Ons Jabeur’s steady progress from year to year — up the tennis rankings, through the draws of various tournaments and, now, at Wimbledon — has carried her to a Grand Slam singles final, the first Africana or Arab woman to make it that far in the professional era. The No. 3-seeded Jabeur, a 27-year-old from Tunisia, got past her good friend Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in an up-and-down semifinal at a sun-splashed Centre Court on Thursday. On Saturday, Jabeur will face another player making her major final debut, No. 17 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, for the championship. Rybakina overwhelmed 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 in the second semifinal. Read: Djokovic 2 sets down, rallies for 26th straight at Wimbledon After a surprising first-round loss at the French Open in May, Jabeur is on quite a run right now: She has won 11 consecutive matches, all on grass courts, and 22 of her past 24. Since pro players were first admitted to major tennis tournaments in 1968, never had an African or Arab woman been to a final. “I’m a proud Tunisian woman standing here today. I know in Tunisia, they’re going crazy right now. I just try to inspire, really, as much as I can,” she said. “I want to see more and more — not just Tunisian — Arab, African players on tour. I just love the game and I want to share this experience with them.”

It says a lot about Novak Djokovic that a two-sets-to-none hole at Wimbledon on a day he was hardly at his best never seemed insurmountable. A lot about his history of overcoming that sort of deficit. A lot about his ability to adjust, adapt and to right himself quickly. A lot about his preeminence at the All England Club in recent years. A lot about what might happen if — or, rather, when — he got back into the match and it eventually went to a fifth set. Djokovic spotted 10th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy the huge lead Tuesday, then worked his way back to win 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at Centre Court, earning an 11th semifinal berth at Wimbledon with his 26th consecutive victory at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. “I always believed,” Djokovic said, “that I could turn the match around.” Among men, only Roger Federer has made more semifinal appearances at Wimbledon with 13 and more championships (eight) than the seven Djokovic could reach by lifting the trophy Sunday for what would be a fourth year in a row. Djokovic managed his seventh career comeback in a match in which he trailed by two sets — he last did it in the 2021 French Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas — and improved to 37-10 in five-setters. That includes a 10-1 mark in matches that go the distance at Wimbledon, including nine straight victories; the lone loss came in 2006. Also Read: Wimbledon wild-card entry steals set, not win, from Djokovic In the semifinals Friday, the top-seeded 35-year-old Serbian will meet either No. 9 Cameron Norrie of Britain or unseeded David Goffin of Belgium. The men’s quarterfinals Wednesday: No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain vs. No. 11 Taylor Fritz of the U.S., and Nick Kyrgios of Australia vs. Cristian Garin of Cile. The first player into the women’s semifinals was 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria, who defeated Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in an all-German matchup. Maria is 34, making her only the sixth woman at least that old to get this far at Wimbledon in the professional era, which began in 1968. The others? It’s quite a list: Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. This is Maria’s 35th Grand Slam tournament; only once had she made it as far as the third round. She’ll take on No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia or Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final. The other women’s quarterfinals: 2019 champion Simona Halep of Romania vs. No. 20 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S., and No. 17 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan vs. Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. Of the women’s quarterfinalists, only Halep owns a major title (she has two). That sort of edge in experience certainly aided Djokovic, who is seeking his 21st Grand Slam trophy. Tuesday’s match brought Sinner’s major quarterfinal appearance total to three, which is exactly — checks notes — 50 fewer than Djokovic’s. Djokovic is 14-plus years older than Sinner, 20, which made for the third-largest age gap in a Wimbledon men’s quarterfinal. Sinner has shown enormous potential, reaching the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open before losing to Nadal and the 2022 Australian Open before losing to Tsitsipas.

Even knowing what an unusual Wimbledon this has been, what with so many unexpected results and new faces popping up, and so few top seeds — and major champions — remaining, surely Novak Djokovic would not lose to a wild-card entry making his Grand Slam debut, would he? If it did not quite seem plausible, it did at least become vaguely possible a tad past 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night under the closed roof at Centre Court, when 25-year-old Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven — ranking: 104th; lifetime tour-level victories: eight, all in the past month — had the temerity to smack a 133 mph ace past Djokovic and tie their fourth-round match at a set apiece. All of nine minutes later, the time it took Djokovic to grab 12 of the next 15 points, and the next three games, both plausibility and possibility took a hike. Soon enough, the third set was his, and not much later, so was the fourth, and the match, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 result that gave the tournament's No. 1 seed a 25th consecutive grass-court victory at the All England Club and a place in his 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal. Read: Djokovic playing his ‘best’ tennis ahead of French Open “Novak did his Novak thing,” van Rijthoven said, “and played very, very well. He had all the answers.” Beforehand, van Rijthoven had said: “I’ll go into that match thinking I can win.” Might have still had that sense Sunday evening. If only briefly. Eventually, the only true question was whether Djokovic would wrap this one up in time, because there is an 11 p.m. curfew. Running up against that would have required them to resume Monday. “Whew. I am lucky,” Djokovic said after closing the deal with 20 minutes to spare. “It's never really pleasant if you can't finish the match in the same day. Glad I did.” They did not begin playing until 8 p.m., in part due to a delay of roughly an hour at the start of this special afternoon — the first time in history the tournament's middle Sunday held scheduled play — while a ceremony was held to honor the 100 years of Centre Court. Djokovic, who questioned after his victory why matches generally begin so late in the main stadium, was among the many past champions who took part, joking to the crowd when it was his turn to speak, “Gosh, I feel more nervous than when I’m playing.” If he was, indeed, jittery at all at a set apiece many hours later against van Rijthoven, it certainly did not show. Didn't matter that van Rijthoven kept cranking out huge serves, to the tune of 20 aces, including a pair on second serves. Didn't matter just how big the cuts were that van Rijthoven took with his forehands. Didn't matter that the spectators, who love an underdog, were getting louder and louder as the second set came to a close. Didn't matter that Djokovic stumbled behind what he called a "slippery" baseline twice, landing first on his backside, later on his left knee and stomach. “He was on a streak on this surface, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. With that serve and a lot of talent, great touch, powerful forehand, he can do a lot of damage,” Djokovic said. “It took me a little bit of time to get used to his pace.” Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia, calibrated his best-in-the-game returns, got his groundstrokes in fine form — finishing with just 19 unforced errors, compared to 29 winners — and was in complete control, a step closer to all manner of important numbers. His pursuit of a fourth consecutive, and seventh overall, title at Wimbledon, not to mention a 21st major championship, will continue Tuesday against No. 10 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy. Sinner reached his first quarterfinal at the All England Club by eliminating No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 earlier. Read:Djokovic heads for Belgrade after deportation from Australia The other quarterfinal on their half of the bracket will be No. 9 Cam Norrie of Britain against unseeded David Goffin of Belgium. They each advanced by beating Americans: Norrie beat No. 30 Tommy Paul 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to get to his first major quarterfinal, and Goffin edged No. 23 Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (3), 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 over more than 4 1/2 hours. The rest of the fourth round is Monday, and the only men left in the field who ever have participated in a Grand Slam final are Djokovic and 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal. They are also the only men still around ranked in the top 10. It's a similarly unfamiliar collection of players chasing the women's championship, with just one who has appeared in a Grand Slam final (two-time major title winner Simona Halep, who plays Monday) and just two who were among the top 15 seeds at Wimbledon (No. 3 Ons Jabeur and No. 4 Paula Badosa, who plays Monday). Jabeur made it to the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the second year in a row with a 7-6 (9), 6-4 victory against No. 24 Elise Mertens of Belgium. The other women moving on Sunday are unseeded and in unfamiliar territory, never having been in any major quarterfinal. Jabeur next plays Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, while Tatjana Maria, 34, and Jule Niemeier, 22, will meet in an all-German quarterfinal. Bouzkova topped Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-2, Maria defeated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 after erasing two match points, and Niemeier beat Heather Watson 6-2, 6-4. “There’s no reason ... not to keep this going," said Bouzkova, who pulled out of the French Open in May after testing positive for COVID-19 before her second-round match. "Kind of believing in myself right now.” There's been a lot of that going around at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic put an end to such thoughts for van Rijthoven.

The qualifying round for the 2022 Wimbledon Championships will begin on June 20 (Monday) and run until June 23. The main event of the championships will begin on June 27 and will finish on July 10 (Sunday) with a Men's Singles final match. The Wimbledon 2022 Championships will include five major events. However, the men's and women's singles events will be the main attraction of the championship. The notable aspects of this year's Wimbledon are discussed in this article. Wimbledon Championships: Tournament Format and Notable Past Winners Wimbledon is the oldest and most renowned tennis event in the world, and it takes place in London, England. It is also one of the four Grand Slam tennis championships held each year. The inaugural edition of the Championship was held in 1877, and this year's edition will be the 135th. Wimbledon is the only major tennis tournament that continues to be played on a conventional surface. Format  A large number of players take part in the qualifiers to get an entry into the first round of the main event. All the rounds of the main event are knockout, which includes the first round, second round, third round, fourth round, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final. Matches in men’s singles and doubles are best-of-five sets. Read: Stadium 974: FIFA’s Qatar World Cup 2022 brings world’s first transportable stadium All other events are best-of-three sets, with the exception of these two. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6-all, except the fifth (five-set match) or the three (three-set match). In this case, a two-game lead wins the contest. Since 2019, a final set tie-break game is played if the score reaches 12-all.  Past Winners Winning the championship is a dream for a professional tennis player. Over the last 100 years, many greats have won the tournament multiple times. Roger Federer of Switzerland has won the Wimbledon Men's Singles event a record eight times, while Martina Navratilova of the United States has won the Women's Singles event a record ninth time. Australia’s Todd Woodbridge won the most double titles with 9 and the UK’s Laurence Doherty won the most with 13 titles (singles and doubles) in gentlemen's events. The USA's Elizabeth Ryan won most of the 12 double titles, while Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King of the USA won most of the 20 titles each (singles and doubles) in the ladies' events. Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Ashleigh Barty of Australia are the reigning men's and women's Wimbledon champions, respectively. Read: WI vs BAN 1st Test 2022: Shakib-Nurul's record partnership help Bangladesh avoid innings defeat Players with at least five Wimbledon Men’s Singles titles Player Total Championship Years Roger Federer 8 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017 William Renshaw 7 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889 Pete Sampras 7 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Novak Djokovic 6 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 Laurence Doherty 5 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 Bjorn Borg 5 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Championships,_Wimbledon#Champions Players with at least five Wimbledon Women’s Singles titles Player Total Championship Years Martina Navratilova 9 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 Helen Wills Moody 8 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938 Dorothea Lambert Chambers 7 1903, 1904, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914 Steffi Graf 7 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 Serena Williams 7 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 Blanche Bingley 6 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900 Suzanne Lenglen 6 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925 Billie Jean King 6 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975 Charlotte Cooper Sterry 5 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908 Lottie Dod 5 1887, 1888, 1891, 1892, 1893 Venus Williams 5 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Championships,_Wimbledon#Champions 2022 Wimbledon Championships: Men's Singles Participants and Schedule There are 104 direct entrants (including 32 seeded players), 16 qualifiers, and eight wildcards in the Men's Singles tournament. World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev (due to the ITA's ban on Russian players), and Alexander Zverev (injury) are among the top-ranked players who will not compete in the 2022 Championship. The most popular and successful Men's Singles player in Wimbledon history, Roger Federer will also be absent this year. The 32 seeded players are: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Matteo Berrettini, Cameron Norrie, Hubert Hurkacz, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Denis Shapovalov, Diego Schwartzman, Marin Cilic, Reilly Opelka, Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils, Nikoloz Basilashvili, John Isner, Frances Tiafoe, Holger Rune, Botic van de Zandschulp, Miomir Kecmanovic, Daniel Evans, Lorenzo Sonego, Jenson Brooksby, Sebastian Baez, Tommy Paul, Alexander Bublik. Men’s Singles Schedule (Wimbledon 2022) First Round: (June 27-28) Second Round: June 29-30) Third Round: (July 1-2) Fourth Round: (July 3-4) Quarter-Finals: (July 5-6) Semi-Finals: (July 8) Final: (July 10). Read 36th National Snooker: Al Amin emerges champion beating Asif Imran Wimbledon Championships 2022: Women's Singles Participants and Schedule There are 104 direct entrants (including 32 seeded players), 16 qualifiers, and eight wildcards in the Women's Singles competition. Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina, Victoria Azarenka, Veronika Kudermetova, and Ekaterina Alexandrova are among the seeded players who will not compete in the event since players from Russia and Belarus are not allowed to compete. In addition, Canada's Leylah Fernandez has been ruled out due to injury. She would have been a seeded player in the tournament. The 32 seeded players are: Iga Swiatek, Anett Kontaveit, Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, Karolina Pliskova, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, Garbine Muguruza, Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff, Barbora Krejcikova, Jelena Ostapenko, Belinda Bencic, Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Elena Rybakina, Jil Teichmann, Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova, Camila Giorgi, Martina Trevisan, Elise Mertens, Petra Kvitova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Yulia Putintseva, Alize Cornet, Alison Riske, Sorana Cirstea, Anhelina Kalinina, Shelby Rogers, Kaia Kanepi Women’s Singles Schedule (Wimbledon 2022) First Round: (June 27-28) Second Round: June 29-30) Third Round: (July 1-2) Fourth Round: (July 3-4) Quarter-Finals: (July 5-6) Semi-Finals: (July 7) Final: (July 9). Read DRU ludo competition: Samina champion, Lisa runner-up Other Events at Wimbledon 2022 The 2022 Wimbledon Championships will include three more main events in addition to the Men's and Women's Singles. Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles are the three events. Sixteen pairs will be seeded for each of these three tournaments. These competitions follow the same format as the singles events. However, there is no fourth round in these three events, hence the winners of the third round will advance to the quarter-finals. 2022 Wimbledon Championships: Prize Money This year's Wimbledon Championship has a record prize money of 40,350,000 pounds. The winner of both the men's and women's singles competitions will take home the top prize of 2 million pounds, with the runners-up taking home more than 1 million pounds. The winner of the men's and women's doubles tournaments, on the other hand, will get more than 500,000 pounds, while the runners-up will receive more than 250,000 pounds. The champions of both the men's and women's mixed doubles tournaments will bring home more than 100,000 pounds, while the runners-up will grab more than 50,000 pounds. Additionally, there are also prizes for singles and doubles wheelchairs, as well as quad singles and doubles. Aftermath  Wimbledon is a prestigious sporting event in the world, with millions of spectators following the championship around the world. Roger Federer is one of the top players that will not compete in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Furthermore, the current ATP No. 1 player, Daniil Medvedev, will be unable to compete in this year's championship due to the fact that players from Russia and Belarus would be unable to compete at Wimbledon. The excitement for the main event will not be dampened by the absence of a few players. The contestants will give it their all in order to go farther in the tournament. Tennis fans will be very interested in this year's Championship, as they have been in previous Wimbledon tournaments. Read Sports organiser Sirajuddin M Alamgir receives "Doctor of Sports" degree from Indian private uni

Serena Williams bit her upper lip. She held her left hand over her mouth and tried to hold back tears while getting ready to serve. It was the first set of her first-round match Tuesday at Wimbledon, and Williams knew this stay at a tournament where she has won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles was about to end because she hurt her right leg when she lost her footing behind a baseline. Moments later, her legs buckled as she tried to change directions to chase a shot by her opponent, 100th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. Williams dropped to her knees, her head down on the grass. She used her racket to help her stand, but only so she could limp to the net to concede — just the second mid-match retirement at any Grand Slam tournament of her career and first since 1998. “I was heartbroken to have to withdraw today,” Williams said in a statement released by the tournament. Read: Serena Williams loses at French Open; Federer withdraws “Feeling the extraordinary warmth and support of the crowd today when I walked on — and off — the court,” she said, “meant the world to me.” Said Sasnovich: “She’s a great champion, and it’s (a) sad story.” Roger Federer surely articulated a common sentiment when told by a reporter what happened to Williams. “Oh, my God,” he said. “I can’t believe it.” Williams was serving while leading 3-1 at Centre Court — where the retractable roof was shut because of rain that forced the postponement of two dozen matches until Wednesday — when her left shoe seemed to lose its traction while she was hitting a forehand. Williams winced and stepped gingerly between points, clearly troubled. After dropping that game, she asked to visit with a trainer and took a medical timeout. She tried to continue playing. The crowd tried to offer support and encouragement. Eventually, the 39-year-old American couldn’t continue. The chair umpire climbed down to check on her, and they walked together up to the net; the score was 3-all, 15-30 when Williams stopped. Williams, who began the match with her right thigh heavily taped, raised her racket with right arm and put her left palm on her chest. Then she waved to the spectators. Officially, this goes in the books as only the second first-round Grand Slam exit of Williams’ career. The other came at the 2012 French Open, where she was beaten by Virginie Razzano. Shortly after that, Williams teamed up with coach Patrick Mouratoglou and began accumulating majors to eclipse Steffi Graf’s professional era record of 22 and move within one of Margaret Court’s all-era mark of 24. “All the best for her,” said Sasnovich, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018 for her best Grand Slam result. Williams’ departure makes a wide-open women’s draw even more so. As it was, defending champion Simona Halep and four-time major champ Naomi Osaka withdrew before the tournament started. Read: Serena Williams, Osaka drawn in same half at Australian Open And so, even as her 40th birthday approaches in September, Williams was among the top contenders. With her best-in-the-game serve and stinging groundstrokes, she had made it to the past four finals when she entered Wimbledon — winning in 2015 and 2016, missing the tournament while pregnant in 2017, then finishing as the runner-up in 2018 and 2019 (it was canceled last year because of the pandemic). Williams was hardly the first player to find it difficult to deal with the slick grass over the first two days of main-draw play. In the match that preceded hers in the main stadium, eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer advanced when his opponent, Adrian Mannarino, injured his right knee late in the fourth set when he tumbled near the same spot Williams did. Federer was trailing two sets to one, but ahead 4-2 in the fourth, when Mannarino fell. He tried to continue but dropped eight of nine points when they resumed and called it quits. “Obviously,” Federer acknowledged, “he was the better player.” Novak Djokovic fell twice in the first set of his first-round victory Monday at Centre Court, too. “I do feel it feels a tad more slippery, maybe, under the roof. I don’t know if it’s just a gut feeling. You do have to move very, very carefully out there. If you push too hard in the wrong moments, you do go down,” Federer said. “I do feel it’s drier during the day. With the wind and all that stuff, it takes the moist out of the grass. But this is obviously terrible.” It was, by far, the most significant development Tuesday, when the winners included Williams’ older sister, 41-year-old Venus, 17-year-old Coco Gauff, reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and No. 1 seed Ash Barty in the women’s bracket, and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 10 Denis Shapovalov in the men’s. Sebastian Korda — a 20-year-old American whose father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open and whose sisters, No. 1-ranked Nelly and No. 13 Jessica, are on the LPGA Tour — made a successful Wimbledon debut, eliminating No. 15 seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5). Venus Williams accumulated 10 aces by smacking serves at up to 114 mph — not quite like the old days, but not too shabby, either. She drove forehands to corners. She made her way to the net for crisp volleys. Read:Coco Gauff sets up Osaka showdown in Australia; Serena wins And when it was all over, she celebrated her first Wimbledon match win since 2018 by raising her arms and yelling “Come on!” before reprising her familiar smile-and-twirl wave at No. 3 Court. A five-time singles champion at the All England Club who is making her 23rd appearance here, the elder Williams sister began her record-extending 90th Grand Slam tournament with her 90th career victory at Wimbledon, beating Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Venus Williams is a former No. 1-ranked player who came into this week ranked 111th and having lost in the first or second round at the past eight majors. That included a first-round exit in 2019 at the All England Club against a then-15-year-old Gauff. “You can’t win them all. Life is about how you handle challenges. Each point is a challenge on the court. No one gives you anything,” said Venus Williams, who was diagnosed a decade ago with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain. “I like to think I handle my challenges well.”

Smoke haze and poor air quality caused by wildfires temporarily suspended practice sessions for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, but qualifying began later in the morning in "very poor" air quality.