After years of having a rather a strained relationship with Wimbledon thanks to being "paralysed by fear" at the thought of playing on tennis's fastest surface, Naomi Osaka feels she has finally found her grasscourt wings.

A record-breaking number of seeds crashed out at the All England Club in the first round, but Alcaraz and women's world number one Sabalenka avoided seismic shocks on Centre Court.

As the sun played hide-and-seek with the grey clouds that hovered over Centre Court, Sabalenka kept knocking on the door in the opening set but was shut out by Bouzkova each time and dropped serve with a double fault in the 11th game.

The veteran Serb, a seven-time winner at the All England Club, beat French world number 41 Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2 in a late-night match on Centre Court.

"I'm very happy to come back here to such a special place for me," Sinner said.

British tennis players come under the spotlight at Wimbledon like nowhere else and the full glare will be trained on world number four Jack Draper as he leads a sizeable home assault at the All England Club starting on Monday.

Raducanu and Alcaraz practiced together at Wimbledon on Friday as part of a sponsors commitment and will play alongside each other at Flushing Meadows in September in the mixed doubles.

The increase also comes after the world's top players called for significant improvements in prize money at the four Grand Slams as a way to ensure a more equitable distribution of revenue.

Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I don't have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level."

"So let's see if at the end of my career it's going to be 25, 30, 15, four (Slams). I don't know. All I want to say is I want to keep enjoying and let's see what the future brings to me."

Carlos Alcaraz wants to play his part in a "perfect" sporting Sunday for Spain as he targets Wimbledon final victory against Novak Djokovic before his country face England in the Euro 2024 title match.

Novak Djokovic has backed Carlos Alcaraz to rack up more Grand Slam titles, but the Serb hopes that run doesn't start when they clash in a blockbuster Wimbledon final on Sunday.

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.

"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."

Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon fourth round for the 16th time on Saturday after taking a break to help the Centre Court crowd celebrate England's Euro 2024 win over Switzerland in Germany.

Seven-time champion Djokovic is chasing Roger Federer's record of eight titles at the All England Club and his 25th Grand Slam title in total.

Carlos Alcaraz cheekily copied England Euro 2024 star Jude Bellingham's trademark goal celebration on Friday as he soaked up the adulation on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Title rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz reached the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday as Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka was demolished on her return to Centre Court after a five-year absence.