Up above, there was the relentless lashing of rain, beating onto the Centre Court roof. Across the net, there was the consistent “UH-HOH!” of Carlos Alcaraz, soundtracking his own shots. All the while, Daniil Medvedev was silent.

He was silent when Alcaraz held serve to love in the very first game. He was silent when Alcaraz let his drop shot off the leash, beating the Russian three times in one game with that signature weapon. He was silent when the Spaniard broke and then held serve to win the first set, and he was silent as the crowd laughed along in disbelief at the stupefying feats before them.

Novak Djokovic’s inevitable march to the Wimbledon final was only met by the briefest of interruptions. Unfortunately for Jannik Sinner, it didn’t come from him. Despite the young Italian’s spirit and fine shot-making, Djokovic’s grip on this semi-final was unrelenting, absorbing the power of one of the biggest hitters in the game and closing out a dominant 6-3 6-4 7-6 win that was only complicated by a couple of difficult moments - namely from the chair umpire, Richard Haigh, and some pockets of the Centre Court crowd.

Carlos Alcaraz, through after beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, will need to offer more resistance than Sinner managed here, as well as doing a far better job of taking his chances when the two best players in the world meet in Sunday’s final. It’s a dream final, with all the ingredients for a classic. Djokovic, though, is playing better than ever. “36 is the new 26,” he smiled, once the tension had subsided.

And for a while, the tension had been high.

Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova will go head to head in the women’s singles final at Wimbledon this weekend, capping off an enthralling fortnight of tennis on their side of the draw.

Jabeur avenged her 2022 final defeat by overcoming Elena Rybakina in three sets in the semi-finals, having thrashed two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals. For the Tunisian, 28, the impending final also offers a chance to make up for a grand-slam final defeat at the US Open last year.

Meanwhile, Czech Vondrousova ended the fairytale run of Elina Svitolina, breezing past the Ukrainian in the semi-finals after beating fourth seed Jessica Pegula in the last eight. The 24-year-old was runner-up at the French Open in 2019, in her only previous major final, so she will share Jabeur’s aim of banishing ghosts on a stage of this size.

The narrative of revenge is a prickly one among the majority of sporting athletes. Most, when questioned on whether payback is at the forefront of their minds ahead of a rematch of some sort, downplay it, instead opting to shine the spotlight simply on their own performance. So, the saying goes, results will follow.

But not Ons Jabeur. Contrary to shying away from it, the Tunisian chasing redemption at Wimbledon after an agonising near-miss last year has instead embraced the concept of revenge and used it as her primary motivator this SW19 fortnight. As she was asked after her gutsy, crowd-inspired victory against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, what type of match are you expecting in the final against Marketa Vondrousova?

“I’m going for my revenge,” she stated, in no uncertain terms. “I didn’t win against her this year.”

Preview by Kieran Jackson

Novak Djokovic on facing Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final: “I think, judging by the performances that we have seen from all the players, I think this is probably the best finals that we could have. We are both in good form. We’re both playing well.

“I guess I want to take this title without a doubt. I look forward to it. It’s going to be a great challenge, greatest challenge that I could have at the moment from any angle really: physical, mental, emotional.

“He’s one of the quickest guys on the tour. He can do pretty much anything on the court. I consider myself also very complete player.

“We had a very good match until he started struggling physically in Paris. I think we really took the level of tennis very high. I think was great for the audience and great for us players to be part of that.

“Obviously completely different conditions here. Grass is massively different from clay. Yes, I do have more experience playing in many more Grand Slam or Wimbledon finals than him. Still he’s in great shape. He’s very motivated. He’s young. He’s hungry.

“I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast.”

Novak Djokovic on facing Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final: “This is probably the most anticipated finals I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people. Alcaraz, myself... It will be his first finals in Wimbledon.

“He’s so young, but he’s incredibly consistent now, also on grass. Which I don’t think many people expected him to play so well because his game is basically, yeah, built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts. But he’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day.

“I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue. I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt, and adjust my game depending on the challenges basically. That’s what he’s doing very early on in his career.

“Kudos to him. Amazing player. Great guy also off the court. He carries himself very, very well. He respects the history of the sport, respects everyone. No bad words about him at all.”

Djokovic is bidding to move level with Roger Federer by winning a men’s record eighth Wimbledon title, as well as a fifth in a row at the All England Club.

The 36-year-old Serbian will play in his ninth Wimbledon final while Alcaraz is through to his first.

Carlos Alcaraz is through to his first Wimbledon final where he will try and stop Novak Djokovic from winning a fifth consecutive title on Sunday.

Alcaraz, 20, brushed aside third seed Daniil Medvedev to set up a mouth-watering final against Djokovic, who will bid to join Roger Federer by winning a men’s record eighth singles crown.

Djokovic has not lost a match on Centre Court since 2013 and has won 34 matches in a row at the All England Club, in what will be an unmissable final between the two best players in the world.

When asked about the prospect of facing Djokovic in a Wimbledon final on Sunday, he said: “What can I say, everybody knows, the legend he is, it’s going to be really really difficult but I will fight.

“I will believe in myself, I will believe that I can beat him here, I saw that he is unbeatable since 2013 at this court so it’s going to be very difficult.

“I dream since I started playing tennis, but it’s very special playing against Novak, but it’s a final, there’s no time to be afraid, I will be tired but I will go for it and let’s see what happens.”

There were five breaks of serve in the third and final set, as Alcaraz was broken twice, but he held his nerve to fight back and win the game.

“Well it’s really really difficult to close the match, you have to be really focused,” he said.

“Daniil obviously didn’t want to lose, he fought until the last ball, he was an amazing fighter, runner, player.

“I had to show my best in that moment, in that tough moment I had to play aggressive, be myself all the time.

“I think that was the key to close that match.”