What goes into the making of a classic Wimbledon final? Go through the illustrious list of men’s singles champions at the All England Club and their signature triumphs are all defined by a historic final moment, enhanced by the records that were on the line and enriched by an opponent of legendary status on the other side of the net. On Sunday, Novak Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz in a Wimbledon final that has it all, a moment in time that could end up as one for the ages. “I think this is probably the best final that we could have had,” Djokovic agreed.

The two best players in the world will meet in a showpiece that spans generations: at 36, Djokovic will bid to join Roger Federer by winning a men’s record eighth singles crown and 24th grand slam title. Alcaraz, at 20, is through to his first Wimbledon final, a destination that was beyond the world No 1’s wildest expectations just weeks ago. It is the widest age gap between two men’s grand slam finalists in 48 years and the young Spaniard is now faced with the toughest challenge in tennis; Djokovic has won 34 consecutive matches at Wimbledon, he has not lost in SW19 since 2017, and not on Centre Court since 2013.

Henry Searle is excited to take to the same stage as his heroes as he bids to become Britain’s first boys’ singles champion at Wimbledon for 61 years.

The 17-year-old from Wolverhampton knocked out the top seed in the opening round and is yet to drop a set, overcoming windy conditions to defeat American fourth seed Cooper Williams 7-6 (4) 6-3 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Backed by his noisy fan club consisting of family members and friends from his tennis club, Searle moved to the brink of emulating Stanley Matthews, son of the famous footballer, who triumphed back in 1962.

Jack Draper was the last British player to make the final five years ago, while Liam Broady also reached the trophy decider in 2011, but both came out on the losing side.

Alfie Hewett will look to win his first Wimbledon singles title this morning when he takes on 17-year-old Tokito Oda, the rising star of wheelchair tennis, in the final.

“From my side I think it does give me an edge,” Hewett said after beating Oda in the doubles alongside Gordon Reid.

“It’s a tricky environment. It’s a lot of pressure to put on your shoulders, go out there and play in front of all those people, which we’re still getting used to. We embrace it and we love it.

“But tomorrow will be a new day. Anything can happen. Hopefully there will be another good crowd, get behind us. I guess I’m trying to get a bit familiar with it now because it’s so rare that it happens like this.

“Yeah, I just really try to go full guns in, full guns blazing, just give it my all.”

British duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid thrilled a packed Court One by winning their fifth Wimbledon wheelchairs doubles title.

Hewett and Reid reclaimed the trophy, having been runners up last year, with a 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory over Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in three sets.

It was an 18th grand slam win for the pair and a measure of revenge for Scotsman Reid, who was beaten by Oda in the singles semi-final earlier on Saturday.

“That was something else, I’ve got goosebumps,” said Hewett.

“We dream of atmospheres like this, it doesn’t come around often and I’m glad we rose to the occasion.”

Great Britain’s Neal Skupski claimed his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title with a memorable final victory at Wimbledon with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

Skupski and Koolhof, the first seeds, defeated Spanish-Argentine pair Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4 in the final on Centre Court on Saturday.

Liverpudlian doubles specialist Skupski, 33, has tasted success in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in the last two years but this represents his first major victory in the men’s, after missing out in last year’s US Open final.

“This feeling at the moment doesn’t get better,” said Skupski. “This was one of our goals this year to win a Grand Slam.”

Skupski is the first British man to win the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon since Jonathan Marray, alongside Frederik Nielsen, in 2012.

Novak Djokovic: “This is probably the most anticipated finals I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people. Alcaraz, myself… It will be his first finals in Wimbledon.

“He’s so young, but he’s incredibly consistent now, also on grass. Which I don’t think many people expected him to play so well because his game is basically, yeah, built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts. But he’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day.

“I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue. I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt, and adjust my game depending on the challenges basically. That’s what he’s doing very early on in his career.

“Kudos to him. Amazing player. Great guy also off the court. He carries himself very, very well. He respects the history of the sport, respects everyone. No bad words about him at all.”

Carlos Alcaraz: “Playing a final here in Wimbledon is something that I dream about when I start playing tennis. As I said before, it’s even better playing against Novak.

“It’s going to be a really emotional moment for me. But I’ll try to stay calm in that moment. For Novak is one more day, one more moment. For me, it’s going to be the best moment of my life I think.

“It gives you extra motivation [to play Djokovic]. I think it’s more special to play final against a legend from our sport.

“Well, if I win, it could be amazing for me – not only win a Wimbledon title but do it against Novak would be super special.

“But I always say if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Novak is one of them. Would be great if I’ll do it.”

The Princess of Wales comforted defeated Wimbledon women’s finalist Ons Jabeur on Centre Court after the Tunisian tennis player lost to unseeded Czech player Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets.

Jabeur cried as she collected the runner-up shield from the royal for the second year running, with Kate rubbing her arm to console her.

An emotional Jabeur said: “I will try to speak because this is very tough. I think this is the most painful loss of my career. First I want to say congratulations to Marketa and her team for this amazing tournament.

“I am not going to give up and I will come back stronger. It’s [an] amazing tournament for me, I want to thank my team for always believing in me.

“We are going to make it one day, I promise you. Thank you, guys, for coming, thank you for cheering for me,” she continued. “I really appreciate your support, it has been a tough journey but that is tennis. I promise I’ll come back one day and win this tournament.”

Marketa Vondrousova savoured her “impossible” Wimbledon triumph while Ons Jabeur cried tears of despair at the most painful defeat of her career.

There have been a string of surprise slam winners in a period of flux for the women’s game but Wimbledon had been the exception until now, with Czech Vondrousova taking advantage of a nervous performance from Jabeur to claim a 6-4 6-4 victory.

The 24-year-old is the first unseeded player to win the women’s singles title here, and it is all the more improbable given she was in London last year as a tourist and with her left wrist in plaster.

“When I was coming back, I didn’t know what’s going to happen, if I can play at that level again,” said Vondrousova, who had won only four tour-level matches on grass prior to arriving at Wimbledon.

“I think it was the most impossible grand slam for me to win, so I didn’t even think of it. When we came, I was just like, ‘Try to win a couple of matches’. Now this happened, it’s crazy.”

By Kieran Jackson on Centre Court

Note to all: sporting fairytales are a rare occurrence. Don’t be fooled by Lionel Messi’s World Cup triumph in Qatar – that was an anomaly. Usually, when the pressure cooker is at its highest and the burden of history is barely a fingertip away, it can all get a little bit too much. And ultimately, it all proved too much for Ons Jabeur on Saturday, with Marketa Vondrousova the women’s singles champion at Wimbledon 2023.

The World No 42 – the first unseeded woman to win the ladies singles in its long history – had a bet with her coach that he will have to get the Wimbledon badge tattooed on his body if she won the title. Whether Jan Mertl will be deep down regretting that decision now is a moot point. The Czech 24-year-old, in beating five seeds in seven rounds, has pulled off one of the all-time shock streaks this past fortnight at the All England Club. In the split-second of victory, with one final volley into the open court, she glanced to her box before collapsing to the ground.