Carlos Alcaraz has extended his winning streak to 23 matches as he moves one step closer to a third consecutive Wimbledon title.
Alcaraz beat Cameron Norrie in straight sets on Centre Court at Wimbledon, ending British hopes of a home champion.
This is just the second time that the Spaniard has won in straight sets at Wimbledon this year, with Alcaraz sometimes accused of losing focus during five set matches.
The five-time Grand Slam champion has now admitted that he was struggling with something at the start of the tournament that almost saw him knocked out in the first round.
Photo by Peter van den Berg/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty ImagesCarlos Alcaraz admits he was struggling serving at the start of Wimbledon
Alcaraz has won Roland Garros, Queen’s and the Italian Open titles on his current winning streak, but that all looked to be coming undone in his first round match against Fabio Fognini.
In his first round match, Fognini pushed Alcaraz to five sets and left him looking a frustrated figure at times on court.
When looking back on his performances at the start of the tournament compared to now, Alcaraz admitted that his serve in particular was a weakness.
However, he has now found his rhythm again, something that Alcaraz believes started against Andrey Rublev.
“I struggled a little bit in the first rounds of the tournament trying to improve a little bit,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “I don’t know if it was the throw of the ball or just the rhythm but I just got it on Rublev’s match and started to play really good. The percentage went higher. The winning point on the first serve was higher as well.
“I think I started to throw the ball on the serve much better and I think that helped a lot, coming on the serve.
“Once I got the good rhythm and throw of the ball I started to serve much better and I think today I tried to follow the same way that I served in Rublev’s match so hopefully keep it going and keep feeling the good way again.”
How have Carlos Alcaraz’s serving statistics changed throughout Wimbledon this year?
Alcaraz’s claim about his serve improving from his fourth round match against Rublev are supported by the statistics.
The world number two served his most number of aces and least double faults in that match, and improved in some areas in his quarter-final against Norrie as well.
The only area of concern for Alcaraz will be that his second serve percentage was at its lowest point against Norrie, winning just seven of his 21 points on it.
However, it was the only match that Alcaraz has not been broken once in.
Next up for Alcaraz is another big server in Taylor Fritz, who will be playing in his first ever Wimbledon semi-final.
Alcaraz has beaten Fritz in their only two previous meetings, but it will be the first time they have played on grass.