The women's quarter-finals ran Tuesday and Wednesday belongs to the men. Four ties, all under a covered London sky with rain forecast from noon, four routes to the semi-finals that will run Friday. Alcaraz on Centre first, Sinner second on No. 1, Djokovic in the closer โ and Zverev, who has quietly reached three straight Slam quarter-finals, trying to break the top four's stranglehold on the trophy in the fourth match.
Order of play
Alcaraz vs De Minaur: the tie Alcaraz cannot afford to walk into cold
Alcaraz has beaten De Minaur every time they have played, four out of four, but none of those meetings have been at a Slam and three of them were on hard courts. On grass De Minaur has the most complete return game of anyone still in the draw except Djokovic. He is not going to hit Alcaraz off the court. He is going to hold serve at 84 percent for four sets and dare Alcaraz to make an unforced error in the tiebreak. Alcaraz dropped a set to Nicolรกs Jarry in the R16 and looked mid-way through set two like he had underestimated the run of matches he had been given. Wednesday he will not do that twice. Straight sets, but a set with a tiebreak.
Sinner vs Draper: the loudest ninety minutes on No. 1 Court all year
Draper is the highest-seeded British man at Wimbledon in ten years and this is the first men's quarter-final the crowd will get all fortnight. Sinner is the world number one, on a 31-match winning streak since March, and looked like he was playing on a different surface than everyone else in the R16. Draper serves the biggest lefty ball on tour, catches Sinner on the second-serve backhand return in a way most players do not, and has beaten him twice on hard court in the last eighteen months. The bookmakers have Sinner a heavy favourite; the crowd will move that line down a set by the middle of the second. Sinner in four, but four long sets, and Draper leaving Wimbledon with the tournament of his career already in the bank.
Djokovic vs Rune: the last kick of a project year
Djokovic turned 39 in May and has been open about this probably being the last Wimbledon he plays with a legitimate claim on the title. He is 4-1 in this event since dropping the 2023 final, and he has beaten Rune three times out of three, including a five-setter here in 2023. Rune is the last plausible challenger to the Alcaraz-Sinner era outside the current top two, but he has never won an ATP 500 title on grass and he came into the fortnight off a first-round loss at Queen's. The Bublik win in the R16 was closer than the scoreline: 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, and Bublik had a break point at 5-5 in the fifth. Djokovic has still not dropped a set. The two are meeting in a men's Slam quarter-final for the third time and it is Rune's best chance yet. Djokovic in four is still the pick. If the match gets to a fifth, expect the roof, the referee, and every neutral in the crowd to lean slightly toward the Dane.
Zverev vs Musetti: the tie that decides the friendlier semi
The bottom quarter of the draw has neither Alcaraz, Sinner nor Djokovic. Whoever wins Zverev-Musetti gets whoever wins the Alcaraz-Djokovic winner in the semis, and if the top of the bracket runs to seed that is a Friday against either Alcaraz or Djokovic on Centre Court. Zverev has never made a Wimbledon semi-final. Musetti has never made a Slam semi outside Roland Garros. Zverev is a heavy favourite on paper. Musetti has the softest hands and best backhand slice still in the draw, and on a grass court where the ball is skidding low into the fifth day of the tie he is a genuine problem. Zverev in four if the sun stays out; Musetti in five if it does not.
Who plays whom in the semis
Semi-final draw runs from Wednesday's winners:
- SF1: Sinner-Draper winner vs Zverev-Musetti winner
- SF2: Alcaraz-De Minaur winner vs Djokovic-Rune winner
If seeds hold, that is Sinner vs Zverev in the top half and Alcaraz vs Djokovic in the bottom โ the fifth Slam meeting between Alcaraz and Djokovic in three years, and by some distance the tie of the fortnight. Both semi-finals go on Friday, women's final Saturday, men's final Sunday.
Weather and roof
Forecast for Wimbledon is dry through 12 p.m., then a 60% chance of showers from 1:30 p.m. through the evening. Centre Court and No. 1 Court have retractable roofs. If either match starts under cloud, expect the roof to be closed before the first ball. That marginally favours the flatter hitters โ Sinner, Zverev โ and slightly hurts Musetti and De Minaur, both of whom use spin and court positioning that plays better in wind.
How to watch
In the UK the BBC has all four matches on iPlayer and split across BBC One and BBC Two. In the United States ESPN has exclusive rights, with two-court coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 or the ESPN app for streams from outer courts. In Australia the Nine Network carries Wimbledon. Live scores and set-by-set updates on the Scorelisto tennis scoreboard, and the full Wimbledon 2026 coverage on the Scorelisto blog.
FAQ
Why are all four men's quarter-finals on the same day? Wimbledon reorganised the middle weekend in 2022 to add a middle Sunday of play. The result is that the Round of 16 is split across two days, the quarter-finals are now on a single day for each gender โ women Tuesday, men Wednesday โ and both semi-finals go on Friday. It gives finalists one clear rest day before the weekend.
Is the roof open or closed by default? Open unless play needs to be stopped. Once the roof closes, it takes about half an hour before play resumes; the humidity under the roof also changes the way the ball comes off the strings, which some players actively dislike.
Who is the favourite to win the tournament?Sinner. He is world number one, on a 31-match winning streak, and has not been broken in any of the four matches he has played so far this fortnight.
When are the finals? Women's final Saturday July 11. Men's final Sunday July 12. Both are at 2 p.m. local on Centre Court. Follow both live on the Scorelisto blog.