Carlos Alcaraz Faces Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic Plays Lorenzo Musetti in Wimbledon's Semis

Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is seeking a second consecutive trophy at the All England Club and fourth Grand Slam title overall - The AP
Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is seeking a second consecutive trophy at the All England Club and fourth Grand Slam title overall - The AP
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Carlos Alcaraz Faces Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic Plays Lorenzo Musetti in Wimbledon's Semis

Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is seeking a second consecutive trophy at the All England Club and fourth Grand Slam title overall - The AP
Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is seeking a second consecutive trophy at the All England Club and fourth Grand Slam title overall - The AP

Carlos Alcaraz's ability to hit any type of shot, from any position on the court, on any surface, keeps fans on the edge of their seats.

Keeps other players guessing, too.

Alcaraz delights in all of that — he loves putting on a show just as much as he enjoys knowing he makes the guys on the other side of the net uncomfortable — and figures it can only help him in the Wimbledon semifinals against Daniil Medvedev on Friday, The AP reported.

It's beneficial, Alcaraz said, that opponents need to focus on whether he'll be “able to be back (in) the point or ... able to hit an unbelievable shot.”

“For me,” he said, “it’s great that they're thinking about it.”

Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, is seeking a second consecutive trophy at the All England Club and fourth Grand Slam title overall. His triumph last month at the French Open made him, at 21, the youngest man to collect a major trophy on hard, grass and clay courts.

Medvedev, who is seeded No. 5 and defeated No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals, won the 2021 U.S. Open but is just 1-5 in major finals.

The other match Friday will be No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his men's-record 24 Slam championships at Wimbledon, against No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti, making his debut in a major semifinal.

“Against him, you are probably more stressed, because he’s probably the best player ever — or one of the best players ever,” said the 22-year-old Musetti, who beat Taylor Fritz in five sets on Wednesday, while Djokovic got the day off because his foe, Alex de Minaur, withdrew with an injured hip.

“You walk on court with a different mentality,” said Musetti, whose 1-5 record against Djokovic includes a five-set loss at this year's French Open that ended at after 3 a.m. “If I play in a certain way, I could have my shot in the next round.”

Alcaraz vs. Medvedev is a rematch from last year's semifinals, when Alcaraz won in straight sets before getting past Djokovic in the final.

It also offers a contrast between a talented attacker (Alcaraz) and a consummate defender (Medvedev).

“The most difficult thing about facing Daniil, or the most special thing about him, is he can reach every ball,” Alcaraz said. “Well, he is like a wall. Every ball bounces back.”

Asked what Alcaraz's best quality is, Medvedev began this way: “To be honest, everything.”

That sounds like an exaggeration.

Might not be.

“That’s where it’s tough to play against him, because you know whatever shot you hit, he can hit a winner from there. So you try to make his life difficult. You try to hit the shot as good as you can. Maybe he goes for it and he cannot make it,” said Medvedev, who has won just two of their previous six encounters.

“Carlos can do whatever, from any position,” Medvedev said, “and that’s not easy to play against.”

Tommy Paul, the 12th-seeded American who lost to Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, put something else on the lengthy list of the Spaniard's attributes.

“He moves unbelievably well. He’s probably the quickest player. It’s very hard to get the ball by him,” Paul said. “Grass suits him. He moves incredible on the grass. It’s not easy to change direction the way that he does. He stays pretty low. Yeah, I mean, it’s not easy.”

And then, in a nod to the sort of highlight-reel material Alcaraz regularly produces, Paul added: “Half of the job when you’re out there is not to let him win one of those crazy points — because when he does, he kind of gets on a roll.”



Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and his deputy, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.

Held outside the traditional stadiums for the first time in history, the ceremony featured a parade of the 206 participating countries on 100 boats traveling approximately 6 kilometers along the Seine River.

The Saudi show jumping team player, Ramzy Al-Duhami, and his colleague, the Saudi Taekwondo champion Dunya Aboutaleb, raised the Saudi flag at the opening of the world’s largest sporting event.

Al-Duhami expressed his pride in raising the Kingdom’s flag alongside his teammate, noting that it was a dream for any Saudi citizen. He wished success for the Saudi athletes in representing Saudi sports with distinction.

Aboutaleb, in turn, said he was honored to carry the Kingdom’s flag at the Olympic Games, stating: “I aspire to perform at a level that reflects the support and attention given to sports in the Kingdom.”

The Saudi athletes’ uniform was admired by the international media and the audience, who applauded the players the moment their boat appeared on the Seine River.

The designs for the opening ceremony were chosen through a national competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with the participation of designers from across the Kingdom.

Out of 128 competing designers, the chosen uniform by Saudi designer Alia Al-Salmi featured traditional men’s thobes and bishts and brightly patterned thobe al-nashal for women, symbolizing the athletes’ pride in their homeland and cultural roots.

Mashael Al-Ayed, 17, will be the first Saudi athlete to compete, taking to the pool for the 200 meters freestyle swimming event on July 28. Al-Ayed is the first female swimmer to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics.