Carlos Alcaraz beats Holger Rune to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final

Carlos Alcaraz beat fellow young gun and childhood friend Holger Rune to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time.

World No 1 Alcaraz and sixth seed Rune played doubles together when they were 14 and now the duo were the first men under 21 to face each other in a Wimbledon quarter-final in the open era.

It was the first time they had met at a grand slam, the start of a rivalry that could last for 10 or 15 years, and it was the Spaniard who came out top with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Centre Court.

Just six days separate the pair – Rune being the older – and as they headed into a first-set tiebreak there was virtually nothing to choose between them either.

Alcaraz had hit 12 winners to Rune’s 13, both had made 12 unforced errors and both had won a total of 38 points.

Both had also double-faulted once, but Rune picked the wrong time to add to that particular tally to hand Alcaraz the advantage in the tiebreak, which he went on to win with a stunning backhand return.

They exchanged further blows until 4-4 in the second set when Rune netted a simple overhead, and Alcaraz punished a second serve with another pinpoint return to secure the first break of the match.

With England captain Ben Stokes watching in the crowd, it was Rune’s title hopes that were turning to ashes.