Sabalenka battles back to reach Wimbledon semis / Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV - AFP
Sabalenka battles back to reach Wimbledon semis
World number one Aryna Sabalenka fought back from the brink of a shock Wimbledon exit to reach the semi-finals with a gutsy 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win against Germany's Laura Siegemund on Tuesday.
Sabalenka twice trailed by a break in the final set on Centre Court and was two games away from crashing out before staging a dramatic revival to win in two hours and 54 minutes of unrelenting tension.
The 27-year-old top seed is through to the All England Club semi-finals for the third time after losing at that stage in 2021 and 2023.
Beaten in the Australian and French Open finals this year after winning the US Open in 2024, Sabalenka remains on course to reach a fourth successive Grand Slam title match.
The Belarusian will face American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Russian world number 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the final.
Sabalenka remains the only one of the top six women's seeds still standing at the tournament after two weeks of shocks.
The three-time Grand Slam champion nearly joined that list of high-profile exits in a memorable clash.
World number 104 Siegemund, who has fared better as a doubles player in her career, was in just her second Grand Slam singles quarter-final, but she produced an impressive display that kept Sabalenka off balance for long spells.
The 37-year-old's surprise run had included a victory over Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round.
It took everything Sabalenka had to avoid becoming Siegemund's latest scalp.
Siegemund's deft use of slice backhands and drop-shots left Sabalenka bewildered as she broke twice in the opening three games of the first set.
Waving her arms in frustration, Sabalenka briefly stemmed the tide with her first break in the fourth game.
But, mixing her game up cleverly, Siegemund broke for the third time and held her nerve to serve out the set at the second attempt.
It was the first time Sabalenka had dropped a set in this year's tournament.
Sabalenka responded by raising her game, unloading increasingly powerful groundstrokes, accompanied by ear-splitting shrieks to underline her determination.
The Belarusian's barrage exposed cracks in the German's game as she secured three breaks to level the match, becoming the first player to take a set from Siegemund in the 2025 tournament.
Siegemund punished a series of errors to break in the third game of the deciding set before Sabalenka levelled at 3-3.
When Sabalenka served up a double-fault and two unforced errors, Siegemund was within touching distance of the semi-finals.
But Sabalenka refused to surrender, breaking again as the emotional rollercoaster continued, before finally sealing her victory with a roar of relief.
B.Cretella--PV
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