Four men, four roads to the Wimbledon semi-finals

Four. That is how many men are left at Wimbledon, and no two of them arrived the same way. A favourite carrying the weight of the tag, a 39-year-old chasing one more, a wildcard chasing a fairytale, and a first-time major champion arriving as one. One draw, four separate stories.

Start with the man everyone expected. Jannik Sinner is the favourite here, and he knows what that word can cost him: a month ago at Roland Garros he led Juan Manuel Cerundolo two sets to love in the second round, then lost the last three 7-5 6-1 6-1 and the tournament with them. Wimbledon asked the question early, in a first round that stretched him further than any other match this fortnight. He answered it, and from there the road smoothed out: he has reached the last four with little further trouble, the favourite carrying the role this time rather than being crushed by it.

39 years old, and still here. Novak Djokovic has now won more matches at Wimbledon than any man, 106 of them, one clear of Roger Federer, the record for match wins he took off Federer earlier in this run. The titles are still Federer’s, eight of them to Djokovic’s seven, but the quarter-final showed the legs are willing: the longest quarter-final in Wimbledon history, a marathon he came through against Felix Auger-Aliassime. At an age when the body is supposed to have the final word, he has knocked once more on the door, and one more Wimbledon is not a sentimental question for him; it is a live one.

Then the part that does not read like a normal tennis tale, because it is not one. Call it the Ferytale. Arthur Fery, a British wildcard ranked No. 114, has gone from the courtesy of a main-draw invitation to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, on two fine wins: past Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round, and the No. 9 seed Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals. Only one wildcard had ever reached a Wimbledon semi-final before him, Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, and Ivanisevic went on to win the title. But Ivanisevic did it with a whole career, and three Wimbledon finals, already behind him. Fery is doing it with his still in front of him.

For the fourth man, the change is in the title he carries. This is the first Grand Slam Alexander Zverev has played as a Grand Slam champion, the ceiling he broke at Roland Garros now a fact behind his name. He reached the last four by beating Taylor Fritz, a win that ended a run of eight straight defeats to him. Fritz was not at full fitness, and Zverev will know it. But a champion takes the win the draw hands him, and this one leaves him two matches from a second major in a single summer.

From here it narrows to two matches for two places in the final, both on Friday. Jannik Sinner, the top seed, plays Novak Djokovic in one semi-final, the rivalry that has defined the top of the men’s game; Arthur Fery plays Alexander Zverev in the other, the wildcard against the newest major champion. Four roads, one more junction.

Wimbledon notebook, 8 July 2026, sources: The Championships, Wimbledon; api-tennis