Carlos Alcaraz has defeated Daniil Medvedev to reach the Wimbledon final for the second year in a row as he edges towards a rare tennis achievement – but he was booed by the crowd when he spoke about Euro 2024 after the match.
Spain’s football team face England in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday, July 14, the same day that Alcaraz will defend his Wimbledon title after he became the first Spanish man to reach back-to-back finals in SW19 since Rafael Nadal in 2011.
‘It’s going to be a good day for Spanish people,’ Alcaraz said in his on-court interview, when resulted in boos from the English crowd on Centre Court.
The young Spaniard quickly backtracked and added: ‘I didn’t say Spain is going to win! I’m just saying it’s going to be a really fun day!’
Alcaraz battled past Novak Djokovic in a epic five-set final last year to clinch his first Wimbledon trophy, and has now booked his spot in the 2024 final, after his 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over fifth-seed Medvedev in the last four on Friday.
The 21-year-old, who next faces either Djokovic or 25th-seed Lorenzo Musetti, registered the third major trophy of his career in Paris last month and is now one win away from an incredibly impressive feat known as the Channel Slam.
Often described as the hardest month in tennis, the Channel Slam is when a players successfully wins the French Open on the slow, bouncy clay and then triumphs at Wimbledon on the fast, unbouncy grass in the same calendar year.
Because of the huge differences between the surfaces and the short timeframe between the Grand Slam tournaments, only five male players have ever done it.
Alcaraz is looking to become the sixth man on that list after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic.
‘I feel like I’m not new anymore,’ Alcaraz added in his on-court interview when quizzed about his upcoming second Wimbledon final. ‘I know how I’m going to feel before the final. I’ve been in this position. I’ll try to do the things I did well last year. I’ll try to be better and do the things that worked well.’
Widely tipped to become the new dominant force in tennis as the Big Three era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic finally approaches an end, Alcaraz has already broken numerous records despite his short time near the top of the sport.
His recent Roland-Garros title saw Alcaraz become the youngest man in the Open Era to land three major trophies on all three different surfaces.
It also saw Alcaraz become the second youngest man to win his first three major finals after he lifted his first Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in 2022.