LONDON: The balls kept on listening to Iga Swiatek on Wednesday as the Polish eighth seed walloped Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 7-5 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time.
After years of nightmare outings at the spiritual home of lawn tennis, Swiatek appears to have finally conquered her grasscourt demons as she said the “ball has been really listening” to her at Wimbledon this year.
That was certainly in evidence on Wednesday as from the moment Swiatek launched into a 105mph ace to save break point in the opening game, the ball dutifully obeyed the Pole as winner after winner flew off her racquet. “Honestly, it feels great. I have goosebumps after this win. I am super happy and super proud of myself and I will keep going,” a thrilled Swiatek told the crowd after setting up a semi-final showdown with unseeded Swiss Belinda Bencic.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated No. 10 Ben Shelton 7-6 6-4 6-4 in Thursday’s men’s quarterfinal. The Italian overcame an elbow issue to dispatch Shelton.
World No. 1 Sinner injured his elbow in his last-16 match against Grigor Dimitrov, which he looked set to lose until his opponent retired hurt.
“Playing against him (Shelton) is so difficult, you have chances and then he serves very well,” Sinner said.