Tennis-Alcaraz douses Paul fireworks to reach Wimbledon semi-finals

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 9, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after winning his quarter final match against Tommy Paul of the U.S. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

LONDON (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz won the battle of the two most recent Queen's Club champions as the Spaniard edged closer to winning a second successive Wimbledon title with an enthralling 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2 quarter-final victory over American Tommy Paul on Tuesday.

Paul conjured some breathtaking shot-making as he opened up a 7-5 2-0 lead and kept drawing roars of approval from the Court One crowd while making life uncomfortable for the third seed.

As Alcaraz desperately chased after the winners flying off Paul's racket, the Spaniard often found himself sliding and slipping over around the threadbare baseline with the match taking place under a closed roof on another wet day in London.

However, any hopes Paul might have harboured of ending his country's 21-year-wait for a men's Grand Slam champion at the All England Club this weekend were eventually snuffed out as the 21-year-old Alcaraz produced the goods on the crunch moments to run away with the final two sets.

During the spellbinding exchanges, Paul managed to save 19 break points. But unfortunately for him he dropped serve eight times which was enough for an all-court tactician like Alcaraz, who has won majors on three different surfaces, to seal victory.

After being kept on court for just over three hours, the third seed won his 12th match in a row at the grasscourt major when Paul swiped the ball wide.

"He has been playing great tennis on grass, he won Queen's (last month), he has been doing great stuff at Wimbledon beating great players. Today was a really difficult match for me," Alcaraz, who will next meet 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev in a re-match of last year's semi-final, told the crowd on a on-court interview.

"In the first set and at the beginning of the second set, (it felt like) I was playing on clay, with big rallies and every point going over 10-15 shots.

"I had to stay strong mentally when I lost the first set, it was difficult for me. It was a long journey for me, it was a long match so I was happy to find the solutions (to win)."

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Alison Williams)