Wimbledon threw up a historic surprise in the women’s singles before Novak Djokovic’s long reign in the men’s tournament came to an end.
Czech world number 42 Marketa Vondrousova beat crowd favourite Ons Jabeur to become the first unseeded women’s champion in the competition’s history.
And a day later Carlos Alcaraz became the new King of Centre Court when he dethroned Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at the 2023 Championships.
Unseeded and undefeated
Vondrousova spent last year’s Wimbledon in a cast and her SW19 experience was just to watch best friend Miriam Kolodziejova in qualifying. She ended the 2023 edition as the first unseeded women’s champion in the event’s history.
The Olympic silver medallist beat four seeds to reach the semi-finals, where she ended the emotional run of Ukrainian wild card Elina Svitolina.
She was the underdog once more in the final against last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur, but overcame early nerves to win in straight sets and lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.
The future is now
Djokovic had not lost at Wimbledon since 2017 and had not been defeated on Centre Court since Andy Murray beat him in the 2013 final. Enter Alcaraz.
The Spanish world number one overcame a wobbly first set to beat the seven-time champion in five epic sets.
The calendar Grand Slam continues to elude Djokovic, but he will still be heavily backed to win another major title in his career and match Margaret Court’s record of 24.
But Alcaraz’s progress on grass means the odds of equalling Roger Federer’s eight titles in SW19 will have lengthened.
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British interest in the adult singles competitions ended in the first week, with Liam Broady and Katie Boulter both losing in the third round.
Andy Murray’s hopes of a long run were ended by fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, while Cameron Norrie – who reached the semi-finals a year ago – also exited at the same stage to exciting American Chris Eubanks.
But it was not all doom and gloom for the host nation.
Wolverhampton’s Henry Searle won the boys’ singles final – the first British boy to do so since Stanley Matthews in 1961 – Liverpudlian Neal Skupski was victorious in the men’s doubles title with his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof and Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid lifted the men’s wheelchair doubles title.
Russia and Belarus return
After being banned from the 2022 edition due to the war in Ukraine, players from Russia and Belarus returned this summer.
Generally, they were well received by the crowds but organisers would likely have breathed a sigh of relief when Aryna Sabalenka and Daniil Medvedev both fell at the semi-final stage, avoiding the possibility of the Princess of Wales presenting the trophy to a Belarusian or Russian player.
The only controversy came when Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was booed off court following her fourth-round defeat by Ukrainian Svitolina.
Azarenka, who put up her hand to acknowledge Svitolina knowing her opponent did not wish to shake hands with a player from the aggressor countries, branded fans “drunk” and unfair.
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Zverev overcomes injury scare to maintain Italian Open charge
Alexander Zverev moved a step closer to his second Italian Open title with a hard-fought 6-4 6-3 quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz, overcoming an injury scare en route to the last four.
Zverev – who triumphed on the clay in Rome back in 2017 – produced a dominant serving performance against another heavy hitter in Fritz, but only after an awkward fall early on.
The German sought medical attention after falling on his stomach in the third service game of the match, the slip leaving him bleeding from both hands.
However, he soon shook off that knock and did not allow Fritz a single break point in a deeply impressive display, setting up a semi-final meeting with Chile's Alejandro Tabilo – the conqueror of Novak Djokovic – for Friday.
Data Debrief: Zverev gathering momentum
Zverev, the lone former champion remaining in the men's draw, is surely the favourite to win a tournament characterised by unfortunate withdrawals and shock defeats for the biggest names.
Seven of Zverev's 21 tour-level titles have come on clay, and he is yet to drop a single set in Rome this year. His three-year wait for an ATP 1000 title could soon be over.
Sabalenka overcomes injury concerns to reach Rome semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka is through to her second Italian Open semi-final after a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday.
The Belarusian, who recovered from a lower back injury sustained in her previous match against Elina Svitolina, breezed through 6-2, 6-4 after just 72 minutes on the court.
Sabalenka broke her serve in the third and fifth games, with Ostapenko opening the door with two double faults, while a single break in the seventh game settled the second set.
The second seed almost let it slip with her only double fault but came back with two big serves to close out the win.
Sabalenka will face Danielle Collins or Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final on Friday.
Data Debrief: Top 10
Sabalenka (10) has become only the second player to reach 10 or more WTA-1000 semi-finals since the start of the 2020 season, along with Iga Swiatek (16).
With Sabalenka joining Swiatek and Coco Gauff, it is the first time the WTA’s top three players have reached the semi-final at the same WTA event since Roland Garros in 2013 – excluding the WTA Tour Finals.
Sabalenka has spent the most time out on the court in WTA clay events in 2024, with this match bringing her up to 25 hours and 34 minutes.
Gauff sets up Swiatek semi-final meeting after downing Zheng in Rome
Coco Gauff will have the chance to down world number one Iga Swiatek after progressing to the Italian Open semi-finals with Tuesday's victory over Qinwen Zheng.
The 20-year-old breezed into the last-four draw in Rome after her straight-sets victory over Zheng, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Gauff faced just one break point throughout the match, failing to hold her serve at 5-3 up as seven-seed Zhen battled back in the first set.
Yet Gauff eased through the tie-break and never looked back from there on, teeing up a meeting with Swiatek, who overcame Madison Keys in straight sets in her quarter-final clash.
Data Debrief: Young Gauff powers on
No player has won more matches than Gauff (61) in WTA-1000 events before turning 21, since the introduction of the format in 2009, as the American moved past Caroline Wozniacki (60) with victory here.
Wozniacki (eight) is also the only player to manage more WTA-1000 semi-final appearances before her 21th birthday, with Gauff's last-four qualification here taking her onto six – one ahead of Swiatek.
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