SkySports tennis commentator James Buttler looks at Friday's men's semi-final action and picks his Wimbledon winners.
We had a good day on Thursday, but it was so close to being superb. We picked up the 3/1 on Jasmine Paolini to get through by two sets to one and we nearly landed the 18/1 double, because Rybakina, who was my pick to lift the ladies' trophy, she also nearly got through by two sets to one. She was just ousted by Barbara Krejcikova.
More about the ladies when I'm with you again tomorrow.
WIMBLEDON MEN’S SEMI-FINALS
PICK 1: It's the men's semi-final on Friday and we'll start off with Daniil Medvedev taking on the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. On the H2Hs Alcaraz leads by 4-2. They've met at Wimbledon twice on the grass at SW19. In 2021, Medvedev won in straight sets when Alcaraz was only 18-years old. Two years later, Alcaraz got his revenge and then went on to win the trophy. Alcaraz has won the last two meetings with Medvedev and I think the defending champion will have another win on Friday.
Medvedev is playing tremendous tennis. He perseveres, he's got some great ground strokes and a big serve. I think he could take a set off Alcaraz, so rather than play Alcaraz to win, which I think he will do, at a fairly skinny price, I'm going to play over 3.5 sets at 8/13.
PICK 2: Moving into the other semi-final, and this is really interesting. It could be an absolute cracker of a match as Novak Djokovic, seven times champion at Wimbledon, takes on Lorenzo Muzetti. 5-1 on the H2Hs Novak leads, Muzetti did beat him on clay once, but the last time they met at the French Open a few weeks ago it was a five-set thriller with Djokovic just scraping through.
De Minaur withdrew from the quarter-final, so Novak had some down time, which will be to his advantage as he continues his recovery from knee surgery. Novak is relaxed, he's playing tennis with his son and he looks as if he is up for the battle.
Muzetti has a one-handed backhand which is a thing of absolute beauty, hee's quick around the court and can cause Novak Djokovic some problems. He was a finalist at Queen's and this could be an absolute corker. I think Djokovic’s experience will tell ultimately and he will get himself through to the final, but this could go all the way. I fancy a repeat of their French Open battle and Djokovic to go through in five sets. Djokovic to win by 3-2 is 13/2.
If you that 13/2 to the 8/13 on 4+ sets in Alcaraz vs Medvedev it is a 9.46/1 double.
I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of the women's final as Jasmine Paolini prepares to take on Barbora Krejcikova. That should be a corker too.
Please gamble responsibly and I'll see you tomorrow.