A mix-up over this year’s Wimbledon dates will mean that Neal Skupski’s brother, coach and former doubles partner will miss his chance to become only the second British men’s doubles champion since 1936.
Skupski, who won the mixed doubles titles in 2021 and 2022, could also become the first British player to win a hat-trick of the five longest standing Wimbledon titles when he and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof face Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in Saturday’s final.
Wimbledon is this year being held a week later than normal and Skupski’s brother, Ken, who reached the doubles quarter-final with Neal in 2017, had mistakenly thought that the tournament would already be over when he agreed a family holiday to Ibiza with his wife and three children.
Their flight departs at 5am on Friday, meaning that even being present on a raucous Court One on Thursday for the 7-5, 7-5 semi-final win against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden was a considerable effort.
To find out what Neal Skupski had to say about his older brother’s absence, please go here.
Thursday’s order of play
Singles, doubles and boys and girls competitions only
Centre Court, 1.30pm
Men’s singles semi-finals
(8) Jannik Sinner (Ita) v (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser),
(1) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) v (3) Daniil Medvedev (Rus)
Court 1, 1pm
Ladies’ doubles semi-finals
(16) Caroline Dolehide (USA) & Shuai Zhang (Chn) v (3) Storm Hunter (Aus) & Elise Mertens (Bel),
Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) & Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) v Marie Bouzkova (Cze) & Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spa)
Court 12, 11am
Girls’ singles semi-finals
(5) Renata Jamrichova (Svk) v (2) Clervie Ngounoue (USA)
Boys’ singles semi-finals
Henry Searle (Gbr) v (4) Cooper Williams (USA)
Girls’ doubles semi-finals
Hannah Klugman (Gbr) & Isabelle Lacy (Gbr) v Tatum Evans (USA) & Alanis Hamilton (USA),
Alena Kovackova (Cze) & Laura Samsonova (Cze) v (2) Renata Jamrichova (Svk) & Federica Urgesi (Ita)
Court 18, 11am
Boys’ singles semi-finals
(9) Dali Blanch (USA) v (5) Yaroslav Demin (Rus)
Girls’ singles semi-finals
(1) Alina Korneeva (Rus) v Nikola Bartunkova (Cze)
Boys’ doubles semi-finals
Jakub Filip (Cze) & Gabriele Vulpitta (Ita) v (2) Joao Fonseca (Bra) & Juan Carlos Prado Angelo (Bol),
(7) Dali Blanch (USA) & Roy Horovitz (USA) v (6) Branko Djuric (Ser) & Arthur Gea (Fra)
Wimbledon women’s final
Saturday 2pm, Centre Court
Marketa Vondrousova v Ons Jabeur
Wimbledon men’s final
Sunday 2pm, Centre Court
Carlos Alcaraz/Daniil Medvedev v Jannik Sinner/Novak Djokovic
How to watch Wimbledon 2023 on TV in the UK
Live coverage
Wimbledon is shown on BBC One and iPlayer until 9pm for the first week, unless coverage needs to be extended until the 11pm curfew. Clare Balding has taken over lead presenting duties from Sue Barker.
Each morning, Isa Guha will begin the coverage at 11am. Former Wimbledon champions, including John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Pat Cash will be part of the team alongside the likes of Tim Henman, Tracy Austin, Annabel Croft, Johanna Konta, Anne Keothavong and Sania Mirza.
Highlights
Today at Wimbledon follows the live coverage at 9pm daily on BBC Two and iPlayer, presented by Qasa Alom.
How to watch Wimbledon on TV in the US
ESPN has the rights to show the grass-court grand slam in the US. Coverage begins each day at 6am Eastern Time.
What is the Wimbledon prize money?
The Wimbledon total prize pool is £44.7 million, up 11.2 per cent on 2022.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will each take home £2.35 million and the runners-up will earn £1.175 million.
Prize money for progression to earlier rounds is as follows: first round (£55,000); second round (£85,000); third round (£131,000); round of 16 (£207,000); quarter-finals (£340,000); semi-finals (£600,000).