15 July 2023 , 01:00
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Carlos Alcaraz has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of a dream Wimbledon final by telling Novak Djokovic: You don’t scare me.
Djokovic, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, is unbeaten on Centre Court since losing the 2013 final to Andy Murray. But 20-year-old Alcaraz, the world number one, declared: “I am ready for this. It is no time to be afraid. I will believe that I can beat him here. I dreamed of playing a final here. It is no time to be tired. It is going to be a really tough challenge for me. I am going to go for it.”
With a 16-year age gap and 36-year-old Djokovic looking to win his 24th Grand Slam title, this is the mouth-watering final Wimbledon hoped for: the number one seed against the number two seed.
Djokovic, who beat Alcaraz in this year’s French Open semi-finals when the young Spaniard was struck by a serious cramp, said: “He (Alcaraz) can do pretty much anything on the court and I consider myself to also be a very complete player. He's very motivated. He's young. He's hungry. I'm hungry, too, so let's have a feast.”
And Djokovic made light of the age difference, laughing: “I feel 36 is the new 26. I’d like to believe I am playing my best tennis and I have a lot of motivation.
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“I’m going to be coming into Sunday's final like it's my first, to be honest. It’s great to be part of this new generation - I love it!”
Carlos Alcaraz rolled over Daniil Medvedev in straight sets (Getty Images)Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 win over Jannik Sinner means he will be playing in a 35th Grand Slam singles final – another record for the Serb. He dropped a set to both Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev in the previous two rounds but never looked vulnerable against Sinner
Yet he added: “The semi-final was always going to be a very close and tense match. I think the scoreline doesn’t give the reality of what was happening on the court, it was super close.
“There was a lot of pressure in the third, but he has proven why he is one of the leaders of the next generation and one of the best players in the world.”
Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion, had few problems in brushing aside Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to set up one of the most eagerly-anticipated final Wimbledon showdowns in recent times.