Defending champion Alcaraz cruises into third straight Wimbledon semi final

Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, continued his formidable title defense by sweeping aside British hope Cameron Norrie in a commanding straight-sets victory. On Tuesday evening, Alcaraz defeated Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, securing his spot in the semi-finals of the prestigious Grand Slam for the third consecutive year. From the start of the contest, the gulf in class between the two players was evident, with the Spaniard displaying typically imperious form.

While Norrie managed to earn four break points in Alcaraz’s opening service game, this proved to be an anomaly rather than a sign of a close match; the Briton could only generate one more break point throughout the remainder of the encounter. Alcaraz successfully saved all four of those initial opportunities before immediately breaking Norrie in the very next game. This set the tone for a clinical 6-2 first-set win that took just 28 minutes.

Two further breaks in the second set and a single break in the third were more than sufficient for Alcaraz to comfortably progress to his third consecutive Wimbledon semi-final. This result also marked the end of the last home hope in the men's singles draw for another year.

"I am really happy. To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "I want to go as far as I can and I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam. He is an amazing guy. No one works harder than him and it is nice to see him fighting for great things."

Alcaraz will now face Taylor Fritz, the No. 5 seed, in the last four. The American reached his maiden Wimbledon semi-final earlier in the day with a four-set victory over Karen Khachanov.

Before his dominant win over Norrie, the 22-year-old Spaniard had navigated a challenging path through the tournament, securing victories against Russian Andrey Rublev (6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4), German Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4), English qualifier Oliver Tarvet (6-1, 6-4, 6-4), and Italian Fabio Fognini (7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1). Norrie, ranked 61st, had also overcome several tough opponents to reach the quarter-finals, defeating Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry, Italian Mattia Bellucci, American Frances Tiafoe, and Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut earlier in the tournament.