London: With four very different players in the semifinals, many fans and experts are expecting defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Serbia's 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic to face off in the men's singles final at Wimbledon 2024.
In the semifinals, Alcaraz was set to take on Daniil Medvedev while Djokovic was to meet Lorenzo Musetti. Alcaraz defeated Djokovic 1–6, 7–6(6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4 in an epic final last year ending the Serbian's win-spree of four titles since 2018 (Wimbledon was not played in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Jasmine Paolini battled from a set down and twice a break down in the decider to outlast Donna Vekic in three sets in the longest semifinal-ever in women's singles at Wimbledon.
Paolini, the No. 7 seed, defeated Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 51 minutes to become the first Italian woman to reach the final at Wimbledon in the Open Era. The previous longest Wimbledon semifinal had been Serena Williams's 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6 defeat of Elena Dementieva in 2009, a contest which lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.
