Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur believes the lessons she learned in two Grand Slam final defeats will stand her in good stead for Saturday’s Wimbledon showdown with unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.

Jabeur showed incredible endurance on Thursday to absorb the brutal power of second seed Aryna Sabalenka to claim a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 victory after trailing by a set and 4-2.

She is now back in a position she found herself in at last year’s Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, requiring one win to become the first African woman as well as first Arab to win a major.

“Last year was my first final of a Grand Slam. Definitely getting closer to winning the Grand Slam that I always wished,” north African trailblazer Jabeur, who had a photo of Wimbledon’s Venus Rosewater Dish on her phone last year but never got her hands on the real thing, told reporters

“I would say I always believed. But sometimes you would question and doubt if it’s going to happen, if it’s ever going to happen. I’m going to learn a lot from not only Wimbledon’s final but also the U.S. Open final and give it my best.

“Maybe this year was all about trying two times and getting it right the third time.”

During an intense two weeks, the tennis court became Elina Svitolina’s sanctuary. Her simple stand of refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarussian players took on heightened scrutiny at Wimbledon, a place where etiquette is sacred, and the spotlight brought with it relentless questions and an insatiable lust for her emotions.

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Ken Skupski has opted to go on his family holiday in Ibiza instead of watching his brother Neal in the Wimbledon men’s doubles final.

Ken, who retired last year, is now coaching his younger sibling and had a conundrum after booking a family getaway to Ibiza that clashed with the finals weekend in SW19.

Neal revealed on Thursday that Ken was contemplating staying at the tournament for as long as he and partner Wesley Koolhof were in it but headed home after their 7-5 6-4 semi-final win over Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

He will now provide tactical analysis on their final opponents Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos from the Balearic Islands.

“He has just left,” Neal said of his brother. “His flight is 5am in the morning so he is driving back now and has a 2.30am taxi to the airport so he won’t be here.

“I’m perfectly fine with it, I knew the situation well in advance. He will be on the phone and doing all the homework tomorrow. We are a very good team together so I don’t think it will affect us.

“He has been waiting for this holiday for a couple of years now, Covid pushed it back a little bit, they changed the date twice.

“He doesn’t get to go on holiday often with his family because he is always away with me so I am not going to begrudge him a holiday with his kids. It is just one of those things.”

Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have reached the final of the men’s wheelchair doubles at Wimbledon again.

The four-time winners are looking to regain their title after finishing runners up last year.

They beat Martin De La Puente from Spain and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez 7-5 6-3 on Court One.

Hewett and Reid are also in the semi-finals of the singles tournament, so there could be an all-British final at the weekend.

But there were defeats for Britons Lucy Shuker, Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade in their respective doubles semi-finals.

Ons Jabeur is through to a second consecutive Wimbledon final after coming from a set down to beat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

The Tunisian sixth seed, last year’s runner-up, won 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3 to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, and likely to the relief of the All England Club and Buckingham Palace.

Sabalenka, banned from Wimbledon last year over the role of Belarus in the war in Ukraine, was a point from going a set and 5-3 up.

Novak Djokovic hopes to show Wimbledon’s poster boy for the future Jannik Sinner that he is not ready to give up his Centre Court crown just yet.

The 36-year-old is gunning for a fifth straight title in SW19, which would move him level with record-holder Roger Federer on eight, but must first get past Sinner in Friday’s semi-final.

The Italian, 21, featured prominently in an official pre-tournament poster alongside Carlos Alcaraz as the future of the Championships. His presence on illustrator Grant Gruenhaupt’s artwork raised eyebrows but he is living up to the hype after reaching his first grand slam semi-final.

Elina Svitolina became tearful as she reflected on the end of her hopes of winning the Wimbledon title for Ukraine.

Svitolina’s efforts amid war in her homeland and only nine months after giving birth to daughter Skai have been one of the stories of the tournament.

But her hopes of reaching a first grand slam final were ended in emphatic fashion by 24-year-old Czech Marketa Vondrousova, whose 6-3 6-3 victory makes her the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since 1963.

Neal Skupski is one win away from a Wimbledon hat-trick after reaching the men’s doubles final with partner Wesley Koolhof.

The Liverpudlian won the mixed doubles in 2021 and 2022 and will have a shot at his first men’s title after a 7-5 6-4 win over Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden on Court One.

One break of serve in each set was enough for Skupski and Koolhof, who are top seeds, to get the job done as they made it into their second grand slam final together, booking a Centre Court appearance on Saturday.

Ons Jabeur on reaching the Women’s Singles final: “I’m learning to transform the bad energy into good.

“She can ace anytime, she can hit a big serve if I’m at break point and that’s frustrating a bit, but it can happen. I was watching [the other semi-final]. Marketa [Vondrousova] is a great player.

“I’ve already lost twice to her this year. I guess going for my revenge again is working. Hopefully the crowd will be here.”

Ons Jabeur speaking on Centre Court after her semi-final win: “Thank you to the crowd that kept me in the match.

“It was very difficult with her shots and her serves. Thank you very much for believing in me. I’m working a lot with my mental coach about this. I might be writing a book about it!

“I’m very proud of myself because maybe the old me would have lost this match today and I would’ve been back home already. I’m finding the strength.”