In all fairness, Carlos Alcaraz had been forewarned by Frances Tiafoe that he was ready to take him on. Tiafoe, the 29th seed, nearly defeated the defending champion after clinching the first set in a thrilling five-set match that almost caused an upset by eliminating Alcaraz from the tournament.
Their previous match, which was a 2022 US Open semi-final, was an enthralling spectacle, and this encounter was a worthy successor. “Tiafoe is always an intimidating opponent to face,” admitted Alcaraz. “He’s incredibly gifted, and I had a tough time adjusting my play and figuring out how to tackle him.”
There was a moment when Tiafoe was a mere six points from an unanticipated triumph. At four-all in the fourth set, Alcaraz was at a precarious point, down 0-30 on his own serve. Surprisingly, the crowd rallied behind him, portraying him as the underdog, not Tiafoe.
This sparked a revival in the French Open champion who managed to recover, win the game and secure a tie-break, leading to some extraordinary tennis in a contest that had no dearth of stunning moments. “Just one more ball, I need to keep on fighting,” the Spaniard expressed. “I continually remind myself, I need to go all out, regardless of whether I win or lose.”
The Tiafoe and Alcaraz showdown seemed to live up to its boxing match hype, even including friendly banter, with Tiafoe proclaiming he was “ready for battle” against his good pal. However, there were sceptics, considering their previous explosive five-set match at Flushing Meadows had catapulted Alcaraz to the first of his three grand slam victories, while Tiafoe’s career had followed a different path.
The semi-finals is still the highest Tiafoe has reached in grand slams. Since the previous summer, he slipped from the top-10 to 29th in the rankings. He parted ways with his former coach, Wayne Ferreira, who now trains Britain’s Jack Draper – the same Draper who stopped Tiafoe’s title defence at the Stuttgart quarter-finals last month. Tiafoe confessed to becoming “too content”. Perhaps the entertainer was simply waiting for a stage grand enough.
The excitement of the match under the Centre Court roof was palpable, despite the uncomfortably warm and sticky situation. The showdown was quickly fired up, with a remarkable 22-move exchange earning enthusiastic murmurs from the onlookers. Alcaraz managed the first break, only for Tiafoe to instantly reciprocate. Amidst the tense four-all, Alcaraz skillfully utilises his colossal serve to avoid three sequential break points, rounding it up by securing the match with another pair of the same.
On one side, you had the third seed adroitly exploring drop shots and lob strokes, while on the other hand, Tiafoe was nimbly blocking at the net. Notwithstanding Tiafoe’s bouts of excessive force, resulting in a self-directed smash, it was beneficial overall. While Alcaraz was exploiting all playable trajectories, Tiafoe was diligently tailing them, to the delight of the spectators. Tiafoe recognised this excitement, encouraging them to intensify it.
Alcaraz’s assurance that the match would be “hugely entertaining, both to view and participate,” didn’t fall short of expectation. A sense of joviality permeated the court. There was a comical instance when both competitors contested calls within the same match: Tiafoe’s call was barely off, while Alcaraz’s was significantly wide as his opponent playfully indicated with a grand hand movement.
At several points, Tiafoe openly admired Alcaraz’s impressive mastery, returning a smile across the court after a particularly good cross-court winner from his friend. And when Tiafoe ended up flat on his back after slipping while in pursuit near the net, Alcaraz displayed a moment of compassion, crossing over the net to offer his hand and help him back to his feet.
The occasion will be remembered fondly, with a celebratory post surfacing on Wimbledon’s Twitter page with a jovial mention of @BellinghamJude. #Wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz | @England, and the tweet’s date marking July 5, 2024.
Tiafoe showed a lot of resilience in the exciting match against Alcaraz, even though they are friends. Alcaraz emerged victorious in the second set with a strong 6-2 score, but Tiafoe wasn’t going down without a fight. He displayed the same determination as he did in his first-round match against Matteo Arnaldi, where he made a comeback from being two sets behind. Tiafoe cleverly engaged Alcaraz in a strategic duel on the court until the pressure became unbearable. At the tense moment of three-all, 15-all, Alcaraz made a mistake in returning an effortless volley and it passed beyond the baseline, giving Tiafoe an upper hand and eventually leading to him getting a break, which enabled him to serve and get a lead of two to one sets.
A spectator from the crowd enthusiastically shouted, “Frances, this is your day!”. Contrary to Alcaraz’s second-round match against Aleksandar Vucic, which was based on false jeopardy, this was a genuine competitive match. Alcaraz’s normally laser-focused attention seemed to drift during the game, failing twice in an attempt to retrieve a ball between his legs from the back of the court. He also made an error by wildly hitting the ball into the crowd.
Alcaraz was on the brink of defeat when his performance escalated significantly. When asked about the impact on his support group due to the strain of the match, he claimed they felt the nervousness more than he did and added that their support was instrumental to his victories.
Meanwhile, Tiafoe ignited a reminder for his fans and himself of his capabilities. That’s quite an achievement for someone who was infamous for losing to the less competent players earlier.