Djokovic defying the odds

Want to know what the Centre Court grass tastes of? Sweat, mostly. Though, at the same time, according to Novak Djokovic, it’s also wonderfully, surprisingly sweet, with a flavour unlike anything else you might have eaten before. 

Djokovic knows because he has feasted on more of this court than anyone else in tennis as that’s how he chooses to mark winning his Wimbledon titles: just like his diet, his celebrations are plant-based. If he ends up munching on the playing surface again on Sunday, that post-final snack will taste better than ever before (and if he wins he could also play his racquet ‘violin’ again, which he has been doing for the amusement of his daughter Tara, who is learning the instrument). 

If Djokovic can defeat Carlos Alcaraz – which would flip the result of last summer’s final - he would win Wimbledon for a record-equalling eighth occasion and, at 37, become the oldest gentlemen’s singles champion in the Open era. 

Victory would also take Djokovic, playing in his 10th Wimbledon final, to 25 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other man or woman, breaking his tie with Margaret Court, who won some of hers in the amateur era. 

Winning a 25th major would be remarkable enough. But to do so a little more than a month after having a knee operation would be even more extraordinary. Djokovic, already the greatest player of all time, could be about to produce his greatest, most outrageous triumph yet. 

A doubles delight

A last-minute pairing at this year’s Australian Open, Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh and Poland’s Jan Zielinski ended up winning the title at Melbourne Park.

They’re into another Grand Slam final, this time on the Wimbledon grass, where they play the all-Mexican pair of Santiago Gonzalez and Giuliana Olmos for the title. 

Home favourite Hewett

Is this going to be the occasion when Britain’s Alfie Hewett, after his previous near misses, wins his first Wimbledon title?

After losing in the final of the gentlemen’s Wheelchair singles for the last two years, he is back to play for the title once again and faces Spain’s Martin de la Puente.

Big day for Norwegian tennis

Casper Ruud has played in three Grand Slam gentlemen's singles finals – two at Roland-Garros and one at the US Open – but was beaten on all those occasions.

In Sunday’s boys’ singles final, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer could become the first Norwegian – in professional tennis or in the juniors – to land a Grand Slam singles title. He plays Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands. 

Aussie ambitions

For the first time since Ashleigh Barty in 2011, there’s an Australian in the girls’ singles final on the Wimbledon grass.

Emerson Jones plays Slovakian Renata Jamrichova for the title, hoping to emulate Barty, who also won the ladies’ singles title in 2021.