In full voice
The soft thwacking of tennis balls on strings; the full vocal range of grunting from bass to soprano; the popping of champagne corks; Centre Court going wild. Among all the other sounds of summer, one of the joys at the last couple of Wimbledons has been hearing Ons Jabeur's supporters sing.
Wimbledon's genuinely a happier place when Jabeur goes deep into the draw, as she has done again by reaching a second successive final. Everyone at the All England Club is fond of her, but naturally her most committed fans are the Tunisians.
Dressed mostly in red and white, a choral group gathered near Centre Court on Thursday evening, singing and chanting as Jabeur did her television interviews on the roof of the broadcast building. If she defeats the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday you can be sure that they will be in full voice again.
Actually, they'll be singing win or lose, as they tried to cheer her up in the aftermath of her defeat to Elena Rybakina in last summer's final.
Nothing provokes a stronger emotional reaction in a tennis player than a Wimbledon final. Last year's defeat made Tunisia's 'Minister of Happiness' weep - she and her husband cried when watching the episode of Break Point, the Netflix docu-series, that included highlights of that match against Rybakina.
Wimbledon can do that to you: you go on a laughter-filled, life-affirming adventure to the final and then suddenly, in an abrupt switch-up, lawn tennis becomes forlorn tennis. But you could also achieve your dream and experience the most joyful moment of your tennis life.
If Jabeur wins, she will be the first Arab and first African woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish. She would also make history in another way, as the sunniest, smiliest ever champion. You think Jabeur appears happy most of the time? Just imagine her face if she ends up winning this.
Oh brother
One Skupski brother is on the White Isle (Ibiza) and the other is in his Wimbledon whites, playing for history. Britain's Neal Skupski and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof will play Spain's Marcel Granollers and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos in the gentlemen's doubles final.
Skupski's older brother and coach, Ken, won't be at the All England Club to watch as he's on a family holiday, which he booked before checking the Wimbledon dates. But Ken will be passing on tactical advice over the phone to Neal; this would be a Wimbledon win masterminded from the party island.
Diede the Great
If you think Novak Djokovic is a dominant figure in men's tennis, you should spend some time watching Diede de Groot, who has won her last 110 matches in women's wheelchair singles and is attempting to land an 11th consecutive Grand Slam title.
In an all-Dutch final, she plays Jiske Griffioen.
Catching some stardust
"Blessed" to be able to train with Carlos Alcaraz at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Spain, Darwin Blanch is into the semi-finals of the boys' singles.
The 15-year-old American faces Yaroslav Demin.
Three is the magic number
Building on her success at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, Alina Korneeva is through to the semi-finals of the girls' singles, putting her just two wins away from becoming the first junior player to win the first three Grand Slams in a season.
She plays Czech Nikola Bartunkova.
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