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Carlos Alcaraz became the fourth youngest Wimbledon men's singles finalist in the Open Era (since 1968) on Friday when he defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to set a title clash against Novak Djokovic that will determine which player is No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday.

Competing under the roof on Centre Court, the 20-year-old Spaniard showcased his deft touch and devastating power to become the third Spanish man to reach the title match at SW19, joining 1966 champion Manuel Santana and two-time titlist Rafael Nadal.

"It was a dream for me, playing a semi-final here, and now playing a final here at Wimbledon, I can’t believe it,” Alcaraz said. “I am going to enjoy this amazing moment.

“It was really, really difficult to close the match. I had to be really, really focused. He fought until the last ball. He is an amazing fighter. I had to show my best in that tough moment and play aggressive. Be myself all the time and I think that was the key to close out the match.”

[ATP APP]

Despite falling short of reaching his maiden Wimbledon final, Jannik Sinner is pleased to have earned more big-match Grand Slam experience. The Italian dropped just two sets en route to his first major semi-final before seven-time champion Novak Djokovic ended his run on Friday.

“I'm trying to play in these situations more often,” Sinner said. “I knew before the match already that it's a tough match today, but that's why I practise for. I felt like I was ready. I went with the right mentality on the court. I had a belief to win this match.

“I am not afraid to play these kinds of matches. The first semi-final is never easy to play. I felt like my level was good. In the pressure points, I messed it up a little bit. But it's trying to take out the positives and looking forward.”

The 21-year-old, who became just the third Italian man to reach the last four at Wimbledon, also lost against Djokovic at The Championships last year. He fell in five sets a year ago, but feels his match against the Serbian was closer on Friday despite his straight sets defeat.

“Regardless of the score, I felt like I was more close this year than last year,” Sinner said. “That's what I felt. I felt the level was better. I think it's something positive from my point of view.

A master at work on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic dismissed the big-hitting threat of Jannik Sinner on Friday to reach his fifth consecutive Wimbledon championship match.

Djokovic delivered a typically classy all-around semi-final performance to prevail 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) against the Italian and notch his 34th straight match win at the grass-court major. His clean, deep returning was a constant menace to the Sinner serve and Djokovic was rock-solid under pressure as he saved all six break points he faced in his two-hour, 46-minute triumph.

“In the semi-finals, it was always going to be a very tense, very close match,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Three very close sets, I think the scoreline maybe doesn’t give the reality of what was happening on the court. It was super close.

“The third set could have gone his way. He had 5-4, 15/40 and a couple of second serves. He missed a few shots and allowed me to get into the tie-break. It was just a lot of pressure in the third, especially. I had chances early on, but he proved why he is one of the leaders of the next generation and one of the best players in the world that we have, no doubt. It’s great to be part of this new generation. I love it.”

3️⃣5️⃣ Grand Slam finals!@DjokerNole gets past Sinner in straight sets to reach his 5️⃣th consecutive Wimbledon final! pic.twitter.com/XxYEs6Vaht

American Ben Shelton went from claiming the NCAA Singles Championship to being a Top 40 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in just 10 months. Is Ethan Quinn next?

The 19-year-old Quinn, who played for the University of Georgia, held his nerve to save four championship points at the 2023 NCAA Singles Championship in May and turned professional one month later. This week, Quinn is in action at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Chicago, Illinois, where he will face Chinese teen Shang Juncheng in the quarter-finals Friday.

Playing in just his sixth Challenger tournament, Quinn will continue to see opportunities at that level, thanks to the ATP/ITA Accelerator Programme. He is just getting his career started following a memorable 16 months in Athens, Georgia.

“There's nothing like college tennis. There's so much energy, and there's so much thrill,” Quinn told ATPTour.com recently at the NCAA championships in Lake Nona, Florida. “Every single point, there's something happening. Just that energy amongst the crowd, and the animosity as well. It's pretty special. In juniors, you don't really hear many people chirping at you. And in college tennis, really anything goes. You have to kind of build on that and play through the struggles and whatever people may be saying, positive or negative.”

[ATP APP]

Kei Nishikori produced a high level Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the Chicago Men's Challenger. The Japanese star absorbed Tunisia’s Skander Mansouri hefty serve and struck the ball cleanly en route to a 7-6(1), 6-4 second-round victory at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event.

Despite having six break points in the first set, four of which came in the seventh game, the 33-year-old Nishikori was forced to a tie-break. The 12-time tour-level titlist stayed steady from the baseline and capitalised on any look on return, capturing 70 per cent of points behind Mansouri’s second delivery throughout the one-hour. 42-minute contest.

Rain forced the 27-year-old Mansouri to play his first-round match in the morning, when he defeated Australian James McCabe 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, before clashing against Nishikori.

[ATP APP]

The former World No. 4 Nishikori underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year and returned to action last month at the ATP Challenger event in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico. Despite playing his first tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021, Nishikori dropped just one set all week en route to the title. He will return to ATP Tour action later this month in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Six years since their debut Wimbledon campaign together, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Mate Pavic completed a dream reunion — instigated by their physio — Thursday at SW19. The seventh seeds completed a tense 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 win against Joran Vliegen and Xu Yifan to lift the mixed doubles trophy at the grass-court major.

WTA star Kichenok and 35-time tour-level titlist Pavic let slip a championship point in the second-set tie-break before Vliegen and Xu forced a deciding set on Centre Court. The seventh seeds did not dwell on that disappointment, however, as they earned a decisive break in the eighth game of the third set en route to a two-hour, seven-minute win.

“It’s an incredible feeling, always, at Wimbledon,” said Pavic. “I played three finals here, I lifted a trophy two years ago. [This was the] first time in the mixed final, so it’s always incredible to play here. It’s always a special story with Wimbledon. I enjoyed it for these two weeks.

“Of course I want to thank Lyudmyla for playing with me. We have the same physio. He’s Croatian. [Lyudmyla and I] played in 2017 together for the first time [at Wimbledon]. After that we never played, and through him this year we got together to play Wimbledon.”

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Only three men have pushed Novak Djokovic to a fifth set during the Serbian's 33-match Wimbledon win streak: Rafael Nadal in the 2018 semi-finals, Roger Federer in the epic 2019 final and... Jannik Sinner in last year's quarters.

While Djokovic never trailed in the set score on those occasions against his Big 3 rivals, he found himself two-sets-to-love down against Sinner last year on Centre Court before storming back for a five-set win. Can the Italian change the outcome on Friday if he finds himself in a similar position this year on the London lawns?

"First of all, you have to go up two sets to love," he joked after beating Roman Safiullin to reach his first major semi-final.

"It's going to be a completely different match than last year. He knows me better, as I know him better also. It's going to be also a little bit tactical. In the other way, it is also a little bit mental. If you play against Novak, it's always tough to play here, especially in Grand Slams."

[BREAK POINT]

Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev face off for the second time at Wimbledon in Friday’s semi-finals. Few expect a similar outcome to the pair’s second-round clash from three years ago.

Medvedev breezed past a then-18-year-old Alcaraz for the loss of just seven games at SW19 in 2021, in the Spaniard’s first professional tournament on grass. Within 15 months of that heavy loss, Alcaraz had become the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after his rapid development into one of the most exciting players on Tour.

“When he was 17, which was actually not long ago, he was much less mature and younger, which is normal,” said Medvedev on Wednesday when asked about his early memories of Alcaraz’s time on Tour. “He was missing [a lot of balls]. Everyone saw that he's amazing, but everyone was wondering if he was going to find the way to miss less while producing the same power. And he did, quite fast. That's what's pretty amazing.”

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS ? ?⁰⁰Carlitos glides into his first Grand Slam Semi-Final on grass ?

D. Rune 7-6, 6-4, 6-4⁰⁰@wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/4eoMcgBhLe

Medvedev would know a thing or two about not missing. The 27-year-old is renowned as one of the most consistent ballstrikers on Tour, with his ability to retrieve ball after ball from a deep position key to his own rise to World No. 1 in 2022. On Friday, his baseline wizardry, combined with his powerful serve, will be key for the third seed’s chances of reaching his fifth major championship match.

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski held their nerve to book a championship-match spot on Thursday at Wimbledon, where the top-seeded duo edged Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in a tense semi-final.

The top seeds prevailed 7-5, 6-4 on No. 1 Court after claiming a decisive break at the tailend of each set against their sixth-seeded opponents. They converted both break point chances they had —one in the 11th game of the opening set and the other in the ninth game of the second set — to reach their second major final as a team.

Koolhof and Skupski have won eight ATP Tour titles together since pairing at the start of 2022, but until this fortnight the closest they had come to a Grand Slam title was a final appearance at last season’s US Open. The pair has dropped just one set across their five matches this year at SW19, where Skupski is attempting to become the first Briton to lift the men’s doubles trophy since Jonathan Marray triumphed alongside Frederik Nielsen in 2012.

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Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos also delivered a clinical semi-final display to advance to the final. The 15th seeds converted all three break points they earned in their 6-4, 6-3 victory against Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

The battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is heating up ahead of the Wimbledon semi-finals. Both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have a chance to leave London in top spot.

Alcaraz currently leads Djokovic by 80 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. If both players lose in the last four of The Championships, the 20-year-old will remain No. 1.

Otherwise, whoever earns the better result at the grass-court major will earn World No. 1. Alcaraz and Djokovic could play a winner-takes-all championship blockbuster for the trophy and World No. 1.

Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings (as of 12 July)

Daniil Medvedev began the week with a chance to return to World No. 1 by the end of the fortnight, but needed early losses from Alcaraz and Djokovic. Since that did not happen, the 27-year-old is guaranteed to leave SW19 as World No. 3.

“Because of Tomas, I started to play tennis.”

Jakub Mensik grew up watching Tomas Berdych light up the ATP Tour. The former World No. 4 would often practise in Mensik’s hometown, Prostejov, Czech Republic, where the 17-year-old had the chance to first meet Berdych in 2011.

“I was five and I was one of the hundreds of kids who played with him, one point in Prostejov,” Mensik told ATPTour.com. “It was kids day [at a Challenger event], and Tomas Berdych and Ivan Lendl came to be there with the kids and enjoy the time. 12 years ago, I was just a little kid watching him and watching his matches. I met him and took a photo with him. At that time, he didn't know who I was, but now it's a completely different situation.”

It is a ‘different situation’ now because Mensik is a fast-rising star on the ATP Challenger Tour, trying to follow in the footsteps of Berdych. In May, the teen won his first Challenger title on the clay courts of Prague. A month later, while competing at his home tournament in Prostejov, Mensik and Berdych played an exhibition match on kids day at the UniCredit Czech Open, the same event where they posed for a picture in 2011. 

“[Tomas] has not played for four years but in Prostejov, he's the player of the club. He would practise there and played Challengers there, like the Czech Open,” Mensik said. “It was really fun, I really enjoyed it. Because of Tomas, I started to play tennis. Now I had the opportunity to play with him.”

Sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden rallied from a set down Wednesday to book their ticket to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The Indian-Australian duo survived Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Bart Stevens 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-2 in the quarter-finals after one hour, 54 minutes. Bopanna and Ebden won 63 per cent of points behind their second serve, compared to their opponents' 39 per cent.

Bopanna and Ebden, who have claimed titles in Doha and Indian Wells this year, will next clash against top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski after the Dutch-British duo defeated Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the last eight. Koolhof and Skupski won 82 per cent of their first-serve points to advance.

[ATP APP]

The 10th seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz downed 13th seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-3. The German pair will face 15th seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semi-finals after the Spanish-Argentine team ousted Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-4, 7-5.

Novak Djokovic is a force to be reckoned with at Wimbledon, a point multiple stars of Netflix’s Break Point made in the hit tennis documentary series.

“He’s played in I have no idea how many Slam finals, probably like 30, 40,” Nick Kyrgios said. “I’m a kid from Canberra. I’m not supposed to be here. But I’m here.”

Today, Djokovic is a 23-time major winner who has reached 34 finals at Grand Slam tournaments. In last year’s Wimbledon final, the Serbian defeated Kyrgios in four sets.

“He’s so mentally in tune with everything,” Kyrgios said.

Watch Episode 7 Trailer:

Persistent rain was not enough to stop Kei Nishikori Wednesday on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The former World No.4 ousted sixth seed Alexis Galarneau 7-6(3), 6-1 in the first round of the Chicago Men's Challenger, where rain forced the event to move indoors on Wednesday. Nishikori won 47 per cent of his return points and raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set, eventually converting his third match point to advance after one hour, 24 minutes.

World No. 215 Galarneau is the highest-ranked player Nishikori has beat during his 2023 comeback. The Japanese star will next face Skander Mansouri or James McCabe in the second round.

Back to work ?@keinishikori gearing up for this week’s event in Chicago!#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ueBWJG4SYP

The 33-year-old Nishikori, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, returned to action last month at the ATP Challenger event in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico. Despite playing his first tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021, the 12-time tour-level titlist dropped just one set all week en route to the title. Nishikori also played last week's Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he fell to American Denis Kudla in the second round.

Christopher Eubanks kept everything in perspective on Monday despite his dream Wimbledon run coming to an end in the quarter-finals against third seed Daniil Medvedev.

“I’m more than okay with my effort today, how I gave it everything I had. It just didn't go my way. That's tennis. There's only one winner at every single tournament. You have to kind of take the good with the bad, take the positive lessons, learn how you can move [forward with] them,” Eubanks said.

“I think this week, these two or three weeks have been filled with positives. I didn't win today. I'm disappointed about it. It's unfortunate for me. But I think I showed a lot of positive signs that I can take moving forward, so I'm okay with that.”

The American’s story attracted attention throughout the world. Four months ago he had not yet broken into the world’s Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Suddenly he was three wins from claiming a major title. The weight of the moment hit him before facing Medvedev.

“It’s been like such a whirlwind of emotions and trying my best to kind of block everything out and just focus on the match,” Eubanks said. “But I think this morning it did kind of set in a little bit after I woke up, just realising that, ‘Man, I'm getting ready to play a Grand Slam quarter-final today.’ That's really, really cool.”

Carlos Alcaraz reached his first Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday when he defeated 20-year-old Holger Rune. For the Spaniard, it was another memorable moment in his already record-breaking career.

“It's a dream for me to be able to play semi-final here at Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said after his straight sets win.

“I remember the first time that I came here, it was an unbelievable feeling to be able to play here. Right now it's totally different for me. I can't believe that I'm in this position right now in just a short period. It's something crazy for me,” he later continued.

Chasing a second major title after triumphing at the US Open last year, Alcaraz will next face Daniil Medvedev. Alcaraz lost against Medvedev at Wimbledon in straight sets in 2021 when he was No. 75 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Spaniard has since risen to No. 1 and lifted 11 tour-level titles. The 20-year-old, who is into his third major semi-final, is hoping to learn from their previous meeting.

“He's playing great here on grass,” Alcaraz said. “He has had a great, great year as well. I lost the first match we played here on grass. So I have to learn about it…. He's a really complete player. I think Rublev said a few times, he's an octopus. He's an amazing athlete.

A self-proclaimed ‘hard-court specialist’, Daniil Medvedev is playing his best tennis on all three surfaces in 2023. The World No. 3 has captured five titles this year, including his first clay-court crown at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. On Wednesday, Medvedev reached his maiden Wimbledon semi-final after ending Christopher Eubanks’ dream run in a heavy-hitting slugfest.

Medvedev dug his way out of a tough position against the American, rallying from two-sets-to-one down to advance. After Medvedev and Eubanks traded blows for five thrilling sets, which lasted nearly three hours, the 20-time tour-level titlist stood victorious on No. 1 Court.

“There was a moment in the match I started just losing kind of everything, the focus, the momentum of the match, which can happen of course at this level,” Medvedev said in his post-match press conference. “At one moment, really close to [losing]. But happy that I managed to put myself back together.”

[ATP APP]

Part of what helped Medvedev mount a comeback to oust the crowd favourite was his serve. Medvedev fired 28 aces in the match and won 89 per cent of his first-serve points in the final two sets. The 2021 US Open champion was surprised that he also finished the match with just 13 unforced errors.

The future is now.

In a clash between two 20-year-olds, it was Carlos Alcaraz who triumphed over Holger Rune on Wednesday when he defeated the Dane 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 to reach his maiden Wimbledon semi-final.

Alcaraz’s match against the World No. 6 Rune was the first men’s Wimbledon quarter-final battle in the Open Era (since 1968) to be contested between two players aged under 21 and both played with youthful freedom on Centre Court to entertain the packed crowd.

They went blow for blow with their destructive shotmaking for two hours and 20 minutes, but the World No. 1 Alcaraz had the answers in the big moments, becoming the youngest man to reach the last four at SW19 since a then-20-year-old Novak Djokovic in 2007.

"It is amazing for me," Alcaraz said. "It is a dream since I started playing tennis, making good results here at Wimbledon, such a beautiful and great tournament for me. It is a dream to play a semi-final here. I think I am playing at a great level. I did not expect to play at such a great level on this surface. For me it is crazy."

Daniil Medvedev ended Christopher Eubanks’ dream run at Wimbledon on Wednesday, when he clawed past the American 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 to reach the semi-finals at the grass-court major for the first time.

Eubanks, who less than four months ago had not cracked the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, captured the attention of fans throughout the world by advancing to the quarter-finals, and was within a tie-break of blasting his way into the last four at The Championships. But Medvedev did not panic and locked down from the baseline when it mattered most to move on after two hours and 57 minutes.

“After [the] first set for sure, I didn't want to go five. When I lost the third, I wanted to go five because I had no other choice,” Medvedev said, eliciting a laugh from the crowd. “But yeah, there was a moment in the match where I completely lost the game itself and he played well. I started to sink, I started to do a lot of mistakes, not serving well enough.

“Actually, in the third set, I managed to kind of step by step start to build something and not lose, let's say 6-1 again. And then it helped me in the fourth to just be there. I had more opportunities than him unfortunately on his serve, but didn't manage to do it. But starting from the tie-break, I managed to play amazing and [I am] really happy about it.”

Hats off to both @DaniilMedwed & @chris_eubanks96 on a fantastic match! ?@Wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/SiArf55rR7

When Christopher Eubanks walks on No. 1 Court at Wimbledon Tuesday for his Wimbledon quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev, it will be like he is living in a dream. The big difference is that his moment will be real.

Less than four months ago, Eubanks was on the verge of the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but struggling to break through. For a former college tennis player at Georgia Tech, reaching the Top 100 was more than just a number. It was a sign of belonging.

Little did he know that four months later he would be at a career-high No. 31 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, own an ATP Tour title and be competing for a place in a major semi-final — against one of the best players in the world, Daniil Medvedev. 

Eubanks, who has become known on the Tour for his infectious smile and lively personality, has persevered through the moments when the Top 100 seemed so close but so far. He was never sure if his dream would come true. Now the American has quickly become one of the most feel-good stories in sports.

Hugh Jackman and Mike Tyson have congratulated him and on Tuesday Eubanks was on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts, one of the most iconic figures in American broadcasting. It has been a special moment for his father, Mark Eubanks Sr., who has watched proudly from Atlanta.