Alcaraz faces old pal for a spot in All England semis

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

CARLOS ALCARAZ needs to beat old pal Holger Rune to stay on course for a potential Wimbledon showdown with Novak Djokovic.

Number-one Alcaraz and number six, Rune, will square off today on Centre Court for a spot in the semifinals.

They go way back – OK, not that far back, they’re both just 20, after all. Rune is six days older than the Spaniard. It’s the first time since 2004 that more than one player under 21 has reached the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Rune, who is from Denmark, lost in the first round last year in his Wimbledon debut. He’s been a two-time quarterfinalist at the French Open.

They are 1-1 head to head. Rune acknowledged that he peeked ahead to this matchup when the draw came out. He recalled a time playing doubles with Alcaraz as kids.

“It’s funny ... because obviously we’re two singles players, I would call us,” Rune said. “When a singles player plays doubles, they want to cover the court by themselves. We both try and did that a little bit, which is fun. Again, it was good, because he’s amazing.

“Hopefully we can do it again, but now we’re going to battle against each other.”

Number three Daniil Medvedev says he loves playing on Court Number One – and that’s where he’ll face Chris Eubanks, a big-serving American making his Wimbledon debut at age 27, in the other men’s quarterfinal.

First up on Centre Court will be defending champion Elena Rybakina and number six, Ons Jabeur, in the quarterfinals. It’s a rematch of last year’s final, which Rybakina won in three sets for her first and – so far – only Grand Slam title.