When facing a global phenomenon bidding for his 20th straight match win on these lawns, it can be useful to devise a mental action plan to boost your game – a one-liner, to play on repeat in your brain when the match is going well, and when it isn’t.
Taylor Fritz came into his semi-final opposite Carlos Alcaraz riding the wave of his own strongest grass court season to date, with titles from Stuttgart and Eastbourne taking his career tally to five – more than the Spaniard, in fact.
Playing with increasing authority throughout this Fortnight, Fritz had reached the first Wimbledon semi of his career, backing up his runner-up spot at last autumn’s US Open.
But it didn’t bode well that Alcaraz had taken their two previous career jousts, on hard court, in straight sets. So maybe Fritz actually believed it when he declared before this match that grass could be “the equaliser” between them.
Unfortunately the No.5 seed hadn’t entirely factored in “The Alcarazer” to “the equaliser” scenario. For all the pressure Fritz brought to bear here, the Alcarazer was the neutraliser to the equaliser.
Here’s the thing. The Spaniard’s level may fluctuate but the outcome tends not to, no matter how unflagging the opponent. Just ask Fabio Fognini, Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev already this Fortnight. And now Fritz.
Alcaraz has not lost to a top five player at Wimbledon since 2021, when he was an 18-year-old debutant ranked 75. Four years on, he took this semi-final 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8) to reach the Championship match for the third straight year.
“It was really hot today, tough conditions,” said Alcaraz. “I’m really happy with everything I’ve done today. I dealt with the nerves – playing here in a semi-final is not easy. I’m proud of the way I stayed calm and thought clearly.
"I’m not thinking about the winning streak or the results at all. This is my dream – stepping on these beautiful courts, and playing tennis in the most beautiful tournament in the world. That’s all I try to think of, and why I try to bring joy to the courts.”
Mission accomplished, yet again. His mere arrival on court was enough to prompt smiles. Alcaraz walked out into the roasting heat of the Centre Court bundled up in a warm cardy, presumably to shield himself from the chill of the 31 degrees Centigrade sunshine (after all, it was 33 degrees back home in Villena, Spain).
Spectators had anticipated witnessing some untouchable first serves, and how right they were. Yet in the first set they sprang from the racket of Alcaraz, not Fritz, as the American plundered exactly zero points from his opponent’s first serve. For good measure, Alcaraz had a fine old time with the drop shot too.
But in the second set, the No.5 seed’s relentless pressure bore fruit when Alcaraz’s level tapered off. At 5-5, he failed to capitalise on a trio of Fritz second serves, boosting Fritz's next game into an important forehand haymaker return. The Spaniard rounded off the set with a double fault and a forehand miss.
Come the third set, Alcaraz couldn’t seem to remember any of that dispiriting interlude, joyfully upping the first serve again to winning effect.
Fritz showed exceptional mettle to drive the fourth set into a breaker. There should have been a decider, but the No.2 seed transformed two set points against him into jubilant victory.
“Right now I don’t want to think about Sunday,” said Alcaraz. “There will be time for that. I just want to enjoy this moment, and that I’m into a third final in a row.”
“I had my chances,” said Fritz later. “I should have been able to get one of those break points in the fourth set tiebreaker to force a fifth set. The second and the fourth sets, I definitely played exactly how I wanted to.
“If I had changed anything, it would only have helped me for a point or two before Carlos made an adjustment. He’s very good at that. He has so many different ways to win.
“People are in for an amazing final. Sinner is obviously super hungry after the French Open. Carlos is going for the three in a row. They bring out the best in each other. It's going to come down to just, like, the big moments.”
So Fritz had to trudge away from Centre Court with his “equaliser” theory unproven on this occasion. Facing Alcaraz at Wimbledon right now looks very much as if some players are more equal than others.