part of the wargaming process. It must be said that ELC has been used largely issue-free in tennis for some time now. Its introduction to the sport was accelerated because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced tournament organisers to reduce the number of personnel on site. The 2021 Australian Open was the first grand-slam tournament to adopt the system in place of human line judges and it gradually spread to other events before becoming mandatory on the ATP Tour this year. Grand-slams are outside the direct jurisdiction of the ATP, meaning that the French Open was able to continue using line judges this year. A key difference is the surface of clay, which produces ball marks on the brick dust for the umpires to quickly check in the event of any close calls. The French Tennis Federation also stated its willingness to protect a national network of line judges across all levels. The retention of this form of officiating was not without controversy, either. There were several disputed calls during the tournament, including a key moment in the final set of the men's final when a shot by Carlos Alcaraz was not called out. This could not be checked by the umpire because it happened mid-rally and the technology in use for broadcasting purposes subsequently showed that the ball was considerably long and the point should have gone to Jannik Sinner. One of the main factors behind Wimbledon's decision to introduce ELC was to avoid the risk of any controversies arising as a result of not using a system that had received the support of most players on the tour. It has always been acknowledged that it is not 100 per cent accurate, with a 2.2mm margin of error on average, but this is still considered to be far more precise than a traditional crew of line judges. While several players have questioned whether it is more inaccurate than usual here, with some suggesting this is because of grass's unique status as a natural surface, officials are privately adamant this is a myth that has gathered legs. A video released by the ATP this year showed the difficulty for the human eye in properly tracking a fast-moving ball that looked as if it had landed out, with slow-motion frame-by-frame cameras showing it had actually clipped the back of the line. It means that those calling for the well-dressed line judges to return to Wimbledon are set only for disappointment. No doubt there are flaws to be addressed and some changes to be made based on what we have seen here this fortnight, but ELC is here to stay in SW19.
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Iga Swiatek makes hay on the grass to finally reach Wimbledon's last four
Iga Swiatek smashed through her grass ceiling as she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. The 24-year-old, a four-time French Open champion, swept aside Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 7-5 on Court One. Swiatek has never before been able to convincingly transfer her clay-court nous to the lawns of SW19. Jazda! 🇵🇱 Iga Swiatek defeats Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 to reach her first #Wimbledon semi-final 👏 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2025 But after losing her Roland Garros crown last month, the Polish star looks determined to finally open her turf account. 'It feels great. Even though it's the middle of the tournament I got goosebumps after this win,' she said. 'I've really enjoyed playing this year and hopefully it's going to last as long as possible. This year I feel I can work with it.' Swiatek's previous best run was to the quarter-finals in 2023, but she says she feels more confident on the grass now. SWIATEK 🤝 SEMIS @iga_swiatek has secured her spot in the #Wimbledon semifinals after defeating Samsonova in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5! — wta (@WTA) July 9, 2025 'I still feel like in 2023 I had a great tournament, and I was playing good tennis, but it obviously wasn't enough to go further,' she added. 'This year, yeah, I mean, I feel like I developed as a player, and I had time to practice a little bit more. 'Match by match my confidence, for sure, went up so that I can use it on these Championships. 'I'm just happy with the work that I've been doing and proud of myself, yeah.' A comfortable victory means the prospect of a mouthwatering first grand slam final between Swiatek and the woman who replaced her as world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, remains on the cards. Standing in her way is Swiss 28-year-old Belinda Bencic, who has made a remarkable comeback following the birth of daughter Bella in April last year. 'I never doubted that she can't come back after pregnancy,' said Swiatek. 'She seems like she's in a good mood and she's playing well.' Samsonova, the 19th seed from Russia, was making her first appearance in a grand slam quarter-final, and it showed. She made 18 unforced errors as Swiatek raced away with the first set and back-to-back double faults gifted the eighth seed a break at the start of the second. Having lost seven straight games the 26-year-old began to swing more freely and managed to reel Swiatek back in at 4-4.
