Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will do battle in a hotly-anticipated Wimbledon final on Sunday.
The world’s two best players have negotiated their way safely through the draw to set up a rematch of last month’s French Open semi-final, which was locked at one-set all when Alcaraz was stricken by cramp.
The Spaniard followed up his straight-sets win over fellow young gun Holger Rune by taking out third seed Daniil Medvedev in emphatic fashion, winning 6-3 6-3 6-3.
Earlier, Djokovic had overcome some difficult moments to beat eighth seed Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4) and reach a record 35th grand slam singles final.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at how day 12 of the Championships unfolded.
Quote of the dayAlcaraz breezes through
The 20-year-old dropped sets in both the third and fourth rounds and it appeared this year’s Wimbledon may perhaps be too soon for him to challenge for the title.
But Alcaraz has been imperious in his last two matches and he took apart Medvedev to become the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon final since his compatriot Rafael Nadal 17 years ago.
Last year’s US Open champion will now attempt to do what no man has done since Nadal at the French Open last year and beat Djokovic at a slam.
Djokovic stays on course
Djokovic extended his winning run at Wimbledon to 34 matches as he continued to fight off the next generation.
The 36-year-old took his chances better than 21-year-old Sinner, who was playing in his first slam semi-final, and fought off his annoyance over a hindrance call for a loud grunt that saw him docked a point early in the second set.
Djokovic then became irritated by the crowd when Sinner created two set points at 4-5 in the third, miming crying after saving both before winning a 15th straight grand slam tie-break.
Picture of the dayRain, rain go away
It was a soggy scene on the outside courts at the All England Club on Friday.
Rain that began before the gates opened at 10am did not relent enough for any play to take place away from Centre Court and Court One, barring a few under-14 junior matches that were moved to indoor hard courts.
With the forecast predicting more rain and very strong winds on Saturday, it could be a major headache for organisers to ensure all the categories finish on time.
Shot of the dayStat of the day
Jarry defeats Paul to set up Zverev showdown in Italian Open final
Nicolas Jarry defeated Tommy Paul in three sets on Friday to set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev in the Italian Open final.
The men's world number 24 prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in a little under three hours in Rome to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
Jarry earned the only break of serve in the eighth game of the opening set, but Paul - who dropped just one set in four matches en route to this stage - hit back in the second.
Birthday boy Paul lost serve to trail 4-2 at one stage, but he produced one of the shots of the tournament at the ideal moment and soon dragged it back to 4-4.
A gruelling set concluded with Paul taking the tie-break 7-3, but Jarry was unperturbed and won the deciding set with his fifth match point to see off Paul in a gruelling contest.
Data Debrief:
Jarry is the third male Chilean in the Open Era to reach the singles final of the Italian Open after Marcelo Rios (1997-98) and Fernando Gonzalez (2007).
The 28-year-old registered 13 aces against Paul to his opponent's seven and hit 35 winners to 19 in a deserved victory.
Zverev ends Tabilo's dream run to reach Italian Open final
Alexander Zverev fought back from the brink to reach the Italian Open final on Friday, overcoming Alejandro Tabilo by a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 scoreline in the last four.
Zverev was punished for a slow start as Tabilo took the opener within 32 minutes, but the German fought back in a one-hour, 15-minute slog of a second set.
The 2017 Italian Open champion put his foot down from 3-3 in the second-set tie-break, with Tabilo potentially feeling the effects of a fine run that included a last-32 upset of Novak Djokovic.
Zverev upped the intensity in the final set and won a huge 94 per cent of points behind his first serve as his opponent wilted, the third seed reaching the Rome final for a third time.
Data Debrief: Zverev draws level with Becker
Zverev will now face either Nicolas Jarry or Tommy Paul in Sunday's final, which will be his 11th at ATP 1000 Masters level.
That tally pulls him level with Boris Becker for most such finals by a German player since the format's 1990 introduction.
Sabalenka defeats Collins to set up Swiatek rematch
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.
Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.
And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.
The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.
This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.
She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.
Data Debrief: Perfect record
Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).
The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.
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