The Junior Championships, Wimbledon are at their business end and after rain prevented any play on the outer courts on Friday, the boys’ and girls’ semi-finals are now set to take place on Saturday. The singles semi-finals are previewed here.

Boys’ semi-finals

Cooper Williams (USA) v Henry Searle (GBR)

Left-hander Henry Searle is bidding to become the 12th British player to reach the Wimbledon boys’ singles final and just the fourth – after Miles Kasiri in 2004, Liam Broady in 2011 and Jack Draper in 2018 – in the last 50 years.

The 17-year-old, who by reaching the last four has recorded his best Junior Grand Slam performance having reached the quarter-final at Roland Garros last month, is very much carrying the hopes of a nation.

Not since 1962 when Stanley Matthews – the son of former footballer Sir Stanley Matthews – topped the SW19 podium has a British boy triumphed in singles at Wimbledon.

Standing in his way is No. 4 seed Cooper Williams of the United States, one of two American boys involved in semi-final action.

If Williams and Darwin Blanch both reach the final, it will be the fourth time that two Americans have faced each other in the boys’ singles final at Wimbledon, with the most recent occasion being 2021 when Samir Banerjee defeated Victor Lilov.

Like Searle, Williams has also recorded his best Junior Grand Slam performance here at Wimbledon having reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month, where he lost to Blanch.

Yaroslav Demin v Darwin Blanch (USA)

A battle of two Wimbledon debutants with Yaroslav Demin, who was part of Russia team crowned Davis Cup Juniors Champions in 2021, up against 15-year-old Blanch, a left-hander with considerable talent.

By reaching the semi-finals, Demin has surpassed his previous best result at a Junior Grand Slam, which was a quarter-final finish at the Australian Open in January. However, he did win the Roland Garros doubles title last month alongside Mexico’s Rodrigo Pacheco.

Demin only contested his first match on grass at J300 Roehampton last week where he suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Searle. Hard work on the practice court since most certainly seems to be paying a significant divided.

The 17-year-old won when he met Darwin Blanch in the second round at the US Open last year, whereas the American won their only other previous meeting – at J300 Porto Alegre this season.

Like Williams, Blanch is bidding to become the 22nd American player to reach the Wimbledon boys’ singles final.

Girls’ semi-finals

Alina Korneeva v Nikola Bartunkova (CZE)

A heavyweight tussle.

Junior world No. 1 Alina Korneeva has enjoyed a stellar year and, after triumphing at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros, the 16-year-old is bidding to become the first girl to win the singles title at the opening three Grand Slams of the season. She also boasts a WTA ranking of No. 324.

While no girl has ever won the opening three Junior Grand Slams of a campaign, the feat has been achieved previously by Stefan Edberg – who ended up winning all four – in 1983 and Gael Monfils in 2004.

Should Korneeva top the Wimbledon podium, she would become the third player to win three Grand Slam girls’ singles titles in the same season after Natasha Zvereva in 1987 and Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in 1990.

Czechia's Nikola Bartunkova, however, will be no pushover and after focusing almost exclusively on her professional career this year, she also finds herself with a WTA ranking inside the Top 350.

By reaching the semi-finals, the 17-year-old, who was part of the Czechia team which topped the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors podium, has equalled her best Grand Slam performance. She also reached the last four at Roland Garros in 2022.

Should Bartunkova reach the final, she would become the 10th Czech player to reach the Wimbledon girls’ singles final, although only Kristyna Pliskova – the 2010 champion – has done so in the last 30 years.

Clervie Ngounoue (USA) v Renata Jamrichova (SVK)

Even though Clervie Ngounoue, who spearheaded USA’s triumph at the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals, has enjoyed four straight-sets victories this week she is likely to find Slovakia's Renata Jamrichova her most difficult opponent.

Jamrichova has proven that grass-court tennis suits her game having won the title at J300 Roehampton last week, while seven of the last 10 girls to do so have proceeded to conquer all before them at Wimbledon.

Victory over Ngounoue would see left-hander Jamrichova become just the third Slovakian player to reach a Wimbledon girls’ singles final after Magdalena Rybarikova in 2006 and Kristina Schmiedlova in 2014.

Victory for two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Ngounoue, meanwhile, would see her become the 23rd American player to reach the Wimbledon girls’ singles final, and the second in consecutive years after Liv Hovde won the girls’ event here in 2022.

By reaching the semifinals here, Ngounoue has already recorded her best Grand Slam performance. Her previous best singles results at the Grand Slams were reaching reaching the quarter-finals at both the 2022 US Open and last month’s Roland Garros.