Cancel all appointments; turn off your phone. Do not answer the door and tell the office that you have been taken suddenly and seriously ill but that you should be fine come Tuesday morning.

You need to clear your diary completely.

On Monday Matteo Berrettini, the gentle giant from Rome (he stands 6ft 5ins), will take on Carlos Alcaraz, the world No.1, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Berrettini booked his ticket to the Monday blockbuster with a 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win over Alexander Zverev under the roof on No.1 Court on Saturday night.

He was magnificent in every department; Zverev could do nothing to stop him. It was an unbelievable display of power and precision.

“It feels unbelievable,” Berrettini said. “It’s something I didn’t believe could happen; I didn’t play too many matches this year. There must be something special about this place. I love to play here.

"Last year I missed it unfortunately and I still didn’t heal from that withdrawal. This tournament changed my career, my life so this tournament is so special to be here I’m really happy.

“I spent many days crying in my bed about not being able to play so playing five days in a row is nothing. It’s sad but it’s true. I missed playing, competing. People that are close to me, they know about it. It’s so special that I’m finding extra energy every day. I’m just glad that I’m here.”

Berrettini has not had much luck since he reached the final here two years ago. Last year he needed surgery to repair a hand injury (that cost him two and a half months) and then tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve of The Championships.

This year it was touch and go whether he would be fit to play as he has been struggling with an oblique injury (that is a side strain to you and me) since the beginning of the clay court swing. This was only the 17th match he had been able to play all year.

But back in SW19 and back on the green stuff, Berrettini appears to be a new man. He dropped the first set to Lorenzo Sonego before coming through in four in his opening match and then took everyone by surprise by sprinting past Alex De Minaur, the No.15 seed, in straight sets in the second round. He is obviously feeling a lot better now.

Certainly, the way he set off against Zverev showed no sign of injury or rustiness. There was that big serve and, oh look, the old forehand is as terrifying as ever. Matteo had not changed much in the two years since we last saw him. His firepower coupled with a string of errors from Zverev brought the Italian a break of serve to go 5-3 up in the first set. Moments later the set was his.

They were following the same script in the second set until 4-4 and 30-30 when the heavens opened and the players headed for cover. They were not seen again for another 36 minutes as the roof was closed.

During the delay the crowd amused themselves by cheering Denise Parnell, the Assistant Referee (she will take over as Tournament Referee from Gerry Armstrong after this year’s Championships).

As she prowled around the court making sure the playing surface was dry, the crowd gave her a huge cheer every time she wiped her hand on the grass.

When she stopped feeling the grass, the crowd resorted to a Mexican wave but they kept their eyes on Parnell. The merest hint of a surreptitious touch of the turf and they were cheering again. What larks.

What was far more serious was the reaction of Zverev and Berrettini when they set foot on the court. Neither man seemed convinced that the surface was dry enough for play. For Zverev in particular, it must have been a concern.

He is only now able to play pain free after slipping and tearing two tendons in his ankle at Roland-Garros last summer. But after a long discussion with Parnell, he and Berrettini started their warm up at 8.07pm.

When they did get back to business, 46 minutes after the previous point, Zverev did not hang about – a service winner and an ace put him 5-4 up and put the pressure back on Berrettini. It wasn’t enough to stop the inevitable, though – Berrettini held firm, headed for the tiebreak and, once there, played a blinder. He had a two-set lead.

And so it went on – two big men with two big serves and two big forehands trying to knock lumps out of each other. There were only six break points in the whole match and Berrettini won one of his five; Zverev could not convert his solitary one. And that one came in the opening game of the match. Meanwhile, Berrettini’s confidence was growing with every game.

Only in the final tiebreak did the nerve endings start to fray but, even then, Berrettini was the mentally stronger of the two men and so it is he who will face Alcaraz on Monday. Whatever you do, don’t miss a moment of it.

New this year:

See the draw like never before, with interactive Path to the Final view of the draw by clicking a player's name on the draws page

See the projected Path to the Final of every player in the Gentlemen’s and Ladies' singles draws with IBM Likely to Play

View how favourable or difficult a player's draw is, with IBM AI Draw