Carlos Alcaraz had warned that facing Cameron Norrie could be a nightmare. And for a fleeting moment, it looked like the defending Wimbledon champion might be in for a fright.
The Spaniard stumbled early, trailing 0-40 in his opening service game on Centre Court. Any chance of an upset, however, was swiftly dashed as Alcaraz roared to a commanding 6-2 6-3 6-3 quarter-final victory - one that should send a shudder down the spine of anyone hoping to dethrone him.
By the time the crowd returned to rally behind Britain's last remaining singles hope, the second seed had blazed through the first set in 28 minutes, dazzling with his trademark blend of power and flair.
Norrie, unseeded and unorthodox, did his best to resist. He even raised his arms in mock celebration after holding serve late in the third set.
But the outcome was never in doubt. Alcaraz, now on a 23-match winning streak, was simply too good.
His eighth Grand Slam semi-final will be against American Taylor Fritz but before he continues his quest for a third successive Wimbledon title he has two days off owing to the All England Club schedule.
Fifth seed Fritz reached the semi-finals for the first time after coming through a topsy-turvy four-setter against Russia's Karen Khachanov, eventually triumphing 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6(4).
Tarvet stretched him far more than left-hander Norrie, but that was during a first week in which the five-times Grand Slam champion was working through the gears.
Any hope Norrie had of becoming only the third British player to knock out the defending Wimbledon men's champion were soon extinguished by the Spanish force of nature.
Having failed to convert four break points in the second game, Norrie gifted away his serve with double-fault and two games later his tentative volley allowed Alcaraz to wind up a ferocious dipping forehand that smacked the baseline.
Alcaraz had blown a hot and cold in his previous matches, but it is now the business end of the tournament and the rest of the match became a procession as he wrapped up his 34th win from 37 matches he has played on grass.
"To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special," Alcaraz said. "I want to go as far as I can and I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam."
Also through are American Ben Shelton who beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 3-6 6-1 7-6 7-7 and Serbia's Novak Djokovic who overcame Australian Alex de Minaur in four sets, 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.
Befuddling battle
Sabalenka was dragged into a bygone era and tormented for almost three hours on Centre Court before finally imposing her 21st-century power game to beat mesmeric Laura Siegemund for a place in the semis.
The Belarusian needed all her powers of ball bludgeoning and belief to emerge from a befuddling battle, somehow the victor, 4-6 6-2 6-4.
For much of the spell-binding contest it looked as though the world No 1 would find no answers to Siegemund’s sorcery as the 37-year-old German veteran chipped, chopped and drop-shotted the world’s best player to pieces, leaving the top seed’s power game neutered on the turf.
Ranked a lowly 104 in the world, Siegemund drew on the game of a gentler age to bring low the mighty Belarusian, casting spells of slice and sleight with vintage flair.
But slowly, if not exactly surely, the 10 years younger and seemingly stronger Sabalenka managed to wrestle back the upper hand, and now plays American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6(9) for a place in Saturday’s final.
Also into the semis are Poland's Iga Swiatek who saw off Clara Tauson, of Denmark, 6-4 6-1 and Russia's Mirra Andreeva who beat American Emma Navarro 6-2 6-3.
