Novak Djokovic puts his bid for Grand Slam history on the line at Wimbledon on Friday when he faces world No 1 Jannik Sinner in a blockbuster semifinal, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz meets Taylor Fritz.
As a seven-time Wimbledon champion, Djokovic believes his best chance to win a record 25th Grand Slam title lies on the lawns of southwest London.
Now the 38-year-old Serb faces the defining test of that theory.
Djokovic is looking to reach an 11th Wimbledon final and his 38th Grand Slam showpiece, yet he finds himself in the unusual position of being an All England Club underdog.
Although Djokovic beat Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2023 and in the quarterfinals in 2022, the Italian got his revenge in the 2024 Australian Open and at this year's French Open.
Those semifinal victories helped Sinner build a 5-4 edge in his nine encounters with Djokovic, who has lost the past four meetings.
"Sinner and Alcaraz are the leaders of tennis today. I couldn't ask for a bigger challenge, for sure. I look forward to it," Djokovic said.
Sinner shrugged off fears over an elbow injury to brush aside Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals, while Djokovic hopes to be fully fit after an awkward fall late in his last-eight victory over Flavio Cobolli.
The players will also have to deal with searing temperatures expected to reach 32 Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) as All England Club chiefs warned fans on Centre Court to take time out of the sun.
Women's world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka handed water to spectators during her semifinal on Thursday after play was repeatedly stopped to deal with medical emergencies in the hot weather.
Beaten by Alcaraz in the past two Wimbledon finals, Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam since moving level with Margaret Court on 24 major titles by clinching the 2023 US Open.
Sinner and Alcaraz are the dominant forces in men's tennis now, but sixth seed Djokovic will be contesting a record 14th Wimbledon men's semifinal, with 10 wins from his previous 13 matches at that stage.
Djokovic has made every Wimbledon final since 2018 and his last semifinal loss at the tournament came against Roger Federer in 2012.
The Serb can equal Federer's Open era record for the most consecutive Wimbledon men's finals if he makes it to the final on Sunday for a seventh time in a row.
ALCARAZ EYES THIRD FINAL
In his seventh Grand Slam semifinal, a victory for Australian Open champion Sinner would send him through to his first Wimbledon final.
The 23-year-old, a three-time major winner, can become the sixth man in the Open era to make four consecutive Grand Slam final appearances.
The last of those finals ended in a five-set defeat in which he blew three championship points against Alcaraz in the French Open in June, a painful memory fuelling his Wimbledon title charge.
"Me and Novak, we know each other better because we played quite a lot. So we understand what's working and what's not," Sinner said.
Back to his best after an inconsistent start to the tournament, Alcaraz must subdue the power game of American fifth seed Fritz to reach his third successive Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz, 22, was taken to five sets by the since retired Fabio Fognini in the first round and also dropped a set against both Jan-Lennard Struff and Andrey Rublev to raise concerns about his title defence.
But the five-time Grand Slam champion eased fears about a dip in form with a dynamic demolition of Britain's Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals.
The Spanish world No 2 is on a career-best 23-match winning streak since losing to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final in April and has won 34 of his 37 matches on grass.
"Taylor is playing great. The grass season has been really successful for him so far. I have to be ready for that battle," Alcaraz said.
If Fritz can pull off a major upset, he will reach his second Grand Slam final, in the process becoming the first American man to make the Wimbledon final since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The 27-year-old made his first appearance in a Grand Slam final at the US Open last year, losing to Jannik Sinner.