Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Holger Rune to Become Youngest Wimbledon Semifinalist Since Novak Djokovic in 2007

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to his maiden Wimbledon semifinal…

In a clash between two 20-year-olds, the Spaniard triumphed over Holger Rune on Wednesday, defeating he Dane 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4, to become the youngest semifinalist at the All England Club since Novak Djokovic in 2007.

Alcaraz’s match against the World No. 6 Rune was the first men’s Wimbledon quarterfinal battle in the Open Era (since 1968) to be contested between two players aged under 21 and both played with youthful freedom on Centre Court to entertain the packed crowd.

They went blow for blow with their destructive shot-making for two hours and 20 minutes, but the World No. 1 Alcaraz had the answers in the big moments.

“It is amazing for me,” Alcaraz said. “It is a dream since I started playing tennis, making good results here at Wimbledon, such a beautiful and great tournament for me. It is a dream to play a semi-final here. I think I am playing at a great level. I did not expect to play at such a great level on this surface. For me it is crazy.”

With his 45th tour-level victory of the season, Alcaraz advanced to his third major semifinal and improved to 2-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Rune, having defeated the Dane en route to the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals title.

“It was tough. At the beginning I was really nervous, playing a quarterfinal at Wimbledon and even more against Rune, who is the same age as me,” Alcaraz said. “He plays at a great level and it was tough to play against him. But I have said it a few times, once you take to court you are not friends you have to be focused on your side and I think I did great on that part.”

Standing in the Spaniard’s way from a second major final will be World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, who earned his 46th victory of the season against Christopher Eubanks on Wednesday, defeating the American in five sets.

Beatriz Haddad Maia Advances to Fourth Round at Wimbledon for First Time

Posted on July 9, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Beatriz Haddad Maia has advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time at Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old Brazilian professional tennis player moved into the fourth round at the All England Club by besting Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2 on No. 3 Court on Saturday.

Haddad Maia came into the match behind in the head-to-head, with Cirstea having won four of their five prior meetings.

But this time, Haddad Maia perfectly mixed powerful hitting with outrageous defense to earn the victory in exactly 90 minutes — mere seconds before a two-hour rain delay hit the grounds.

Haddad Maia, who cracked the Top 10 for two weeks last month, won 80 percent of her first-serve points on the day. She also dominated when returning the Cirstea second serve, winning 15 of those 21 points, and turning that into five service breaks.

After not passing the second round in her first 11 Grand Slam main draws, Haddad Maia has now reached the second week at two consecutive majors. She broke her second-round barrier with a historic semifinal appearance at Roland Garros last month, only falling to eventual French Open champion Iga Swiatek.

She’ll face defending champion Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16.

Daniel Elahi Galán Reaches Round of 16 for First Time at a Major Following Third Round Win at Wimbledon

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Elahi Galán has made it to the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career…

The 27-year-old Colombian professional tennis player defeated Mikael Ymer 6-2, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1 at Wimbledon on Friday to reach the fourth round, his first at this major and in his career.

Galan’s previous best performances at a Grand Slam were a third round loss at the 2020 French Open and third round loss at the 2022 US Open.

As a result Galan has moved to a new career high in the top 55 in the ATP world rankings.

Galan will next face No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner at the All England Club on Sunday.

Guido Pella Upsets No. 13 Seed Borna Coric in Wimbledon First Round

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Guido Pella has pulled off a first round upset at the All England Club.

The 33-year-old Argentine tennis player advanced to the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday afternoon by beating Borna Coric, the No 13 seed.

In a match that went the distance, Pella beat Coric by a score of 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1.

Pella, ranked No 308, will next face qualifier Harold Mayot.

His best showing at Wimbledon was in 2019, when he reached the quarterfinals. It’s also his best-ever showing at a Grand Slam tournament.

Tomás Martín Etcheverry Outlasts Bernabe Zapata Miralles to Earn First Main Draw Victory at Wimbledon

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Tomás Martín Etcheverry is still alive at Wimbledon..

The 23-year-old Argentine professional tennis player, the tournament’s No. 29 seed, advanced to the second round at the All England Club after outlasting Bernabe Zapata Miralles in a highly competitive first round match.

Etcheverry was two sets down to Zapata Miralles before coming alive to claim a 6-7 (5), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory.

It’s his first victory in the main draw at Wimbledon.

He will next face Stan Wawrinka in the second round.

Tomás Barrios Vera Earns First Grand Slam Victory After Outlasting Sebastian Baez at Wimbledon

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Tomás Barrios Vera has logged his first Grand Slam match at Wimbledon after qualifying into the main draw.

The 25-year-old Chilean qualifier’s major match victory came when he edged out Sebastian Baez 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) at the All England Club to reach the second round.

Barrios Vera, ranked No. 133 in the world, will face Belgian wildcard David Goffin next.

In the qualifying rounds, Barrios Vera defeated Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 6-4; Rinky Hijikata 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2); and Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 6-7 (3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Rebeka Masarova Upsets Mayar Sherif to Earn First Victory at Wimbledon

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Rebeka Masarova has earned her first Wimbledon victory…

Playing in only her second tournament at the All England Club, the unseeded 23-year-old Swiss-born Spanish professional tennis player defeated No. 31 seed Mayar Sherif in the first round.

Masarova, currently ranked No. 66 in the world, her highest ranking to date, outlasted Sherif 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in a hard-fought match.

Masarova will next face either Camila Osorio or Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.

Earlier this year, Masarova reached her first WTA final at the Auckland Classic, losing to Coco Gauff 1-6, 1-6.

Carlos Alcaraz Returns to No. 1 in ATP World Rankings, Expected to Earn No. 1 Seed at Wimbledon

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is officially back on top…

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player has replaced Novak Djokovic at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, meaning he’s expected to have the top seeding at Wimbledon.

Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, is coming off the first grass-court title of his career, which he won on Sunday by beating Alex De Minaur in the final at Queen’s Club in London, and that helped him rise one spot from No. 2.

Djokovic, who picked up his men’s-record 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open this month, chose not to play any tune-up tournaments on grass ahead of Wimbledon and slid down one place.

It is the sixth time the No. 1 ranking has switched in 2023, the most since it happened seven times in 2018.

Play begins at Wimbledon on Monday, July 3.

The All England Club will announce the men’s and women’s seeds Wednesday and is expected to simply follow the ATP and WTA rankings for those 32 berths in each 128-player singles draw. That would put Alcaraz and the leading woman, Iga Swiatek, in the top line of each bracket.

Swiatek remained at No. 1 — as she has for every week since first climbing to that position in April 2022 — on Monday, a little more than two weeks after she won the French Open for the third time. Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka kept her hold on No. 2, and defending Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina is at No. 3. Jessica Pegula moved up to No. 4, switching with new No. 5 Caroline Garcia.

Wimbledon’s seedings used to be based on a formula that took into account players’ recent success there and at other events contested on grass courts. But with only the rankings mattering now, there is the unusual situation of even last year’s results at the All England Club not mattering — because the ATP and WTA chose to withhold all rankings points that would have been earned at Wimbledon in 2022 to protest the club’s decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.

That war continues, but the club is allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete this time.

Djokovic has won Wimbledon each of the past four times it was held — in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022; the tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic — and seven times in all.

“I mean, Novak is the main favorite to win Wimbledon. That’s obvious,” Alcaraz said. “But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him or make the final at Wimbledon.”

If they are indeed seeded Nos. 1 and 2, Alcaraz and Djokovic could meet only in the championship match on July 16. At Roland Garros, Alcaraz was the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time; Djokovic was No. 3, and they were drawn to meet in the semifinals. The first two sets were terrific, but then Alcaraz faded because of full-body cramps he attributed, at least in part, to tension, and Djokovic took the last two sets 6-1, 6-1 on the way to the trophy.

There was no other major change in the men’s rankings Monday, with Daniil Medvedev still at No. 3, followed by Casper Ruud at No. 4 and Stefanos Tsitsipas at No. 5. Taylor Fritz, who is from California, and Frances Tiafoe, who is from Maryland, were at Nos. 9-10, remaining the first pair of American men in the top 10 in more than a decade.

Carlos Alcaraz Becomes Youngest Year-End No. 1 in ATP History

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz has another a place in tennis history once again…

The 19-year-old Spanish professional tennis player is the youngest year-end No. 1 in the history of the ATP computerized rankings.

He also joins fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal as the first players from the same country to claim the top two spots at the close of a season since Americans Pete Sampras and Michael Chang in 1996.

The final men’s tennis rankings for 2022 were published Monday, and Alcaraz’s rise from No. 32 at the end of 2021 is the largest single-season jump to No. 1.

Alcaraz, who turned 19 in May, has remained atop the rankings since he won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September by beating Casper Ruud in the final.

That made Alcaraz the first male teen at No. 1 since the ATP computerized rankings began in 1973.

He’s the first man in 20 years other than Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray — since Andy Roddick in 2003 — to finish at No. 1.

Alcaraz ended his season early after tearing an abdominal muscle while competing at the Paris Masters a month ago.

The 36-year-old Nadal, meanwhile, is the oldest man to finish a year ranked first or second. He also extended his own record by placing in the top 10 at the end of a year for the 18th consecutive season. The recently retired Federer is the only other man with that many top-10 finishes over the course of a career.

Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to raise his men’s-record Grand Slam total to 22 trophies, one ahead of Djokovic and two ahead of Federer.

Ruud finishes at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 5 Djokovic, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, No. 8 Andrey Rublev, No. 9 Taylor Fritz and No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz.

Djokovic couldn’t play at the Australian Open or US Open because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and didn’t earn any rankings boost for his title at Wimbledon because the WTA and ATP stripped that tournament of any points over the All England Club‘s ban on players from Russia and Belarus.

Rafael Nadal to Play Doubles with Roger Federer at Laver Cup

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is partnering with his oldest rival…

The 36-year-old Spanish tennis superstar will join forces with Roger Federer as he plays the final professional match of his career at the Laver Cup in London on Friday.

At Thursday’s draw, it was confirmed that Federer will join Nadal for Team Europe against the American pair of Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock for Team World on Friday night.

Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, will then be replaced by Italy’s Matteo Berrettini for the rest of the event.

“It’s super special playing with Rafa,” Federer said in a news conference. “… To be able to do that one more time, I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful.”

Said Nadal: “Tomorrow is going to be a special thing. Difficult. Going to be difficult to handle everything, especially for Roger, without a doubt. But for me too. At the end, one of the most important players — if not the most important player — in my tennis career is leaving.”

Federer, 41, who announced last week that he’s retiring because of an ongoing right knee issue, had said Wednesday that playing alongside 22-time Slam champion Nadal would be a unique, fitting way to go out.

“For as long as we battled together, having had always this respect for one another, our families, coaching teams, for us as well to go through a career we both have had, come out the other side and have a nice relationship, is maybe a great message to tennis and beyond,” Federer said.

The three-day team event will begin Friday afternoon at The O2 Arena with two singles matches. Norwegian Casper Ruud, the runner-up at the US Open earlier this month, will play Sock in the opener before Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece takes on Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.

The evening session will begin with former world No. 1 Andy Murray up against Alex de Minaur before Federer takes the court for the final time.

“I’m not sure if I can handle it all, but I’ll try,” Federer said Thursday about his sure-to-be-emotional on-court farewell.

Tiafoe, who beat Nadal en route to his first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open this month, deadpanned about the matchup, “Yeah, I’m just excited to play two up-and-comers tomorrow,” before adding, “It’s going to be iconic to be a part of that. Both guys are absolute legends.”

Federer and Nadal played each other in singles 40 times (Nadal won 26), including 14 Grand Slam matchups (Nadal won 10, going 6-3 in finals). Nadal came out on top in their classic 2008 Wimbledon final, considered by some the greatest match in history, while Federer won their last showdown, in the 2019 semifinals at the All England Club.

They also played one other doubles match together, defeating Jack Sock and Sam Querrey at the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017.

“To be part of this historic moment,” Nadal said about Friday, “is going to be something amazing, unforgettable.”

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