Wimbledon revels in past but Alcaraz and Rune showcase a dazzling future

Centre Court is treated to a quarter-final first set of startling quality but also new forms, new shapes and new energies

DAZZLING FUTURE: Carlos Alcaraz celebrates victory over Holger Rune following the gentlemen's quarter-finals match. Photo credit: John Walton/PA Wire.

At times this Wimbledon fortnight has felt a bit like a grand, Pimm’s-sozzled Viking funeral. Here we have the ghost of Roger, reincarnated as royal box candy, rolled out to make the crowd coo and clutch a hand to its flushed throat one more time.

Here we have another instalment in the extended farewell of Andy Murray, an athlete by now almost entirely held together with pins and staples, still gamely hobbling off in pursuit of that vanishing horizon.