Carlos Alcaraz will face Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon in a rematch of the French Open final

LONDON (AP) — First, Carlos Alcaraz did his part to set up The Grand Slam Rematch The Tennis World Wanted, barely averting a fifth set and getting past Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the semifinals Friday to move within a victory of a third consecutive Wimbledon championship.

Then it was Jannik Sinner's turn keep up his end of the bargain, and he overwhelmed a not-fully-fit Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to get to the final at the All England Club for the first time.

So get ready for Sunday: No. 1 Sinner vs. No. 2 Alcaraz for the title on the grass courts of Wimbledon, exactly five weeks after their riveting and remarkable final on the red clay of the French Open.

Sinner grabbed a two-set lead in that one, then held a trio of match points, before Alcaraz came all the way back to win after 5 hours, 29 minutes filled with brilliance from both.

Asked to reflect on what happened in Paris, Alcaraz began by saying, “Probably the best,” then cut himself off.

“I mean, ‘probably,’ no. It was the best match that I have ever played so far. I’m not surprised he just pushed me to the limit. I expect that on Sunday — just to be in the limit, to be on the line. Just going to be a great day, a great final. I’m just excited about it,” Alcaraz said, speaking for anybody who might have paid any attention to that classic at Roland-Garros.

“I just hope not to be 5 1/2 hours on court again,” he added with a smile. “If I have to, I will. But I think it’s going to be great.”

Who wouldn't expect this one to be?

“Hopefully it’s going to be a good match, like the last one,” Sinner said. “I don’t know if it’ll get better, because I don’t think it’s possible.”

Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, and Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, are far and away the leaders of men’s tennis — and are at the height of their powers right now. This will be the seventh straight major tournament won by one or the other.

Alcaraz is 5-0 in Grand Slam finals. Sinner owns three major trophies.

“The things we are doing right now are great for tennis,” Alcaraz said.

He takes a career-best 24-match winning streak into Sunday. Sinner will be in his fourth Grand Slam final in a row, after winning the U.S. Open last September and the Australian Open in January.

Alcaraz leads their head-to-head matchup 8-4, taking the last five.

He doesn't think what happened in their most recent meeting will have a carryover effect on Sinner this time.

“He’s going to be better physically. He’s going to be better mentally. He’s going to be prepared on Sunday to give his 100%,” said Alcaraz, who trailed the fifth-seeded Fritz 6-4 in the fourth-set tiebreaker before winning the next four points to end it.

Sinner and Alcaraz have taken over the sport as the so-called Big Three of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal ceded center stage.

Federer and Nadal are retired. For the 38-year-old Djokovic, who was diminished two days after a “nasty” and “awkward” fall in the last game of his quarterfinal victory, his lopsided loss brought an end to his latest bid for an eighth Wimbledon title and an unprecedented 25th major trophy.

Djokovic said he definitely plans to come back for at least one more appearance at Wimbledon. He had reached the last six finals, winning four and finishing as the runner-up to Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024.

With five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg and celebrities such as Anna Wintour and Leonardo DiCaprio looking on Friday, Alcaraz produced his usual brand of magic, marking some shots against U.S. Open runner-up Fritz with a shout of “Vamos!” or a raised index finger.

The temperature topped 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), with no clouds interrupting the blue sky overhead to offer protection from the sun. For the second consecutive day, spectators had trouble in the heat.

The pop of a Champagne cork could be heard in the stands just before the start, and Alcaraz burst out of the gate, breaking for a 1-0 lead. The first point was illustrative: He returned a 135 mph serve, then capped a 10-stroke exchange with a delicate drop shot.

To be clear, Fritz played quite well for stretches, conjuring a quality with his neon-orange racket frame that would have been enough to overcome most foes on grass.

As anyone paying attention — including Sinner — knows, Alcaraz is not just any foe.

“He has so many different ways to win,” Fritz said.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates after beating Serbia's Novak Djokovic in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Jannik Sinner of Italy and Novak Djorkovic of Serbia chat after the men's semifinal singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Novak Djorkovic of Serbia reacts during the men's semifinal singles match against Jannik Sinner of Italy at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Italy's Jannik Sinner returns to Serbia's Novak Djokovic in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, right, greets Taylor Fritz of the U.S. after beating him in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after beating Taylor Fritz of the U.S. in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Taylor Fritz of the U.S. checks on his cut on his elbow in a break in his match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in a men's singles semifinal at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain returns the ball to Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during the men's semifinal singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Taylor Fritz of the U.S. returns to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the men's semifinal singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain returns the ball to Taylor Fritz of the U.S. during the men's semifinal singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during the men's semifinal singles match against Taylor Fritz of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates winning the men's singles quarter final match against Ben Shelton of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns to Italy's Flavio Cobolli during a quarterfinal men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Taylor Fritz of the U.S. reacts during the men's singles quarter final match against Karen Khachanov of Russia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after beating Britain's Cameron Norrie during a quarterfinal men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

BERLIN (AP) — Standing on an open truck making its way through Berlin, Anahita Safarnejad turned to the crowd of Iranian protesters marching behind her and took the microphone.

“No more dictatorship in Iran, the mullahs must go!” she shouted. Hundreds of voices echoed her slogan with the same sense of urgency and desperation.

Across Europe, thousands of exiled Iranians have taken to the streets to shout out their rage at the government of the Islamic Republic which has cracked down on protests in their homeland, reportedly killing thousands of people.

Women have taken a prominent role in organizing the protests abroad, raising their voices against the theocratic government that discriminates against them.

But beyond the anger, there’s also a sense of fear and paralysis. Iran's government has been shutting down the internet and limiting phone calls for days, making it nearly impossible for Iranians in the diaspora to find out if their families back home are safe.

Safarnejad, 34, fled Iran seven years ago. She came to Berlin to study theater but now works in a bar when she's not attending one of the almost-daily protests in the German capital.

Since the demonstrations broke out in Iran in late December, Safarnejad said she's been living in two different realities that are almost impossible to combine. The easygoing hipster life of her new hometown is a jarring contrast to the bloody protests in Iran that she's been following every minute she doesn't have to work, glued to her phone for the latest updates.

While she was initially almost euphoric that the current uprising would finally bring freedom to Iran and she'd be able to go back home, her sense of hope has turned into horror.

Safarnejad hasn't spoken to her brother, also a protester, since communications with Iran were cut off. She's been scouring video on social media showing piles of dead bodies to see if he's among the corpses.

“I'm desperate and don't know how to keep going anymore,” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks, as she spoke to The Associated Press during Wednesday's Berlin protest.

“I can’t really switch off. I can’t really stop reading the news either," she added, her voice breaking. “Because I’m waiting all the time for the internet to be available so I can get some answers from my family.”

The young woman's horror is felt by many of the more than 300,000 Iranians living in Germany — one of the biggest exile communities in Europe and similar in numbers to France and Britain. Many of them still have family ties to their homeland, even if they left decades ago.

Mehregan Maroufi's Persian cafe and bookstore in Berlin has become a place of solace for Iranians to share their grief without many words — because they know they are all living through the same nightmare.

Maroufi, the daughter of the late Iranian author Abbas Maroufi, welcomes Iranians and everyone else at the Hedayat Cafe, where she serves Persian tea with sweets such as chocolate cake topped with barberries. She lends an ear to anyone who has to get worries off their chest.

“For some, the emotions are still too high and too strong, so to speak, and it’s impossible to talk," the 44-year-old says, adding that she, too, had to force herself to open the cafe on some mornings because the violent images coming out of Iran sucked away all her energy.

“But at least you can find compatriots here. You can talk to a little, and that helps,” she said.

She says she's been listening to and learning from the convictions her fellow Iranians express when they talk about their dreams of an Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that — due to the uprising — now seems closer that ever before.

While most in the diaspora agree that the theocracy has to be toppled, ideas of what a new Iran should look like differ widely.

Adeleh Tavakoli, 62, joined a demonstration outside Britain’s Parliament in London earlier this week. She hasn't been back to Iran in 17 years but has spent decades protesting from afar against the Islamic Republic.

But with the latest wave of protests, she hopes that the Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the Islamic Revolution in 1979, will return to power. If he does, she said, she has her bag packed and is ready to get on the first flight.

“For 47 years, our country has been captured by a terrorist regime,” she said. “We’ve been the voice of Iran. All we want is our freedom and to get rid of this horrible dictatorship.”

For Maral Salmassi, who came to Germany as a child in the 1980s, history explains the calls by exiled Iranians for Pahlavi to lead the country.

“As an Iranian, as someone who comes from this culture and knows its culture and history, I can only say that we have had kings and queens for thousands of years. It is our culture," said Salmassi. She is the chairwoman and founder of the Zera Institute think tank in Berlin, which researches democracy, radicalization and extremism.

She added that Iranians make up a multi-ethnic country and "to bring them all together again, we need a constitutional monarchy that symbolically and traditionally represents our identity and reunites everyone ... and then a democratic, federal parliament where everyone is represented equally.”

However, not everyone is convinced by Pahlavi. Maryam Nejatipur, 32, who also joined the protest in Berlin, thinks her country should avoid a cult of personality.

“We don’t need something like Khamenei again. We don’t need one person,” to lead us, she said, as she burnt a portrait of the Ayatollah and used the flames to light a cigarette — an act that's become a symbol of Iranian resistance.

Safarnejad, who led the recent Berlin protest, agrees.

“I don’t belong to the left, I’m not a liberal, I’m not a monarchist,” she stressed. “I’ve been there for women’s rights, I’m for human rights, I’m for freedom.”

Fanny Brodersen and Ebrahim Noroozi, in Berlin, and Brian Melley in London contributed reporting.

Protester Adeleh Tavakoli, left, demonstrates outside the House of Parliament, in London, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

People take part in a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, Berlin Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iranian Mehregan Maroufi poses for a photo before an interview with the Associated Press in her cafe in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iranian Maryam Nejatipur 32, poses for a photo after a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iranian Anahita Safarnejad, 34, poses for a photo after a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)