King Carlos drives his pal Rune the bend

Alcaraz storms through to set up semi-final clash with Medvedev

- MATTHEW DUNN

CARLOS ALCARAZ was hailed as the Crown Prince of Wimbledon after his stunning victory over best mate Holger Rune.

In front of Queen Camilla in the Royal Box, the Spanish infante produced a performance to which even king Novak Djokovic himself needs to take heed.

The 20-year-old was not even born the last time the famous trophy was etched with a name other than the Big Four of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Murray.

Each year a group of wannabe contenders would gather, battle each other for supremacy, then come up short when it came their moment to challenge the legendary old guard.

Now, with Djokovic isolated by the injury of his peers and Murray's frustrating early exit, the opportunity finally seems to be a real one.

And Alcaraz showed here that he is single minded enough and clinical enough to take it with a 7-6(3) 6-4 6-4 win.

He has known Rune since the two of them were 12, competing side-by-side in prestigious junior doubles tournaments while strangely seeming to avoid each other generally in singles combat.