With Centre Court still filling up following Alcaraz's 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fifth seed Daniil Medvedev a short while earlier, second seed Djokovic broke after a breathtaking 26-shot rally in the sixth game of the opening set.

World number three Alcaraz beat his fifth-ranked opponent 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and will face either seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti for the title on Sunday.

Victory on Friday would take Djokovic to a 10th final at the tournament and 37th at the Slams.

Krejcikova dug deep for victory against fourth seeded Rybakina in two hours and seven minutes on Centre Court.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini reached her first Wimbledon final with a stirring fightback to beat tearful Croatian Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) on Thursday.

However, standing in their way are Daniil Medvedev and Lorenzo Musetti, who has made the semi-final of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Federer described the absence of one-handers in the top 10 as a "dagger" to the sport.

Now Musetti has another special day on his agenda -- facing Djokovic in Friday's semi-finals at the All England Club.

Former champion Elena Rybakina crushed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday to set up a Wimbledon semi-final against Barbora Krejcikova.

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday when Alex de Minaur withdrew from their last-eight clash due to injury.

McEnroe, no stranger to love-hate relationships with fans throughout his career, said some supporters resent seeing Djokovic collect 24 Grand Slam titles, surpassing the achievements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Italian seventh seed Paolini, the runner-up at the French Open last month, triumphed 6-2, 6-1 over 19th seed Navarro in just 57 minutes.

The Spanish world number three, seeking a fourth Grand Slam title, will play meet Daniil Medvedev for a place in Sunday's final.

His four-hour victory also ended a five-match losing streak against the Italian as Medvedev reached his ninth Grand Slam semi-final.

Victory meant Vekic reached her maiden Grand Slam semi-final and became only the second woman from her nation to do so at the All England Club, as she matched Mirjana Lucic's 1999 feat, but it was not all smooth sailing for the unseeded 28-year-old.

"To all the fans that have had respect and stayed here tonight, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I appreciate it," said an angry Djokovic.

Djokovic goes on to face Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur for a place in the semi-finals.

Confronted with Zverev's relentless serve, American 13th seed Fritz looked to be heading home but broke the German on the way to winning the third set.

Seven-time champion Djokovic comes up against Danish 15th seed Holger Rune, who has beaten him twice.

"Of course, I didn't want to take his last match away from him. But at the end of the day I think a lot of the players in a similar situation would have done the same thing, prioritising their body."