The Wimbledon semi-finals begin on Thursday with former champion Elena Rybakina looking a strong favourite to win the women’s singles title.

Rybakina, the champion two years ago, takes on former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova on women’s semi-finals day on Centre Court, while Jasmine Paolini meets Donna Vekic in a meeting of two first-time Wimbledon semi-finalists.

Rybakina was in impressive form as she dismissed Elina Sviolina on Wednesday while Krejcikova also had a good win against the in-form Jelena Ostapenko. Krejcikova leads the head-to-head 2-0 against Rybakina but this will be their first clash on grass.

The other semi-final will produce an unexpected finalist as Paolini takes on Vekic. Paolini, who reached the French Open final last month, is the first Italian to play in the Wimbledon semi-finals while Vekic is through to her first grand slam final after 43 attempts.

The winners of the two semi-finals will contend for the Venus Rosewater Dish in Saturday’s final, starting at 2pm.

The world No 1 was clearly under the weather from the start and, with the match at one set apiece, left the court at the start of the third set for more than 10 minutes.

A doctor checked his pulse and blood pressure and thought the Italian returned and continued to battle – forcing a deciding fifth set – Medvedev prevailed after four hours of action.

The Australian No 1, enjoying the best season of his career, sustained an injury on match point against Arthur Fils in his fourth-round match on Monday.

De Minaur’s persona immediately changed and despite playing down the hip injury in his press conference afterwards, his withdrawal was confirmed on Wednesday lunchtime.

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic therefore receives a walkover to Friday’s semi-finals, where he will play either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti.

The Elena Rybakina experience rarely lasts long. Which is not to say you don’t get value for money when watching the Kazakh star – quite the opposite. She’s a whirling dervish of entertainment.

It’s just that, especially on grass, she has no interest in engaging in long rallies, preferring a “no guts, no glory”, “blink-and-you’ll-miss-her” approach to most points which means the winner and unforced error counts both ratchet up pretty quickly. When she’s more hit than miss – as she was en route to the Wimbledon title in 2022 and appears to be again this year – it’s tough to work out how to stop her.

Elina Svitolina tried in this quarter-final, she really did, but her opponent’s point-ending flashes of racquet were generally finding the lines rather than the grass beyond. Combined with a ferocious serve that pumped down six aces to reach a tournament-high total of 31 and saw her win 84 per cent of points on first serve, the result was a ruthless 6-3, 6-2 win in just 61 minutes.

Prior to his first Grand Slam quarter-final against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday at Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti was asked about the important topics at hand: his tattoos. The 22-year-old has three. The first is a heart with a tennis racket in the middle, the second is a ship’s anchor with “family” written on it and the third is a phrase shared with his coach: “Il meglio deve ancora venire.”

It translates: the best is yet to come.

Well, Musetti has saved the best tennis of his fledgling career for the grass of the All England Club and, to be specific, in the fifth set of a three-and-a-half hour marathon against American favourite Fritz. After four sets of back and forth, momentum swings aplenty, Musetti wiped out Fritz 6-1 in the final set with a stunning array of old-school, grass-court tennis.

Musetti on playing Djokovic in the semi-finals:

“He probably knows the surface and the stadium better than me, for sure… I mean, jokes [aside], he’s a legend – everywhere, but especially here at Wimbledon.

“In the last years, [he’s done] something really unthinkable for anyone [here], and I’ve had the chance to play against him many times, so we know each other really well.

“They’ve always been huge fights, so I expect a big, big fight. I think it’s gonna be one of the toughest challenges on tour, but I’m an ambitious guy and I like to be challenged.”

Djokovic leads his head-to-head with Musetti 5-1. The pair have gone to five sets twice (at the French Open in 2021 and this year); Djokovic won both of those meetings.

Musetti, the 22-year-old Italian, speaking on court:

“I mean, I probably have no words. It’s tough to speak, but I’ll try my best. I think I [haven’t] realised yet what I’ve done.

“First of all, I want to say thanks to all the people, all the Italian crowd who’s here to support us.

“I think this victory… We were talking with my team, joking about trying to play on the big stage here at Wimbledon, because I never [got to] No 1 Court or Centre Court. So, to have the opportunity to walk on court in this really amazing stadium, it was really an honour for me.

“And I think I really played a fantastic match, because Taylor was really in great shape.

“Really, really happy to be in my first semi-final here, and I just want to say thanks to my team and all my fans who came from my hometown to support me.

“Probably I played my best tennis [in the final set], I kept the best for the end. Probably it was not the best start [before that], because Taylor was really leading the game, especially with the serve.”

Ace down the T. A lot of pace on that. 15-0.

30-0, as Fritz can’t beat the tape.

Musetti hits wide now, for 30-15.

Musetti beats Fritz with a drop shot, and the American falls in nasty fashion as he tries to get to the ball! That looks bad. He’s clutching his knee. But he’ll rise to his feet.

40-15 to Musetti. Two match points.

And Fritz chips a forehand return long! Game, set and match to Musetti!

For Fritz, it’s a long way back from here.

He starts well in this service game, slinging an inside-out forehand into the corner. Winner, 15-0.

30-0 now, as Musetti can’t get much on the American’s next serve.

Double-fault, however, and it’s 30-15.

30-30. Musetti with another beautiful lob on the volley, and Fritz’s ensuing backhand is weak.

40-30, however, as Fritz finds another big serve.

He holds! Musetti strikes into the net. No bagel in this final set.

15-15 on Musetti’s serve. He takes the first point then slices a backhand wide.

The Italian moves back ahead at 30-15, then earns two game points with a big serve down the T. 40-15.

And he seals the hold with a backhand into the corner, wrongfooting Fritz – not for the first time today!