No top-three-seeded man has got to the semi-final without at least one match on the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s most famous stage in the tournament’s entire history. However, the last time the 27-year-old started a match on Centre Court was in his first ever game at Wimbledon – when he beat popular no. 5 seed Stan Wawrinka in the first round of the 2017 tournament in four sets.
Alcaraz has played every match on Centre aside from the first-round encounter and hopes that home advantage counts this afternoon. Not least because he himself has sensed what its “aura” can do to players.
“I didn’t expect to win 3-0 against Holger Rune,” the Spaniard told EuroSport after his quarter-final win on Tuesday. “I knew that for him it was not easy to play a quarter-final against me on the Centre Court. It was his first time there so I expected that. The aura that you live with on Centre Court is different than the other ones.
“I can only talk with my limited experience, but for me the first time playing on Centre Court was really tough to deal with the nerves about playing in this beautiful court. I hope Daniil will feel the same. But every player is different and I don’t know how he’s going to feel about playing Centre Court.”
Medvedev’s battle is less likely to be with the venue and more likely to be with the crowd. The spikiness towards Russian and Belarus competitors has been palpable all throughout the weekend. It reached its low point when Victoria Azarenka was booed off No. 1 Court on Sunday night following a mix-up over the handshake following her match with Ukrainian wild card entrant Eilna Svitolina.
“I actually don’t know about others because I didn’t see many of them play,” Medvedev said. “About me, I said after the first match the crowd was amazing. Against Chris Eubanks, I felt they were backing him. Why, I don’t know. Maybe his tennis, maybe because he’s the underdog, maybe something else?
“But until then it’s been amazing. It’s been amazing. Let’s see how it is on Centre Court because so far I have been playing only on No. 1 Court.” While the Russian refused to get drawn on the politics underlying the situation – particularly Wimbledon’s unique stance on banning Russian players last year – he does admit it is one of the things firing him up this summer.
“I was just disappointed last year that I didn’t have this opportunity to try to prove to myself that I can go far in Wimbledon, which is an iconic tournament,” he said. “That’s why I was really motivated this year.
“Sometimes it’s tricky because by putting more pressure on yourself, you become more vulnerable. But I’m happy so far.”
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.