Wimbledon 2024 LIVE: Tennis scores and updates from men’s semi-finals

“I mean, I thought I was going to die in the third set. I had so much pain in my arm, in my leg. It was not easy out there, but I will recover.

“My team tells me that I can be proud of myself. It’s tough right now. It’s really tough. For sure I will need to take couple of days to see everything.

“Yeah, I don’t know, it’s tough to be positive right now. It was so close. I had a lot of chances.”

In the aftermath of last year’s Wimbledon final, it was tempting to wonder if Novak Djokovic’s defeat to Carlos Alcaraz signalled the start of a change. Bidding for a fifth Wimbledon title in a row, Djokovic was beaten in an epic five-set battle in his first defeat at the Championships since 2017.

As he contemplated the end of his dominance at the All England Club, Djokovic was gracious, his praise of the young Alcaraz glowing and genuine. After so many victories, it was a little startling to see such a fierce competitor embracing the rare taste of defeat like an old friend, reflecting an attitude of “win some, lose some” in front of the Centre Court crowd.

But rather than marking the shift towards a more mutually appreciative relationship, the opposite has occurred.

Lorenzo Musetti on facing Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon:

“I played him many times in different stages, even big ones like of course two times in French Open. I beat him one time, then lost all the others.

“I have to say, with Nole, after the match I always finished with a lesson. Of course, the last match was really an intense match from both players and really stressful match.

“So what I have to say, against him you are probably more stressed because he’s probably the best player ever or one of the best players ever.

“You walk on court with a different mentality. But, I think if I play in a certain way, I could have my shot in the next round.”

Prior to his first Grand Slam quarter-final against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday at Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti was asked about the important topics at hand: his tattoos. The 22-year-old has three. The first is a heart with a tennis racket in the middle, the second is a ship’s anchor with “family” written on it and the third is a phrase shared with his coach: “Il meglio deve ancora venire.”

It translates: “The best is yet to come.”

The last time Novak Djokovic faced Lorenzo Musetti it took the 24-time grand slam champion until after 3am to get rid of him.

On Thursday Djokovic renews his battle with the Italian who went toe-to-toe with him at the French Open last month, with their five-set marathon providing the latest finish in Roland Garros history.

Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew means Djokovic, who suffered a torn meniscus in his following match in Paris which left his participation here hanging by a thread, will at least be spared another graveyard shift.

The seven-time champion received a bye into the last four after Alex De Minaur had to withdraw from their quarter-final through injury.

That gave Djokovic three free days to prepare for his record-equalling 13th Wimbledon semi-final, and also delayed another date with the Centre Court crowd he accused of disrespecting him by using fourth-round opponent Holger Rune’s surname as an “excuse to boo”.

But Djokovic could be in for another tough afternoon if the spectators decide yelling ‘Moooo-setti’ can wind the Serbian up as much as ‘Roooon’ did on Monday night.

Musetti, 22, who beat Taylor Fritz in five sets to reach his first grand slam semi-final, certainly has the sort of inventive game that will charm the Centre Court patrons.

Jasmine Paolini admitted that if anyone had told her two months ago she would be in the Wimbledon final, she would think they were “crazy”.

Paolini, the 28-year-old seventh seed, won a Centre Court classic of a semi-final against Donna Vekic 2-6 6-4 7-6 (10/8) after a nerve-shredding match tie-break.

At two hours and 51 minutes it was the longest women’s semi-final in Wimbledon history, and at the end of it Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the final, where she will face Barbora Krejcikova.

It is a remarkable run from a player who had not won a Tour-level match on grass until 15 days ago, in Eastbourne, and had lost in the first round in her only previous three visits to SW19.

“You are crazy, I would say, yes,” she said. “Yeah, I don’t have words. Just, yeah, you are crazy.

“Two grand slam finals in a row was crazy to believe, I think, no? I’m also surprising how at the moment, until now in this moment, I’m living this.

“I feel maybe Saturday I will be so nervous, I don’t know. But I feel also relaxed. I’m the same person. I’m doing the same things. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m surprised a little bit how I’m managing this.”

Barbora Krejcikova was inspired by the memory of her mentor Jana Novotna as she battled back to beat former champion Elena Rybakina and reach her first Wimbledon singles final.

Krejcikova, winner of the French Open in 2021 but never previously beyond the fourth round here, claimed a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory on Centre Court to set up a surprise final against Jasmine Paolini.

She will now hope to follow in the footsteps of her fellow Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who became the first unseeded winner of the women’s singles here 12 months ago, while Rybakina’s defeat guarantees an eighth different champion in eight years.

Novotna famously cried on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 final against Steffi Graf from a winning position before finally lifting the trophy five years later.

She took a teenage Krejcikova under her wing but died of cancer in 2017 aged only 49.

Krejcikova became emotional when taking about Novotna in her post-match interview, saying: “I’m thinking about Jana a lot. I have so many beautiful memories and, when I step on the court here, I’m just fighting for every single ball because that’s what I think she would want me to do.

“We talked about her matches here. It’s been some while so I can’t really tell you what it was about. But we definitely did. I hope she would be proud.”

For a while, this was the calm after the storm. After Jasmine Paolini and Donna Vekic ran themselves into the ground in Wimbledon’s longest-ever women’s semi-final, Elena Rybakina looked poised to navigate hers with only the occasional hint of resistance. While Paolini needed two hours and 51 minutes to fight back, reduce Vekic to tears, and position herself on the cusp of glory, Rybakina seemed likely to need about 60 minutes to extinguish Barbora Krejcikova’s dream. And after the Centre Court crowd gorged itself on the melodrama of the first semi-final, it appeared content with watching this encore politely but sleepily.

But those were assumptions, and as this match wore on, it became clear that assuming was a dangerous game.

As a 57^th and final unforced error sprung off Donna Vekic’s forehand and into the tramline, Jasmine Paolini ran towards her player box in complete and utter euphoria. This year’s breakthrough star on the tennis tour – that goes for men and women – has reached a second Grand Slam final in a matter of weeks. At the end of this titanic battle, she blew a kiss to her corner and then consoled her heartbroken opponent.

As the old adage goes, it felt cruel that somebody had to lose. Both Vekic and Paolini were contesting their first semi-final at Wimbledon and their desperation to reach Saturday’s showpiece was writ large throughout this absorbing battle of wills. In the end, only a first-to-10 final-set tie-break could separate them – and even then, there was barely a flip of a coin between them. Match of the tournament? Possibly so.

It was an incredible day in the women’s semi-finals yesterday, as both matches went to three sets for the first time in 20 years. Jasmine Paolini will face Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday’s final, in a match that will produce a new Wimbledon champion and the eighth different winner in eight years.