This year’s Wimbledon Championships marks the 50th anniversary of a dispute which saw 81 male players boycott the tournament and changed tennis forever.

Top stars including defending champion Stan Smith, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe and Ken Rosewall stunned the sporting world by turning their backs on the most gilded event in tennis.

The build-up to the Championships was dominated by the ‘will they, won’t they’ saga, but the pervading opinion of the authorities was that there was no chance the players would sacrifice playing at Wimbledon. They were wrong.

“It was huge, huge,” recalls tennis historian Richard Evans. “It was the front-page lead in every newspaper in Britain for five days. The game would never be the same again.”

As with many more notable and bloodier conflicts in living memory, this one was sparked by a relatively minor dispute in eastern Europe.

But tensions between the warring factions – the players who had turned professional five years earlier, and the still amateur tennis federations administrating them – had been simmering for some time.

Those tensions boiled over when Yugoslavian player Nikki Pilic was banned by his country’s tennis federation – of which his uncle, General Dusan Kovac, was the president – for refusing to play in a Davis Cup match.

The recently formed players’ union, the ATP, duly threatened to boycott Wimbledon in support of one of its members, unless the ban was lifted.

“He came along at just the appropriate moment,” Evans said. “It was the classic situation of an amateur federation president demanding a player play Davis Cup when that player, who was a professional, had already signed a contract to appear in a doubles tournament in Montreal.

“His uncle got so angry he banned him for nine months. Then the International Lawn Tennis Federation (now the ITF) banned him for six weeks, knowing full well it would take him right into the middle of Wimbledon.”

The ATP board, comprising Smith, Ashe and fellow American player Jim McManus, Britons Mark Cox and John Barrett, chief executive Jack Kramer and president Cliff Drysdale, met in the basement of the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair to vote on whether to boycott, the day before the Wimbledon draw was due to be made.

Drysdale had canvassed the opinions of players at the recent tournaments in Rome and Paris – and to his surprise, found the mood to be mutinous.

“The media were sitting on the hotel steps, about 12 of us, waiting for the decision,” Evans said. “By then Cliff had been to Westminster to talk to the minister of sport and there had also been an injunction. It was all happening.

“But eventually they came down on the Thursday night to break off. Then they slept on it. The Wimbledon draw was being made on the Friday morning and the players were there practising.”

Cox and Barrett – staying loyal to Wimbledon – and Smith voted not to boycott but Ashe, McManus and Kramer voted for.

Drysdale therefore had the casting vote and he abstained.

“Jack said afterwards ‘I nearly fell off my chair, what a politician the guy is’,” added Evans. “Because Cliff was in a terrible situation. He knew if he voted to boycott it would all be on him and if he voted not to boycott it would be the end of the association.

“John Newcombe had phoned Jack in the middle of the night and said ‘if you don’t boycott, I’m out’. It would have started a whole run and people would have left the association.

“But by abstaining the vote remained 3-3 and (under ATP rules) the motion was carried. The decision to boycott was phoned through to referee Captain Mike Gibson, who had just done the draw and had to rip it up because 81 players had quit on him.”

The rebel players were branded ‘money grabbers’ by the press, but there was far more to it than that.

“The media got it wrong,” said Evans. “The sports editors were faced with ‘who’s the bad guy, who’s the good guy?’. And the bad guy couldn’t be Wimbledon.

“Therefore the players had to be the bad guys, which was very difficult because Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, John Newcombe, they were hugely popular sporting stars.

“So they settled on poor old Jack Kramer and made him the bad guy. He was supposedly leading the players.

“But it wasn’t about money. It was about detaching themselves from the stranglehold of the LTA and the ILTF, as it was then. The players finally said ‘we are not going to put up with amateurs telling us, professionals, how to run our lives’.”

Wimbledon had to hastily put together a new field comprising mainly eastern Europeans, whose federations did not allow them to be ATP members, and young players – including a 17-year-old Bjorn Borg – who were not yet contracted.

Three ATP members broke ranks; British number one Roger Taylor, Romanian Ilie Nastase (a divisive figure at the best of times and who claimed his federation made him play), and Australian Ray Kelbie, because he said he could not afford not to play.

“Roger Taylor was in a terrible position, because he was the number one, the big man in British tennis,” Evans said.

“But his father was a Sheffield steelworker and union man. And he was telling his son ‘you can’t be a scab’. But the media and the public were saying ‘Roger, you’ve got to play’.

“Eventually he played, lost in the semi-finals and wasn’t very popular in the locker room for a long time.”

As a footnote to an extraordinary episode in world sport, the name that graces the champions’ wall inside Centre Court – and pub quizzes to this day – is Czech Jan Kodes, who beat Russia’s Alex Metreveli in three sets for the title.

Is British women’s tennis in the doldrums or on the up?

The doom and gloom surrounding the complete absence of British players from the women’s singles draw at the French Open has given way to a raft of positive results on grass.

Katie Boulter defeated Jodie Burrage to win her first WTA title in Nottingham in the first all-British tour final since the 1970s while there have also been encouraging performances from Harriet Dart, Heather Watson and Katie Swan.

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Boulter’s title has lifted her back into the top 100, which also doubles as the rough cut-off for entry into grand slams, but the 26-year-old believes a bigger-picture view is needed.

“I think we put a lot of emphasis on being ranked inside 100 and I’m not entirely sure if I personally agree with it,” she said.

“I think we need to continually look at the amount of players we have coming through and stay positive. Because, if we go down the negative route, we can always find something.

“Each and every one of these girls can be inside 100. I think we should be asking questions if we don’t have anyone who can be.

“These girls are getting wins against top-100 players but everyone’s individual and they have to work on what they need to do. I’ve got a lot of work to do inside or outside the top 100.”

It has been 40 years since Britain had anything approaching strength in depth, and the sport is far more global now than it was then.

While the men appear to be doing better – with four players in the top 100 and consistent performers in Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans – there are actually six British women in the top 150 compared to five men.

And four of the top five women are aged 26 or under, whereas that is only the case for one man – 21-year-old Jack Draper, who will miss Wimbledon with the latest in a series of injuries.

The British women have mostly been rivals since their junior days and the hope, along with a strong return from injury for Emma Raducanu, must be that they can push each other up the rankings.

Boulter certainly sees it that way, saying: “It means everything for all of us. I think that’s why we’re such a good group of girls because we keep pushing each other on. I hope we can continually do that. I think there’s a lot more to come for all of us.”

Dart looked to have broken clear of her peers last year when she moved into the top 100 but this year had been a struggle prior to the grass season, with the 26-year-old plummeting down the rankings.

She has found form and confidence at home, reaching the quarter-finals in Nottingham – where tension at the net after she lost to Boulter took the headlines – and Birmingham.

Asked about the rivalry between the British women, Dart said: “We’re all on our different journeys. I’ve had a bit of a dip in form. Last year was a good year for me. I’m trying to regain that form.

“I don’t see myself in competition with anyone else, just myself. It definitely shows me that my level is there. I’ve just got to, week in, week out, keep putting it out there. The grass season is so short and the most important thing is the whole year.”

Dart is right not to focus too much on grass-court results because, while clay probably gives an overly negative impression of the state of the British game, the reverse is true for grass, which a lot of players from other countries are inexperienced and uncomfortable on.

The 26-year-old, meanwhile, revealed that she is still searching for a permanent coach after a trial with Frenchman Morgan Bourbon did not work out.

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Dart, who split from Nigel Sears last year, is working with Colin Beecher on the grass while his regular charge Kyle Edmund continues to recover from a wrist injury.

Edmund’s dreadful luck unfortunately shows no sign of improving, with the 28-year-old finally back on court after years of knee trouble only to suffer a separate problem just before the French Open.

Dart said: “I’ve been really fortunate that Colin has been able to have the time to do this grass-court season with me. It’s been really tough on Kyle with his injuries but I’m really grateful that he allowed him to come and work with me.

“I’m back to square one. For sure I’m looking for someone long term so I can get that consistency. It’s very challenging, to say the least.

“There’s not that many people out there, a lot of people are taken and are in long-term partnerships. But I’ll keep looking and you never know, sometimes post-Wimbledon people can become available.”

Carlos Alcaraz considers himself one of the favourites to win Wimbledon after picking up his maiden grass-court title at Queen’s Club.

Alcaraz overtook Novak Djokovic as world number one and will be the top seed at SW19 after a commanding 6-4 6-4 win over Alex De Minaur in the final of the cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old Spaniard was playing only his third ever grass-court tournament, and his first outside of two underwhelming visits to Wimbledon.

In his first match at Queen’s he needed a third-set tie-break to get past French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech, but as the week wore on he grew in confidence on the surface and by Sunday looked to the manor born.

“I had no expectations,” said Alcaraz. “But you know, if I have no expectation, I’m gonna win it.

“But honestly, I have a lot of confidence right now coming into Wimbledon. I ended the week playing at the high level. So right now I feel one of the favourites to win Wimbledon.

“I have to get more experience on grass. Even if I win the title, I just played 11 matches in my career on grass, so I have to get more experience, more hours.

“But obviously after beating amazing guys, great players, and the level that I played, I consider myself one of the favourites or one of the players to be able to win Wimbledon.

“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches in Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (put together). What can I say about that, you know? I mean, Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon. That’s obvious.

“But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him or make the final at Wimbledon.”

De Minaur had been hoping to match his British girlfriend Katie Boulter, who won a first career title in Nottingham last weekend, but he just came up short.

“The positive for the week, for me, I think has been my mentality, my mindset, how calm I have been on the court and how I have backed myself at every stage,” said the 24-year-old Australian.

“When I’m in that kind of mindset and attitude, I can beat anyone. Even if things don’t go my way, I’m content because I know I left it all out there and I try to play the way that I want to play.

“So that’s a big positive for me coming into Wimbledon.”

In the wheelchair final, Britain’s Alfie Hewett was beaten 4-6 6-3 7-5 by Joachim Gerard of Belgium.

Hewett then teamed up with compatriot Gordon Reid in the doubles and beat Gerard and Stephane Houdet in a third-set tie-break to lift the trophy for the first time as a pair.

Jelena Ostapenko won her second title on grass with victory over Barbora Krejcikova in the final of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

In a battle of the top two seeds, it was the second seed who came out on top, with Ostapenko triumphing 7-6 (8) 6-4.

It was the Latvian’s first title since Dubai last February and her first on grass since Eastbourne in 2021.

Ostapenko clinched a very tight first set on her fourth set point in the tie-break after saving one chance for Krejcikova and moved to the brink of victory at 5-1 in the second set.

Czech Krejcikova, who will return to the top 10 on Monday, threatened a comeback, winning three games in a row, but Ostapenko made it across the line.

“She’s a really great player and congrats to her and her team,” said the 26-year-old, who has survived several close battles this week.

“I was really close from 5-1 to 5-4 but then I managed somehow and I’m really, really happy about it. I was fighting every match. I played five great matches, this was the only match in two sets. It’s a great preparation for Wimbledon and there’s still a couple of things I can do better.”

Krejcikova, who was playing her first final on grass, did not drop a set until the final and felt losing the first-set tie-break was crucial to the outcome.

“She’s playing well,” said the top seed. “I’m disappointed but that’s tennis. (The tie-break) was maybe the key to the match because when you play the first set that long and you are up, down, up, down all the time – I was very unfortunate.

“I definitely had a great week. It was really nice to be here, I really enjoyed it. It’s special to play on a centre court and to enjoy the support. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back.”

Carlos Alcaraz secured his first grass-court title and top billing at Wimbledon with victory over Alex De Minaur in the final of the cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old Spaniard overtook Novak Djokovic as world number one, and confirmed he will be a major contender to take the Serbian’s crown at SW19 next month, with a commanding 6-4 6-4 win at Queen’s Club.

Alcaraz was playing only his third ever grass-court tournament, and his first outside of two underwhelming visits to Wimbledon.

In his first match he needed a third-set tie-break to get past French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech, but as the week wore on he grew in confidence on the surface and by Sunday looked to the manor born.

Alcaraz will now be top seed at Wimbledon and, on this evidence, has a genuine chance to emulate compatriot Rafael Nadal, who won at Queen’s in 2008 and went on to claim the big one three weeks later.

A break of serve in each set proved enough to overcome Australian number one De Minaur, who competed well but had no answer to the pace and power of the favourite.

For example when De Minaur, 24, created the match’s first break point, at 4-3 in the opener, Alcaraz simply rolled out a 137mph ace.

A high-quality first set swung the way of the top seed when De Minaur sent a backhand wide, and then a forehand long, to gift Alcaraz the break.

The youngster from Murcia wrapped up the 49-minute set with an ace before taking a medical time-out for treatment on his right thigh.

Whatever the issue was, it did not seem to bother Alcaraz too much as he forced another break point at 2-2 in the second – and De Minaur picked the worst possible time to throw in a first double fault.

Victory was confirmed when De Minaur’s return floated long and Alcaraz celebrated an 11th career title, and surely the first of many on the lawns of London.

Alcaraz said: “It means a lot to have my name on the trophy. It was special to play here where so many legends have won. To see my name surrounded by the great champions is amazing.

“I started the tournament not very well, especially my movement on the grass, but it’s been an amazing week.”

De Minaur had been hoping to match his British girlfriend Katie Boulter, who won a first career title in Nottingham last weekend, but he just came up short.

He said: “It’s been a great week for me. We were close but I wasn’t quite able to get it done. Too good from Carlos.”

Carlos Alcaraz fired a Wimbledon warning to his rivals after claiming he feels like he has been playing on grass for 10 years.

The 20-year-old from Spain is only playing in his third tournament on the surface at the cinch Championships, and his first other than at SW19.

But Alcaraz will take on Australian Alex De Minaur in Sunday’s final at Queen’s Club after comprehensively beating America’s Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-4.

“I’m playing great and feeling great,” he said. “I’m really happy to play my first final on grass, and even more here at Queen’s.

“I’m getting better. I’m feeling better every match I play. I feel like I’ve been playing for 10 years on grass. I didn’t expect that.”

Should Alcaraz win the title – and it would be hard to bet against him – he will overtake Novak Djokovic as world number one, and be the top seed at Wimbledon.

“Honestly at the beginning of the week I didn’t know that I could recover the number one,” he added.

“But when I won yesterday they told me and it is an extra motivation. It’s in my mind and I’m going to go for it. Being top seed and number one is a dream.”

De Minaur reached his first Queen’s final after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune.

The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ won 6-3 7-6 (2) to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.

“He’s (Hewitt) played pretty decent here over the years. He’s got a pretty good record,” smiled De Minaur.

“I think I’m a little bit far away from that, but, you know, I would love to be able to put my name on the trophy tomorrow.

“He’s been a huge mentor and he’s my Davis Cup captain, so he’s been messaging me this week as well. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

De Minaur, the Australian number one, is the boyfriend of current British number one Katie Boulter, who won her first title at the Nottingham Open last weekend.

He added: “I was probably inspired by her last week. I mean, I think she put in a hell of a performance, all things considered.

“She’s playing her home tournament, she’s British number one for the first time, she’s non-stop playing more Brits so there’s always a lot of nerves and pressure.

“She went out there, had a great week, made the final and then the biggest match of her career, she played one of the best matches I’ve ever seen her play.

“To be able to stand and deliver in that crucial point and win her first title, I was like, ‘yeah, I’ve got to watch what she’s doing and learn myself’.

“I think I have tried to replicate that a little bit this week and just be nice and calm, have a positive mindset. You know, it definitely helps. I’ve got to get a couple more tips from Katie.”

Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova will return to the top 10 after reaching her first grass-court final at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

The Czech claimed her maiden singles grand slam title in 2021 but missed a chunk of last season with an elbow injury and dropped down the rankings.

Now the 27-year-old is back on the up and she is yet to drop a set so far at Edgbaston Priory, easing to a 6-3 6-2 victory over China’s Zhu Lin in the semi-finals.

Krejcikova said: “I’m really happy. Today was another difficult match, I felt it was really tough to play against my opponent today, so I’m really happy how I went through and I was really focused all the games.

“I played well. It’s really nice that I’m back (in the top 10) but it’s just a number, I want to keep going.”

It will be a battle of the top two seeds in the final, but second seed Jelena Ostapenko has had a contrasting path.

The powerful Latvian survived her third close three-setter in as many days, seeing off Russian Anastasia Potapova 5-7 6-2 6-4.

“Honestly I don’t know how I did it,” said Ostapenko. “Every match was a really tough match. It’s never easy and I always play a little bit up and down but in general I’m really happy.

“I think it’s important to win these kind of matches when you’re sometimes not playing your best and you just fight for every point. I will try to recover as good as I can and be ready for tomorrow.”

Alex De Minaur reached his first final at Queen’s Club after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune at the cinch Championships.

The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ roared to a 6-3 7-6 (2) victory to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.

De Minaur, the boyfriend of Britain’s Katie Boulter, is a proven performer on the grass; he is a former Eastbourne champion and also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

Danish rising star Rune, by contrast, remains a work in progress on grass. His win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday was the first of his career on the surface.

De Minaur broke the Rune serve in the very first game and repeated the trick in the ninth to wrap up the opening set.

Rune, 20, fashioned a first break point at the start of the second, but De Minaur slammed the door shut with two consecutive winners and an ace.

De Minaur had a break point for 5-3 to take a stranglehold on the match, but he netted a simple forehand to let his opponent off the hook.

However, he totally dominated the tie-break, dropping just two points, on his way to victory in an hour and 40 minutes.

De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in the first round, said: “I play pretty decent on grass and I’m having an amazing week.

“That was my best match so far, so happy days. One more to go. It’s a pretty special tournament so let’s hope I can go one better tomorrow. I’ll do my best.”

The semi-final was played in sweltering heat and twice interrupted by spectators needing medical treatment in the stands.

“I want to make sure the people who seeked medical assistance are all right,” added De Minaur. “Keep hydrated, it’s a hot one out there!”

Stefanos Tsitsipas has denied comments he made about Nick Kyrgios following last year’s heated Wimbledon battle were racist in nature.

The Greek has been criticised on social media for saying during the Netflix documentary series Break Point that Kyrgios’ approach to tennis was “uneducated” and that he brought an “NBA basketball attitude” to the sport.

Writing on his Facebook page, Tsitsipas said: “Today, I want to address a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart; an unfortunate misunderstanding that has a distorted picture of my intentions.

“It has come to my attention that some individuals have misinterpreted my comments regarding Nick Kyrgios, labelling him as uneducated and accusing him of bringing a basketball mentality into tennis, insinuating racism where none exists.

“Let me take this opportunity to provide clarity and rectify any misconceptions that may have arisen.

“Firstly, I want to emphasise that I harbour no prejudice towards anyone based on their background, ethnicity, or interests. I deeply regret if my words were misinterpreted or caused offence, as that was never my intention.

“My previous remarks regarding Nick Kyrgios were not meant to undermine his intelligence or abilities. Instead, I simply intended to express my perspective on certain aspects of his playing style, drawing comparisons to the passion and intensity often associated with basketball.

“It was an attempt to highlight the dynamic and captivating nature of his approach to the game, not a criticism of his character or capabilities.”

The pair clashed in the third round at the All England Club, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the umpire and calling for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he swiped a ball into the crowd.

The Greek lost his cool and received a point penalty for recklessly hitting the ball before appearing to aim a shot straight at Kyrgios, who eventually won in four sets.

Kyrgios accepted Tsitsipas’ apology, writing on Twitter: “It was a very heated battle sometimes as players we go into these press conferences without digesting the match…. We’ve had some crazy battles and I know deep down you like my brand of tennis we are all good @steftsitsipas”

Harriet Dart is confident her game is heading in the right direction after her run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham was ended by a narrow quarter-final loss to Anastasia Potapova.

Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.

It has been a difficult season for Dart, who has plummeted out of the top 100 after a breakthrough year in 2022, but the 26-year-old has found her form on grass and this was a second consecutive quarter-final appearance following on from Nottingham last week.

“I thought it was a really high-level match,” said Dart, who has been awarded a wild card for Eastbourne next week.

“I don’t think I served particularly very well but managed to find a way to get ahead with the first set. I definitely had a lot of chances. But overall a positive week.

“Of course I wanted to do better today and to keep going but it’s important just to keep building week in, week out to be able to compete with the best players in the world.

“And to also be realistic. This is grass, it’s a unique surface. I really enjoy these couple of weeks and just to try and use this momentum for the rest of the season.

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“Today I played someone who’s 21 in the world and lost 6-4 in the third, and I think there’s a lot of areas I can improve on, so it’s heading in the right direction.”

Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.

But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.

Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.

Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.

The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.

Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.

“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.

“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.

“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.

Harriet Dart’s run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in the quarter-finals with defeat by Anastasia Potapova.

Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court.

The 26-year-old was bidding to reach a first WTA semi-final having lost three previous quarter-finals, all on the British grass, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.

But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.

Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.

It has nevertheless been a strong tournament for Dart to back up last week’s run to the last eight in Nottingham, and she will have another chance to pick up more wins ahead of Wimbledon having been awarded a wild card for next week’s tournament in Eastbourne.

Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.

The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.

Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.

“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.

“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.

“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.

Cameron Norrie’s bid for a first grass-court title was ended by Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.

The British number one and fifth seed was beaten 6-4 7-6 (1) by American Korda, the world number 32.

His defeat means there will be no British interest, in singles or doubles, going into the weekend at Queen’s Club for the first time since 2012.

Korda, who also accounted for British number two Dan Evans in the first round, broke Norrie for 3-2 and had another break point for 5-2 in the opening set.

Norrie wriggled out of that tight spot with a pair of aces, but he was unable to prevent Korda wrapping up the set in 37 minutes.

Norrie, runner-up here in 2021 and a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, hauled a break back for 3-3 in the second, the first time he had got anywhere near the Korda serve.

But Korda, the son of former Australian Open winner Petr and brother of major champion golfer Nelly, raced away with the tie-break to reach the last four on his Queen’s debut.

The 22-year-old, who recently recovered from three months out with a wrist injury, said: “It’s massive. I’m playing really well on grass, I feel comfortable and I’m really enjoying myself here.

“As many matches as I can get, I’m always super happy. Everything is clicking right now.”

Saturday’s first semi-final will see Alex De Minaur face Danish second seed Holger Rune.

Australian De Minaur was watched by his girlfriend, Britain’s Katie Boulter, as he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4 4-6 6-4.

Rising star Rune, 20, got past Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-5.

Venus Williams’ valiant efforts at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in a second-round defeat by Jelena Ostapenko.

The 43-year-old pulled off her best victory for nearly four years with a three-hour win over Camila Giorgi in the first round on Monday despite struggling with a right knee problem.

She had the joint strapped up again on Thursday and took a long medical timeout during the second set for treatment to her right thigh in what looked like being a straight-sets loss.

But Williams saved a match point at 3-5 in the second set and then reeled off three straight games as second seed Ostapenko lost her rhythm.

When she moved 2-0 ahead in the deciding set with evening drawing in, it appeared Williams might be on course for back-to-back wins for the first time since 2019.

But Ostapenko, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, recomposed herself and eventually powered her way to a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory.

The Latvian said: “Of course I could finish it a bit quicker. I got a little bit disappointed after the match point in the second set. But Venus is a great player, a great champion and it’s an honour to share the court with her.

“She’s a very dangerous player, especially on grass. She was serving really well. It was a little bit hard, but I’m really happy that I managed it and I was fighting until the very last point. She’s an idol for a lot of people so it was very special.”

Williams, who made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, will now hope to recover in time for another tilt at the All England Club, having been awarded a wild card.

Ostapenko will next play Pole Magdalena Frech, who battled past eighth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-7 (1) 6-4 in a match delayed for nearly two hours by rain.

Britain’s Harriet Dart will take on fourth seed Anastasia Potapova, who defeated American Caty McNally on a deciding tie-break.

Meanwhile, there will be an all-Czech quarter-final between top seed Barbora Krejcikova and 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.

Fruhvirtova was already through to the last eight and former French Open champion Krejcikova joined her by seeing off another Czech player, Tereza Martincova, 6-4 6-4.

Camera-shy Cameron Norrie admits he is unlikely to become a Netflix star any time soon.

Documentary makers were shadowing top tennis players at tournaments throughout last year as they filmed the Netflix show Break Point.

Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini and Taylor Fritz were among the players the cameras were focused on, but British number one Norrie will not be following suit.

“I think for me it’s more important to keep training as hard as I can and to be known for being a tennis player and a good competitor,” he said. “I think it’s a big distraction having the cameraman there full time.

“I think it’s great what they’re doing for tennis, promoting tennis, and getting some new fans into the sport and people learning about tennis.

“But I’m not sure what I’d do. I think I probably wouldn’t do it, but that’s me right now. But I can understand why some players fancy it and why they are choosing the players that they are.

“But for me, I prefer Andy Murray’s documentary and I’d prefer to do something myself if I were to do something one day.”

Norrie does want to follow in Berrettini’s footsteps, however, by winning the title at Queen’s Club this week.

The Italian is absent this year, having won the previous two cinch Championships, the first against Norrie in the 2021 final.

“I think it would be unreal to do that, and especially here at Queen’s,” said Norrie.

“I came so close. I think I still had never won a title yet when I was in the final with Berrettini. I really thought that was going to be the one.

“It was a tough one. Yeah, a big goal of mine to get a title on the grass. It’s a long way away, but I’m still in it and still need to keep improving everything in my game.”

Norrie faces American Sebastian Korda, who knocked out Britain’s Dan Evans in the first round, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Korda, the world number 32, said: “He’s probably one of the biggest fighters on tour. He doesn’t give you very many free points.

“I’m expecting a good battle. It’s going to be fun, for sure, and another good test for me. Yeah, another solid match coming up. I’m very happy for it.”

On Thursday world number two Carlos Alcaraz reached the last eight, brushing aside Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2 6-3.

Much is expected of the 20-year-old Spanish sensation, although he is clearly still coming to terms with his timing and movement on the grass.

However, this was a vast improvement on his laboured first-round win over Arthur Rinderknech.

“I’m really happy with the level I played at today,” he said. “I think I had a solid match, I played my game and enjoyed playing here.

“Playing this kind of match I’m OK with this one. It’s more practice and I am happy getting experience on grass.

“After this match the expectation changes. I think I’m ready to get a good result on grass.”

Andy Murray’s conqueror Alex De Minaur swept past Diego Schwartzman 6-2 6-2 and will face France’s Adrian Mannarino, who beat Fritz 6-4 7-6 (7).

Harriet Dart continued to carry British hopes at the Rothesay Birmingham Classic as she beat Anhelina Kalinina for a second successive week to make the quarter-finals.

Dart was awarded a Wimbledon wild card earlier in the day and celebrated in style by earning a 6-3 3-6 6-1 victory over the Ukrainian fifth seed.

The British number four, who has been playing with tonsillitis, beat Kalinina in Nottingham last week on her way to the quarter-finals and this victory books her second successive last-eight spot.

She will face fourth seed Anastasia Potapova or Caty McNally in the last eight on Friday as she continues her impressive build-up for SW19, where she is now guaranteed a spot in the main draw.

“I was always expecting a battle, I played great last week and I knew she would raise her level. The courts are a little bit quicker here so I just had to adjust a little bit more,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I am just really pleased to be through.

“I am kind of used it, I played quite a lot of long matches, not out of choice, but it happens. I always love coming back to Birmingham, it is pretty awesome.

“I love playing on grass and I love playing in front of the home fans and I love these couple of weeks the most for sure.”

The world number 134, who beat fellow Brit Jodie Burrage in the first round, moved into a 3-0 lead but only after saving seven break points during her first two service games.

It took Kalinina 23 minutes to get off the mark but there was no stopping Dart who took the opening set 6-3.

A much closer second set occurred before Kalinina sensed her opportunity in the sixth service game to move 4-2 ahead and force a decider.

But Dart regrouped and raced clear in the deciding set, having match points at 5-0.

Kalinina did make her serve it out, but that proved no problem for the Brit, much to the delight of the Edgbaston Priory crowd.

Earlier in the day, Linda Fruhvirtova progressed into the quarter-finals after the highly-rated teenager defeated Bernarda Pera 6-1 7-6 (3).

China’s Zhu Lin, who beat Katie Boulter on day one, also continued her fine tournament with victory over third seed Magda Linette by a 6-3 6-0 score.

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova started her time in Birmingham with a 6-3 6-3 win over Cristina Bucsa in the first round.