by By James Toney in Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz is really one of the good of sports, but this was a dominance exhibition that could receive a visit from the HR department at any other job.
Cameron Norrie, the last British, who was standing, saw his run to the quarter -finals abruptly. As soon as he was on the Center Court when he had dropped back in the changing room.
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The statistics told the story of a one-sided quarter-final competition: a 6-2, 6-3, 6: 3 master class of a player who tries to win Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the open era.
Norrie had previously beaten Alcaraz twice, but on these lawn areas – where the Spaniard is undefeated in 19 games in successive games – he is far more at home than home hopes.
Alcaraz is so popular that screams of “Come On, Carlos” were almost as loud as those who support British No. 3.
The Center Court audience quickly felt the inevitability of the result, and the defending champion ended his victory in just 99 minutes – his fastest championship so far. Even Oliver Tarvet, the world No. 733, had made him work harder for more than two hours last week.
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Alcaraz won 89 percent of his first points and fired 13 aces. He collected 94 points with 39 winners, and even when Norrie occasionally threatened his serve, the Spaniard remained tireless.
“Yes, we cam,” called an optimistic voice in the crowd, although the feeling of the summer sunshine and too many glasses from Pimms owed more reality on the pitch.
Norrie was a sympathy for Norrie, who, despite his extraordinary fitness, felt the effects of a thriller of five sets against Nicolás Jarry only 48 hours earlier.
Arthur Ashe, who won his historical title here 50 years ago, once noticed that the gap between the world No. 1 and No. 10 was as big as that between ten and 100. They did not need expert eyes to see that Norrie’s current ranking – No. 61, although this run was lifted – was cruel.
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“I was the outsider and he really only looked after things,” said Norrie.
“It was a good experience to play the best player in the world on his favorite surface. I did not keep my risk and that was shown in the score.
“When he enjoys his tennis like this and serves as well, he is the favorite that can certainly win again, and the level he plays is unreal. He has so many options – he has and then plays a drop -down shot. It makes it very difficult for her.
“It was one of the biggest games of my career, but for him it was probably only a game. He played much better in the big moments than me and everything seemed to happen very quickly. I fought until the last point and I am proud of my championships and I can take a lot of trust from it.”
Alcaraz paid tribute to Norrie’s work ethic and commented on confidence in his ability to return to the upper framework of sport after reaching the semi-finals here in 2022.
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His own focus is now turning to Taylor Fritz, his semi -final opponent, whom he struck twice without dropping a set.
“This was my best game of the tournament,” he said.
“I feel great and while every game is different, my self -confidence is really high.
“The more I played, the more I started getting a good rhythm with my serve. I feel really calm and my thinking is very clear.
“I had to struggle a little in the first rounds of the championship, but it started to click now and feel really good.
“Taylor has a really successful season and he plays a great tennis on grass, his aggressive game really fits this surface.
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“I have to find an even higher level than against Cameron, it will not be easier. The key will not be to dominate the game.
“This is my 23rd game in my winning streak, but I don’t want to stop, the players have a goal on me and I know that.”
Fritz produced two outstanding sets to take control of his quarter -finals against Karen Khachanov before he inexplicably lost the third. However, he achieved his serenity to achieve a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 win.
It is further proof of the stigent way of thinking of the American, which has been cultivated in recent years, since he became a consistent presence in the second week of the majors.
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This will only be his second Grand Slam semi-final after he was well beaten by Jannik Sünder for the last year. However, this experience has conveyed the new belief in its ability to navigate in the last phases of the most important tournaments.
His current Wimbledon campaign has underlined this resistance. In the opening rounds, Fritz came two games with five sets through the first round in the first round against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who was excessive for two days-because the grass diluted itself on the baseline.
His game has been suitable for grass for a long time, and after the last ATP TOUSTITELS in Stuttgart and Eastbourne, it is as confident as he tries to dethroned the incumbent champion.
“[The US Open final] gave me a lot of trust in these moments and situations – only that I can do it again, ”he said.
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“I have the feeling that in other years when I reached the quarter -finals, I felt like a really big deal. This time I went into play much more calmly and more relaxed.
“I was just really proud of how I was mentally all week. I was about as close to being out of the tournament in the first round.
“I think grass can be an equalizer. I trust how I play. I really believe that it doesn’t do much, as was done in the first two sentences in the first two sets today.”
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