Alcaraz douses Rune fireworks to reach Wimbledon semis for first time

It was billed as the battle of the 20-year-olds but Carlos Alcaraz pulled rank on his childhood buddy Holger Rune as he doused the Dane's fireworks to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

The two tyros, who were born six days apart, were contesting a men's Wimbledon quarterfinal that for the first time in the professional era featured two players aged under 21.

Despite his youth, Alcaraz is already at home among the elite of men's tennis and produced the form that has carried him to the top of the rankings by never allowing Rune to gain the upper hand, no matter how many flashy shots the Dane conjured.

“It's amazing for me, a dream since I started playing tennis. It's a dream to be able to play a semifinal here,” Alcaraz said after setting up a showdown with Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev on Friday.

“I am playing at a great level, I didn’t expect to play such a great level on this surface. For me, it is crazy,” added the Spaniard who has been more at home on clay and hard courts.

After saving a break point in the opening game of the match, Alcaraz put on a majestic performance in front of Britain's Queen Camilla to end Rune's hopes of becoming the first Danish player in 65 years to reach the All England Club semifinals.

Sixth seed Rune certainly won most of the crowd-pleasing points, whether it was a tweener between the legs or a stupendous reflex volley he hit at the net after Alcaraz had dashed back to the baseline to retrieve a lob.

But the top seed, already in the Grand Slam winner's club after triumphing at the US Open last year, refused to get flustered and kept winning the points that mattered.

Third seed Medvedev curtailed American debutant Christopher Eubanks' extraordinary Wimbledon adventure as he weathered a ferocious storm to come through their quarterfinal 6-4 1-6 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1.

The 27-year-old Russian took the opening set but was blown completely off course for the next two as unseeded Eubanks unleashed a barrage of first-strike tennis that had the Court One crowd roaring its approval.

Medvedev clung on stubbornly, however, and as the fire in the Eubanks racket began to fade he took charge to reach the semifinals at the grass court slam for the first time.

“I am just happy to be in the semifinals,” Medvedev said on court after winning a fifth-set decider for only the fourth time in his career, having lost 10.

“There was a moment in the match where I completely lost the game itself and he played well, I started to sink, I started to make a lot of mistakes, not serving well enough.

“In the third set I started to build something, not lose it 6-1 again and starting from the tiebreak [in the fourth], I managed to play amazing.”

The 27-year-old Eubanks, who stunned British number one Cameron Norrie and took out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the last eight, looked edgy early on and successive double-faults gifted Medvedev a decisive break in the first set.

But once he loosened up his long limbs and started middling the ball he entered a purple patch that had Medvedev rocking.

Eubanks used his sledgehammer forehand to break the Medvedev serve to lead 3-1 in the second set — beaming broadly and imploring the crowd for more noise.

They duly obliged as Eubanks began smacking service returns straight to the feet of Medvedev and demonstrating a razor-sharp net game that many thought had long gone out of fashion.

Eubanks broke Medvedev's serve at the start of the third set and won seven successive games in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Medvedev looked close to boiling point as he whacked a ball dangerously close to the fans, argued with umpire Damien Dumusois and received a warning.

Eubanks looked set to emulate American great John McEnroe who reached the semis on his Wimbledon debut in 1977 but Medvedev gained traction in the fourth as the fizz went out of his opponent's game and he comfortably won the tiebreak.

Eubanks cut a dejected figure in the deciding set as his dream faded away and the end came quickly.

His run may be over but the 27-year-old former Georgia Tech student left the court to a huge ovation, making a heart gesture to the fans before disappearing.