Carlos Alcaraz outclasses Daniil Medvedev to make Wimbledon final for second year in a row

Carlos Alcaraz is in the Wimbledon final for the second year in a row.

Having worked his way up to match point, Medvedev fired way wide and Alcaraz let out a roar to the crowd, who were behind him all the way.

Medvedev can have no complaints about the result, though he will no doubt be frustrated as he waves to the spectators and trudges off the court.

Maybe next year.

Alcaraz now has another huge match to look forward to.

A hold of serve for both players and Alcaraz is now on the brink of the final. All he needs is another hold to set up a match with either Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti, who are next up on Centre Court.

Daniil Medvedev needs to find whatever he's got left.

There's the huge break of serve from Carlos Alcaraz and he is now the red-hot favourite to win this match.

Daniil Medvedev could be minutes away from defeat unless he turns this around, and he can't afford to delay.

A sequence of long rallies took place in what was an entertaining game. Alcaraz just had that extra bit when it mattered, and Medvedev went long. A shake of the head from the Russian.

A hold of serve each for Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. Alcaraz has just gone up 40-15 and held, with Medvedev spreading his arms wide and looking up to his corner.

The fourth set is finely poised, but if Alcaraz begins pulling away he won't be far from victory.

Alcaraz breaks back without issue and the games are racking up at quite a pace. Neither player wasting time, both with plenty of energy reserves left in the tank.

Medvedev is getting plenty of encouragement from his corner and he's worked himself into a healthy position in this fourth set.

He holds serve without any resistance whatsoever. Could it a Carlos capitulation? Or is this just a blip.

Medvedev desperately needed a break and he found it immediately.

A hugely entertaining game went the way of the Russian, who capitalised on a slack Alcaraz drop shot to earn himself a break point.

Alcaraz then went long and unsuccessfully challenged the call. Medvedev right back in this now.

A stunning forehand winner for Carlos Alcaraz gives him the break at the first time of asking in the fourth set.

Hopes of a nerve-settler were quickly dashed for Medvedev, who now needs to find a break himself or else he's going home.

A sensational rally was drop-shotted into the net by Medvedev before Alcaraz converted his second break point.

Daniil Medvedev needed to find the break and challenged an Alcaraz shot that was called in early on. When it was revealed to have fractionally caught the line, it cued Alcaraz storming through to take the lead in the match.

Medvedev can't afford any more lost sets. It's win the next two or go home. Alcaraz takes a step closer to retaining his crown in Sunday's final.

Alcaraz was well positioned to win the third set here and now, but Medvedev showed heart to keep the fight going.

A looping lob Medvedev saw Alcaraz get a showy drop shot horribly wrong, to the point his head was quite literally buried in his hands with embarrassment.

The game goes to Medvedev but Alcaraz is now serving for the third set.

The 'not up' call goes Medvedev's way this time as Alcaraz is denied a sensational return.

The Spaniard comes roaring back from 0-15 down and a powerful smash moved Medvedev to the brink, before a superb drop shot sealed the service hold.

A serving meltdown from Daniil Medvedev goes unpunished.

The Russian was 30-0 up and cruising before two consecutive double faults. His fifth serve also went awry, and Alcaraz pounced on a tame sixth to earn a break point.

Medvedev showed enough heart to pull it back, winning an entertaining exchange at the net en route to a tricky hold of serve.

It looked as though Alcaraz would be derailed when Medvedev took a 0-30 lead.

But momentum quickly swung back towards the youngster when a 132mph serve brought it back to 30-30.

It was full steam ahead from there. Medvedev slightly closer to a crucial break but not to be.

Alcaraz is giving Medvedev more trouble on his service game than vice versa.

A hand of apology went up from the Spaniard when a shot scrambled over the net to pull it back to 30-15.

It wasn't completely smooth sailing for Medevdev on serve but he did enough. Now it's about causing his opponent some problems.

No frills, no messing about, no trouble whatsoever for Carlos Alcaraz as he racks up four consecutive points to stretch out his lead.

The hold was sealed in a delightful exchange of drop shots in which Alcaraz won the battle of finesse.

It was slightly nervy for Daniil Medvedev at 15-30 down, and again at 30-40, and he was right to be on edge.

Alcaraz eventually converts break point thanks to a Medvedev shot that goes millimetres wide. The Russian is already up against it in the third, and he's behind in the match for the first time in a long while.

Someone in the crowd let out an almost involuntary 'Oh wow' as Alcaraz bombed a 128mph serve to make it 40-0.

A one-sided hold of serve from the 21-year-old and he levels it up in the third set.

A standing ovation for a great rally in which Alcaraz lands a tweener but still loses the point.

Medvedev managed to quieten the pro-Alcaraz crowd by racing into a 40-0 lead.

And though Alcaraz found room for a couple more show-stoppers to pull it back to 30-40, he couldn't complete the fightback. Medvedev holds.

He made hard work of it but Carlos Alcaraz clinches the second set 6-3.

The Spaniard handed Medvedev half a chance, going long to make it 15-30.

And it looked to be in the balance again when Alcaraz spurned a set point with a double fault.

But he kicked on from deuce and we're now tied up on Centre Court. Alcaraz has the momentum, but Medvedev will have a clean slate with which to begin the third set.

Well, that's the first step of the second-set fightback done for Daniil Medvedev. But it was also the easy bit.

He holds serve to love, now he needs to break, otherwise it will go to Alcaraz.

Carlos Alcaraz crowns his service game with an ace out wide, and he's now within one game of taking the second set.

Medvedev is 5-2 down, but that's exactly the position Alcaraz in which Alcaraz found himself in the first set before he pulled it back to force a tiebreak. Can the Russian do the same?

Daniil Medvedev has at least stemmed the momentum of Carlos Alcaraz by holding serve and cutting the deficit back to two.

Entering the crucial stages of this second set now, and Medvedev is up against it.

Carlos Alcaraz holds serve and he's streaking into the distance in this second set.

He didn't play well in the first-set tiebreak and he's quickly making amends.

Medvedev will need to instigate a serious turnaround to prevent the reigning champion levelling up.

Carlos Alcaraz is feeling it now. A big break of serve for the Spaniard and he's close to taking full control of this second set.

A stunning, cross-court forehand goes unanswered by Medvedev and Alcaraz plays up to the crowd.

Chalk flies up and admiring noises emerge from the crowd as a Carlos Alcaraz bomb makes it 40-15.

The murmurs turn to a roar when Alcaraz wins a mind-boggling, 27-shot rally to take the game. Brilliant stuff from Medvedev, too, but he gets no reward.

One, two, three, four. Medvedev just made light work of his service game and he looks well warmed up on Centre Court.

No points on the board for Alcaraz but the ball is back in his hands.

A routine hold of serve for Carlos Alcaraz as he starts the second set off on a positive note.

We know he's got incredible stamina and he may need it if the topsy-turvy nature of this match continues.

A one-sided tiebreak goes the way of Daniil Medvedev.

He's already doing better than he did 12 months ago, when Alcaraz beat him in straight sets at Wimbledon.

With the bit between his teeth, and seemingly angered by the 'not up' call in the ninth game, Medvedev played some barnstorming tennis as he bundled Alcaraz's biggest shots back over the net.

It was convincing in the end as Medvedev prevailed 7-1.

Medvedev made a decent fist of it buy Alcaraz did enough to hold his own serve and force a tiebreak.

The Russian must be wondering how it got to this point, having taken a 5-2 lead not long ago.

The games are coming thick and fast now as Daniil Medvedev holds serve to love.

It's now on Carlos Alcaraz to force a first-set tiebreak.

Both players back down to business after Medvedev's code violation, and it's Alcaraz who does what he needs to do, levelling the first set up at five games apiece.

It's anyone's guess from here, but Alcaraz does have the momentum.

Daniil Medvedev has been warned by the umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct after she consulted with the supervisor on court.

A late 'not up' call stung Medvedev in the last game, when Alcaraz broke back.

And his reaction seems to have landed him in hot water.

Carlos Alcaraz once again puts the cat amongst the pigeons.

A big break from the Spaniard, who eventually got the job done after racing into a 0-40 lead and losing two of his first three break points.

Alcaraz now serving to level it up. Medvedev will kick himself if he goes on to lose this first set.

Carlos Alcaraz makes Daniil Medvedev serve for the first set.

An apology from the Spaniard as a mishit shot trickles over the net, before going on to seal his own service game with an ace.

Back on the Russian.

Daniil Medvedev bucks the trend of broken service games and holds his own.

The asterisk is back on Carlos Alcaraz but he now needs to win three games on the spin to stay in this first set - otherwise he'll be chasing in the Wimbledon semi-final.

Being on serve is currently more of a curse than a blessing on Centre Court.

The third break in a row goes the way of Daniil Medvedev and he once again has a chance to stretch his lead.

Carlos Alcaraz wows the crowd with one drop shot but then misses the next, giving Medvedev two break points, and there was no coming back from there on this occasuion.

Alcaraz breaks straight back in a way only he can.

A superhuman effort from the Spaniard to return two seemingly unreturnable shots in one rally, and there was a huge applause when he went on to win the point.

Alcaraz let two break points go by the wayside before eventually getting one over on Medvedev, who was caught off guard more than once by his best shots somehow being forced back over the net.

We've got ourselves an answer! Medvedev is warming up nicely and he's just broken Carlos Alcaraz's serve to love.

The Russian dominated that series of baseline rallies and Alcaraz could be left to rue a number of missed shots.

Medvedev 3-1 up, now serving to put a fourth game on the board.

A couple of big serves from Medvedev and a pinpoint ace to seal it without too much trouble.

All three games have gone according to serve so far on Centre Court. Who will blink first?

The scores are level but the early signs for Daniil Medvedev aren't positive.

After suffering through so much trouble on his own service game, the Russian couldn't put a single point on the board for that of Alcaraz, who makes it 1-1 in double-quick time.

First blood goes to Daniil Medvedev... just. Carlos Alcaraz was like an impenetrable wall for most of that first game, which went to deuce four times and saw the Spaniard spurn a break point before Medvedev eventually hauled it over the line.

Big battles on the horizon if that's a sign of what's to come.

It could be a glorious day for Spain if Carlos Alcaraz battles past Daniil Medvedev and goes on to win the Wimbledon final on Sunday.

That would complete one leg of a potentially momentous double, with Spain also set to play against England in the final of Euro 2024 later that evening.

Still plenty of work for Alcaraz to do before he can start popping the champagne, however.

Daniil Medvedev took a bathroom break just before the players were due to arrive on court, leaving Carlos Alcaraz waiting awkwardly outside the locker room.

Perhaps it gave the Spaniard an extra few moments to ponder what's to come. Perhaps it was an attempt at mind games.

Will it affect Alcaraz's performance? We'll soon find out.

Ripples of applause as Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev make their way on court.

It's the toughest test of the tournament so far for both players - who will rise to the challenge?

Not long to wait now until the action gets underway, and we'll keep you up to date with all of it.

Daniil Medvedev has a six-inch height advantage and nine kilograms of extra weight on Carlos Alcaraz, but that hasn't translated to head-to-head bragging rights.

Of the six matches they've played, Alcaraz has won four and Medvedev only two.

Four of the last five, and both of the last two, have gone the way of Alcaraz, who blew Medvedev away in the Indian Wells final back in March.

There has been a touch of good fortune about Daniil Medvedev's run to the semi-finals.

Having beaten Aleksandar Kovacevic, Alexandre Muller and Jan-Lennard Struff without too much trouble in the first three rounds, things looked to be getting trickier with a tough draw against Grigor Dimotrov in the last 16, but the Bulgarian retired before the end of the first set.

Medvedev's quarter-final opponent, Jannik Sinner, was also shy of his best as he battled illness in a five-set defeat.

What can the Russian do against a fully-fit Alcaraz on Friday?

Carlos Alcaraz hasn't had it easy in his bid to defend the Wimbledon title.

After straightforward, three-set wins over Mark Lajal and Aleksandar Vukic in the opening two rounds, he was drawn against American star Frances Tiafoe in the third.

Alcaraz got the job done in a five-set epic, before going on to beat 16th seed Ugo Humbert and 12th seed Tommy Paul, both in four sets.

The standard of opponent has steadily increased throughout Alcaraz's SW19 campaign, and on paper, fifth seed Medvedev will be his toughest test yet.

Hello and welcome to Express Sport's live coverage of Carlos Alcaraz vs Daniil Medvedev.

It promises to be a gripping men's semi-final and we'll be on top of things to keep you up to date on every single game.

Strap yourselves in, it should be a good one...