A trio of top-five seeds and a first-time major semi-finalist - who will advance?
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTFamiliar foes are set for battle on Friday at SW19, where a mouth-watering semi-final line-up awaits on Centre Court.
Will we get a rematch of last year’s final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, or will Daniil Medvedev and Lorenzo Musetti have their say?
Here’s a breakdown of the two match-ups on offer on Friday.
A rematch of their semi-final at Wimbledon from last year, Daniil Medvedev will be keen to avenge that loss to Carlos Alcaraz and spoil the Spaniard’s title defence all in one go.
Only one of their previous six meetings was not won in straight sets but Friday’s duel promises to be a tight affair given the form they’re both carrying into it.
Road to the final four
Medvedev snapped a five-match losing streak against world No.1 Jannik Sinner to defeat the Italian and return to the Wimbledon semi-finals for a second consecutive year. He handed Sinner just his fourth defeat of the season and will enter his showdown with Alcaraz brimming with confidence.
First round: Defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 1hr 46min
Second round: Defeated Alexandre Müller 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 in 3hr 28min
Third round: Defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) in 2hr 16 minutes
Fourth round: Defeated Grigor Dimitrov 5-3 ret. 40min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Jannik Sinner 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 in 4hr
Total time on court: 12hr 10min
Alcaraz has had his fair share of tests so far this fortnight and has dropped four sets en route to the semis. He’s been facing tough opposition though and has stepped up when it mattered the most as he continues his title defence campaign.
First round: Defeated Mark Lajal 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 in 2hr 22min
Second round: Defeated Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2 in 1hr 48min
Third round: Defeated Frances Tiafoe 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in 3hr 50min
Fourth round: Defeated Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 in 2hr 58min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Tommy Paul 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in 3hr 11min
Total time on court: 14hr 9min
Key stats
Victory for Alcaraz on Friday would see him equal Manolo Santana’s mark of four Grand Slam final appearances, with only Rafael Nadal ahead of him on the all-time list for most major finals reached by a Spanish man.
Alcaraz is featuring in his sixth Grand Slam semi-final, while Medvedev will be contesting his ninth.
Medvedev has won 91 percent of his service games this fortnight, getting broken just eight times in 86 service games. He has struck 64 aces – the most among the four semi-finalists – and 26 double faults through five matches.
Alcaraz has won 32 percent of his return games, which places him tied fourth among the entire men’s field this fortnight. The Spaniard has fired 222 winners through five matches, averaging 44.4 winners per round.
Head-to-head
Friday’s semi-final will be the seventh meeting between Alcaraz and Medvedev, their fourth at a Grand Slam, and third at Wimbledon.
The pair met at the same stage at the All England Club 12 months ago – which went Alcaraz’s way – while Medvedev triumphed in their Wimbledon second round clash in 2021.
Alcaraz, who won their two most recent encounters, leads their head-to-head 4-2 but Medvedev is 2-1 against the Spaniard at the majors.
What the players said
Medvedev on the most special thing about Alcaraz: “To be honest, everything. But I would think the easy part which he hits the shots. Like even today against Tommy (Paul). As soon as he had a shot where you could go for it, he went for it, and he always put it in. He was a little bit on fire. You could see it by the score.
“That's where it's tough to play against him because you know whatever shot you hit, he can hit a winner from there. So you try to make his life difficult. You try to hit the shot as good as you can. Maybe he goes for it and he cannot make it. But that's pretty special because there are not many players like this. Carlos can do whatever from any position and that's not easy to play against.”
Alcaraz: “The most difficult thing about facing Daniil, or the most special thing about him, is he can reach every ball. Well, he is like a wall. Every ball bounce back. I feel like I can hit an unbelievable shot, the ball is going to bounce back. Is difficult to play thinking about that. So I going to say that's the most special thing about Daniil.”
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTYouth will take on experience in this semi-final as 22-year-old Lorenzo Musetti steps on Centre Court against 37-year-old seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.
Through to a record-equalling 13th men’s singles semi-final at the All England Club, Djokovic has all the numbers on his side entering this duel with Musetti, who is featuring in the last-four stage at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
Djokovic’s build-up to these Championships saw him undergo knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear, while Musetti has won 12 of the 14 matches he has contested on grass so far this season – a stretch that has included a semi-final run in Stuttgart, a runner-up showing at Queen’s, and now a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon.
Road to the final four
It has taken Musetti nearly 16 hours and 22 sets to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals and he’ll have two fewew days of rest compared to his opponent entering Friday’s clash.
First round: Defeated Constant Lestienne 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2 in 3hr 7min
Second round: Defeated Luciano Darderi 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in 3hr 47min
Third round: Defeated Francisco Comesana 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 in 3hr 29min
Fourth round: Defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in 2hr 3min
Quarter-finals: Defeated Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in 3hr 27min
Total time on court: 15hr 53min
Djokovic was tested in his second and third rounds before finding his form against No.15 seed Holger Rune in the fourth. He was handed a walkover by Australia’s Alex De Minaur in the quarter-finals and will arrive fresh to the semis, having spent just over 10 hours on court through five rounds.
First round: Defeated Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in 1hr 58min
Second round: Defeated Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in 3hr
Third round: Defeated Alexei Popyrin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) in 3hr 5min
Fourth round: Defeated Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 2hr 3min
Quarter-finals: Walkover against Alex de Minaur
Total time on court: 10hr 6min
Key stats
Musetti is the fourth Italian man in history to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
With Musetti and Jasmine Paolini both making it to the final four this fortnight, this is the second time in history that an Italian man and an Italian woman have reached the semi-finals at the same Grand Slam, after Roland-Garros this year, when Jannik Sinner and Paolini both made the semi-finals.
Musetti has hit 225 winners through five matches, averaging 45 winners per match.
Djokovic has dropped serve just three times in 69 service games at these Championships and has won 83 percent of the points behind his first serve. The world No.2 has faced just 10 break points through four matches.
Djokovic has won 29/35 serve-and-volley points across four matches.
The No.2 seed is through to the 49th Grand Slam semi-final of his career.
Head-to-head
Djokovic and Musetti will be squaring off for a second consecutive Grand Slam and the third time this season. It’s a match-up that almost always delivers something special, ever since their first meeting in the Roland-Garros fourth round back in 2021.
Musetti led Djokovic by two-sets-to-love but then the Serb struck back, cruising through the next two and a half sets before Musetti retired with an injury.
The young Italian is 1-5 head-to-head against Djokovic, whose sole loss to Musetti came on clay in Monte-Carlo last season.
Their most encounter was their wildest yet, a four-hour epic in the third round of 2024 Roland Garros that ended at 3:07 in the morning and saw Djokovic triumph 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
This will be their first showdown on grass.
What the players said
Musetti on Djokovic: “Of course, I played him many times in different stages, even big ones like of course two times in Roland-Garros. I beat him one time in Monte-Carlo. Then I 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. I think if I play in a certain way, I could have my shot in the next round.”
Djokovic on his level so far this tournament (to the Tennis Channel): “I think actually the last couple of matches I played were great. I started off Wimbledon with a convincing first round win. The second round I kind of struggled to find that right level of the movement that I really needed. But then I think towards the end of the third round match, it was again a close one, and then the entire fourth round against Rune was fantastic; the way I felt on the court, the way I was striking the ball. So, I’m excited to keep on playing, to be in another semi-finals.”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
