Alcaraz continues hat-trick quest, Djokovic defying time in Friday blockbusters

LONDON :The Wimbledon men's singles semi-finals take place at the All England Club on Friday.

If ever a Grand Slam semi-final involving Spain's Carlos Alcaraz could be described as a warm-up act that could be a fair description of his clash with American Taylor Fritz in the opening match on Centre Court.

Second seed Alcaraz, bidding for a third successive Wimbledon title and a sixth Grand Slam title in total, has got better and better throughout the fortnight and will be a overwhelming favourite to end the run of the big-serving fifth seed Fritz.

Following their duel, a mouth-watering battle of the generations between seven-time champion Novak Djokovic and world number one Jannik Sinner will take the prime time slot as both players continue their history-making quests.

ALCARAZ CLOSING IN ON HAT-TRICK CLUB

When the 22-year-old Alcaraz needed five sets to get past veteran Italian Fabio Fognini in the first round it appeared that the physical and mental toil of defending his French Open crown had perhaps left him vulnerable.

Since then, however, Alcaraz has begun to look unstoppable in his quest to become only the fifth man in the professional era to win three successive Wimbledon crowns, joining Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The way he fought off inspired Russian Andrey Rublev in the last 16 and then dismantled Britain's Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals suggests Alcaraz is peaking at the right time.

He won both his previous matches against Fritz but this is the first time they have met at a Grand Slam and while Alcaraz will be heavy favourite, he will be wary of the 27-year-old American who is bidding to reach his second Grand Slam final in less than a year.

While Alcaraz has an array of tools for