Carlos Alcaraz reaches third straight Wimbledon final, joins Federer, Nadal and Djokovic on exclusive list

Carlos Alcaraz has reached his third consecutive Wimbledon final, battling past Taylor Fritz in four sets in the semifinals of the grass-court major on Friday afternoon, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

With that victory, the two-time defending champion joins a very exclusive list—he’s just the fourth man this century to reach three consecutive finals at Wimbledon, after, of course, the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

He’s the 10th man in the entire Open Era to achieve the feat, and the first born in 2000 or later—or even 1990 or later—to do it.

MEN TO REACH THREE CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON FINALS IN OPEN ERA (10):

• 7: Roger Federer [2003-2009]
• 6: Bjorn Borg [1976-1981], Novak Djokovic [2018-2024]
• 5: John McEnroe [1980-1984]
• 4: Boris Becker [1988-1991], Pete Sampras [1997-2000]
• 3: John Newcombe [1969-1971], Stefan Edberg [1988-1990], Pete Sampras [1993-1995], Rafael Nadal [2006-2008], Novak Djokovic [2013-2015], Carlos Alcaraz [2023-2025]

In the first meeting between Top 5 players at Wimbledon this year, the No. 2-ranked Alcaraz broke serve in the very first game of the match and hung onto that break until he had the first set in his pocket, then looked like he was on the verge of a two-set lead as the two traded holds through the first 11 games of the second set.

But the No. 5-ranked Fritz cracked the match open right there, springing a love break out of nowhere to capture the second set, 7-5.

Alcaraz went right back to work in the third set, breaking early en route to a two-sets-to-one lead, and after 12 straight holds in the fourth set, the two headed to a tie-break.

There were several momentum swings in the breaker—first Alcaraz jumped out to a 4-1 lead, then Fritz won five points in a row to bring up double set point at 6-4, but Alcaraz struck back with four points in a row of his own to sneak out the four-set victory and his 20th consecutive win at Wimbledon.

"I can't be prouder, to be honest," Alcaraz told reporters afterwards. "Just really happy to make my third consecutive final here at Wimbledon playing such great tennis. Just really, really happy.

"Just can't wait for Sunday."

Standing between Alcaraz and his third consecutive Wimbledon title will be Jannik Sinner, who dispatched Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the second semifinal of the day, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

"Yeah, that match surprised me a little bit, obviously," the Spaniard said. "Winning against Novak is a really difficult challenge, a really difficult thing to do. So beating him quite easily, it's even harder.

"But the level that Jannik's playing, it's really high, as always. I think he doesn't get down in his level in his matches. It's unbelievable what he an do on a tennis court.

"But yeah, let's see. That match today surprised me a little bit."

This will be the third consecutive "big" final where Alcaraz and Sinner are the last two men standing, and Alcaraz came through in both of the previous finals—in straight sets at the Masters 1000 event in Rome in May, and in a marathon five-setter at Roland Garros in June in which he was triple match point down in the fourth set.

The men's final at Wimbledon will take place on Sunday afternoon.