As The Championships began, Carlos Alcaraz was asked what his goal was in SW19. It may have sounded like a daft question (what do you think his goal was? To lose in the fourth round?) but it got a straight reply. 

“To win it,” he said with his trademark smile. But grin or no grin, he meant it. No matter that he was a relative novice on the grass, he had just won the title at Queen’s Club; now he felt ready to challenge at the All England Club.

With his 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 win over Holger Rune, a lot of people were beginning to see his point. Novak Djokovic may be the overwhelming favourite for the title but Alcaraz is fast hunting him down. He was a little flustered in the first set but after that he was in total control of proceedings in front of HM The Queen on Centre Court.

“It’s amazing for me,” he said. “It’s a dream since I start playing tennis – making good results here in Wimbledon, such a great tournament. I didn’t expect to play such a great level on this surface. For me, it’s crazy. 

“It was tough. At the beginning I was really, really nervous playing the quarter-final here in Wimbledon but I’m going say even more: playing against Rune, someone that is the same age as me, someone that is playing at a great level, it was tough to play with him. But I said before, once you get on court, there are no friends. You have to be focused on yourself and I think I did great in that part.”

There is always the nagging feeling that Rune is desperate to grow up to be like Alcaraz which, when you think about it, would be difficult – he is a week older than the Spaniard. The two have known each other for years (they played doubles together as 14-year-olds) and they know each other’s game inside out. 

They are not quite mirror images of each other but there are many similarities. They are both fizzing with adrenaline and nervous energy; they both speed around the court as if in jet-propelled sneakers (although Alcaraz’s afterburners have a touch more acceleration) and they both unleash such power through their shots that it seems they have a personal dislike of the ball. 

What separates them is experience – and that is a rare commodity for a 20-year-old. Alcaraz has the experience of winning a Grand Slam title (the US Open last year) and Rune doesn’t. That can make all the difference in the world. 

The Dane is known as the more hot headed of the pair but as he got to work, he had clearly done his homework. He knew how Alcaraz played; he knew where the danger lay. He also knew that if he could cover the expected set-up shot, he had a fair idea of where Alcaraz would go next. If he kept calm, stuck to the game plan and held his nerve, he could do some damage. And it worked: Rune had Alcaraz rattled in the first set. 

Normally a calm character on court, no matter what the situation, the world No.1 was getting increasingly frustrated as some of his best forehands were either missing the mark completely or were being sent back into places he wasn’t expecting.

When one backhand flew wildly over the baseline, he roared in disgust and then began a long rant in Spanish about his failings. This was very unusual but for Rune it was a very promising sign. Had he got under his old rival’s skin? Apparently not.

Within a couple of minutes, Alcaraz had refocused and with barely an eyelash between them, they headed for the tie-break. Again, they were as close as two close things in a close space. And then Rune double faulted; Alcaraz was 4-3 up.

Rune did not win another point and when the Spaniard nailed a backhand return on set point, he roared again. This time it was with relief: he had drawn first blood and experience told him how important that was.

Half an hour later, Alcaraz was serving for the second set. Eight games had come and gone with not a chance to be had and then Rune got ahead of himself. As a lob hung tantalisingly above him, he was too keen to wallop it away for a winner. Instead, he thwacked it into the bottom of the net and Alcaraz had his first break point of the match. The second set was his moments later. 

Rune was now running uphill in lead boots in his attempt to catch the Spaniard. It was a thankless task and when he dropped serve to go 2-3 down, it became all but impossible. 

Alcaraz was through to his first Wimbledon semi-final and a meeting with Daniil Medvedev after two hours and 21 minutes. That goal of his was looking all the more achievable now.

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