Carlos Alcaraz overcomes slow start to beat Tommy Paul and reach Wimbledon semifinals

Carlos Alcaraz overcame a slow start to beat Tommy Paul in four sets on Tuesday – 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2 – and book his place in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Carlos Alcaraz overcame a slow start to beat Tommy Paul in four sets on Tuesday and book his place in the Wimbledon semifinals. The defending champion dropped the first set to the American No. 12 seed on Court No. 1, but rallied to eventually win 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2 in southwest London. “At the beginning, the first set and the beginning of the second set, it kind of felt like I was playing on clay. Big rallies, 10 to 15 shots every point,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview afterwards. “So I had to stay strong mentally when I lost the first set. “It was difficult for me a little bit, but I knew it was a long journey, a long match, and I just had to stay there. I’m really happy to find the solutions and the good path.” Alcaraz will play No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, in what is a rematch of their semifinal clash from last year’s tournament. Paul had been in excellent grass-court form having won at Queen’s – a Wimbledon warm-up tournament – and his quarterfinals appearance in SW19 was the furthest he’d reached at the grand slam.