Wimbledon, Day 8: Alex de Minaur v Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner v Dimitrov, Swiatek v Tauson
The clash will kick off a big day at the All England Club, as Djokovic and world number one Jannik Sinner face their stiffest tests of the tournament as they aim to take another step towards a blockbuster semi-final face-off.
Djokovic was in supreme form as he demolished compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, but the seven-time champion is wary of the threat that lies ahead of him.
De Minaur was forced to pull out of a quarter-final meeting at Wimbledon with the Serb last year due to injury but gets another shot at glory against one of the sport's all-time greats.
A two-time winner of grass court titles, the world number 11 has dropped just one set on his way to the last 16.
'He's playing the tennis of his life. He's definitely knocking on the door of the final stages of Grand Slams,' said Djokovic.
'You're not super excited to play Alex de Minaur on grass, that's for sure, because he's so quick and he's a complete player.'
Sinner does not have the Wimbledon track record of Djokovic or Alcaraz, but the Italian has been the most dominant player in the men's draw in the opening week.
The US Open and Australian Open champion has matched the men's Open Era record at Wimbledon for fewest games lost - 17 - in reaching the fourth round, set by Jan Kodes in 1972.
Sinner is also yet to lose his serve this year at the All England Club, not that his next opponent appears daunted by that prospect.
'We're in the second week of Wimbledon. Let's have fun,' said 34-year-old Grigor Dimitrov.
The Bulgarian appeared destined to be a future Wimbledon champion when he made the semi-finals in 2014, but has never progressed beyond the fourth round since.
Meanwhile, a rare defeat at the French Open has helped Iga Swiatek finally feel at home on the grass as the former world number one eyes just a second Wimbledon quarter-final.
Swiatek reached her first grass-court final in Bad Homburg last week, after which she said there is 'some hope' for her on the surface.
'This year on grass I had some moments where I just felt comfortable and I didn't have to think much. It was just pretty smooth.'
A flurry of early exits for all of the top six seeds other than Sabalenka also means Swiatek could make the final without having to play another top-10 player.
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The victory extended his winning streak to 23 matches and his record on grass to 34 wins from 37. "To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special," Alcaraz said. "I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam." Fritz's path to the last four was not as smooth as the Spaniard's. Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov won the third set 6-1, the American needed a medical time-out, and there was another technology malfunction with the automated line calls. "The match was going so well for me for two sets," he said after taking a fourth set tie-break to wrap up the match 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4). "I've never had a match just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. "I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes. "Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth." Fritz said the treatment on his right foot ahead of the fourth set was just a minor matter. "It's totally fine, it's pretty common, a lot of players do this tape job so your foot doesn't get irritated," he said. "I think I ripped it off at some point in the second so I just needed to get it re-done." The erroneous line call came soon after when 'Fault' was incorrectly called after a Fritz backhand landed well inside the baseline. It became evident the system was still tracking the initial serve so chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed. The All England Club explained the system had failed to reset because the ball from Fritz's first serve was still being retrieved when he started lining up his second. Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz has eased into the semi-finals, where he will face fifth seed Taylor Fritz, but mystery surrounds the fitness of his expected challenger in Sunday's final, Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz brushed aside the remaining home player, Briton Cameron Norrie, 6-2 6-3 6-3, on the same Centre Court on which less than 24 hours earlier Sinner had escaped when two sets down after Grigor Dimitrov had to retire with a chest muscle injury. Amid the drama surrounding the Bulgarian on Monday night (local time) it was largely forgotten that Sinner had himself been nursing an injury to his elbow, incurred while breaking a fall, and had taken a medical time-out for it. On Tuesday morning Sinner, who is due to meet American Ben Shelton in the quarter-final on Wednesday, had an MRI scan, and in the afternoon he cancelled his planned practice session. There was no official update from Sinner's camp but his Australian coach Darren Cahill reportedly told ESPN the Italian had a hit indoors for 20 to 30 minutes. "It was quite an unfortunate fall," Sinner said on Monday night. "I felt it quite a lot, especially on serve and forehand. We are going to check with MRI to see if there's something serious, and then we'll try to adjust it." There were no such worries for Alcaraz. He lost the first three points on serve, but prevented Norrie securing the break and never looked back. He took the first set in 28 minutes and the match in 99. The victory extended his winning streak to 23 matches and his record on grass to 34 wins from 37. "To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special," Alcaraz said. "I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam." Fritz's path to the last four was not as smooth as the Spaniard's. Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov won the third set 6-1, the American needed a medical time-out, and there was another technology malfunction with the automated line calls. "The match was going so well for me for two sets," he said after taking a fourth set tie-break to wrap up the match 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4). "I've never had a match just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. "I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes. "Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth." Fritz said the treatment on his right foot ahead of the fourth set was just a minor matter. "It's totally fine, it's pretty common, a lot of players do this tape job so your foot doesn't get irritated," he said. "I think I ripped it off at some point in the second so I just needed to get it re-done." The erroneous line call came soon after when 'Fault' was incorrectly called after a Fritz backhand landed well inside the baseline. It became evident the system was still tracking the initial serve so chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed. The All England Club explained the system had failed to reset because the ball from Fritz's first serve was still being retrieved when he started lining up his second. Defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz has eased into the semi-finals, where he will face fifth seed Taylor Fritz, but mystery surrounds the fitness of his expected challenger in Sunday's final, Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz brushed aside the remaining home player, Briton Cameron Norrie, 6-2 6-3 6-3, on the same Centre Court on which less than 24 hours earlier Sinner had escaped when two sets down after Grigor Dimitrov had to retire with a chest muscle injury. Amid the drama surrounding the Bulgarian on Monday night (local time) it was largely forgotten that Sinner had himself been nursing an injury to his elbow, incurred while breaking a fall, and had taken a medical time-out for it. On Tuesday morning Sinner, who is due to meet American Ben Shelton in the quarter-final on Wednesday, had an MRI scan, and in the afternoon he cancelled his planned practice session. There was no official update from Sinner's camp but his Australian coach Darren Cahill reportedly told ESPN the Italian had a hit indoors for 20 to 30 minutes. "It was quite an unfortunate fall," Sinner said on Monday night. "I felt it quite a lot, especially on serve and forehand. We are going to check with MRI to see if there's something serious, and then we'll try to adjust it." There were no such worries for Alcaraz. He lost the first three points on serve, but prevented Norrie securing the break and never looked back. He took the first set in 28 minutes and the match in 99. The victory extended his winning streak to 23 matches and his record on grass to 34 wins from 37. "To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special," Alcaraz said. "I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam." Fritz's path to the last four was not as smooth as the Spaniard's. Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov won the third set 6-1, the American needed a medical time-out, and there was another technology malfunction with the automated line calls. "The match was going so well for me for two sets," he said after taking a fourth set tie-break to wrap up the match 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4). "I've never had a match just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. "I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes. "Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth." Fritz said the treatment on his right foot ahead of the fourth set was just a minor matter. "It's totally fine, it's pretty common, a lot of players do this tape job so your foot doesn't get irritated," he said. "I think I ripped it off at some point in the second so I just needed to get it re-done." The erroneous line call came soon after when 'Fault' was incorrectly called after a Fritz backhand landed well inside the baseline. It became evident the system was still tracking the initial serve so chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed. The All England Club explained the system had failed to reset because the ball from Fritz's first serve was still being retrieved when he started lining up his second.
