Wimbledon day 10: Semi-final spots on the line

Wimbledon’s semi-final line-up will be completed on Wednesday.

After Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz set up a mouth-watering clash in the top half of the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic, Alex De Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti will look to join them in the last four.

And Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko are vying for the last two spots in the women’s semi-finals alongside Donna Vekic and Jasmine Paolini.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what is happening on day 10.

Match of the day

Elena Rybakina’s aspirations of a second Wimbledon title in three years will face a major test against two-time semi-finalist Elina Svitolina.

Rybakina has has won 18 of her 20 matches at the All England Club and is in a third successive Wimbledon quarter-final.

She faces Ukraine’s Svitolina, a semi-finalist in 2019 who, after giving birth to her first child, reached the last four again as a wild card last year.

The pair are 2-2 in career meetings, with Rybakina winning their French Open clash this year and their only previous match on grass at Eastbourne in 2021.

Svitolina refuses to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players due to the ongoing war in her homeland but, despite Rybakina being born and raised in Moscow before switching to represent Kazakhstan six years ago, the 21st seed will have no problems doing so on Wednesday.

“She changed her nationality, so it means she doesn’t want to represent her original country, so it works,” Svitolina said.

Djokovic against the crowd

Novak Djokovic was fired up by what he perceived as a disrespectful crowd in his fourth-round win after fans chanted ‘Ruuuune’ for his opponent Holger Rune.

Seven-time champion Djokovic thought the crowd were booing him and hit back by wishing fans who showed “disrespect” a “goooooood night”.

He added: “I don’t accept it. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo. I have played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”

Djokovic, who later walked away during an interview with the BBC due to further questions about the crowd, may struggle to have Centre Court on his side against Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur – a player referred to as Wimbledon’s honorary Briton due to his relationship with British number one Katie Boulter.

De Minaur said: “I’ll take all the support I can get. I can be the honorary Brit here at Wimbledon. I do feel very loved out there, I must say. I always love coming here to Wimbledon and playing here.”

Playing catch-up

The roofs on Centre Court and Court One have ensured both senior singles draws are on schedule but persistent rain means the other events are playing catch-up.

The mixed doubles final had already been pushed back from Thursday to Sunday before barely any play took place on the outside courts on Tuesday, leaving the doubles and juniors behind schedule while the wheelchair competitions have yet to start.

Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said on Monday: “We’re confident we can still (get through the Championships) despite the continuing variability of the weather. We’ve got a range of contingencies. Going indoors is one of those options but that really would be a bit of a last resort.”

They are not at that stage yet, but Wednesday’s play on the outside courts will start 30 minutes earlier at 10.30am.

Order of play

Centre Court from 1.30pm:
Elena Rybakina (4) v Elina Svitolina (21)
Novak Djokovic (2) v Alex De Minaur (9)

Court One from 1pm:
Jelena Ostapenko (13) v Barbora Krejcikova (31)
Taylor Fritz (13) v Lorenzo Musetti (25)

Weather

Cloudy changing to sunny intervals in the afternoon with highs of 22, according to the Met Office.