Credit: Wimbledon
Former world number one Iga Swiatek exhibited her fighting spirit and beat Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova to reach the semi-final of the women's singles at Wimbledon for the first time ever. Swiatek, who is having a good time on grass surface at SW19 this summer, won the match by 6-2, 7-5 scoreline. This victory was her eighth on the grass turf which is the most by her in a season. After crushing Liudmila in the first set in 38 minutes, she got an early break in the second one as Liudmila twice double faulted. It seemed like Swiatek would win this set comfortably, but both players made errors. Swiatek gave away three points and missed the opportunity to have a command over the second set.
However, the Pole improved her game and came heavily on the Russian to grab a 7-5 lead to emerge triumphant eventually. Following the win, the 24-year-old remarked "It feels great. I got goosebumps after this win. I really worked hard to progress on this surface. This year I will just work with it and myself." Swiatek, who has bagged five Grand Slam titles thus far, will strive to be at her best to add the sixth one to her profile. Her last Grand Slam title win came in the French Open 2024, when she got the better of America’s Sofia Kenin by 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
Iga Swiatek to take on Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in the semi-finals
Swiatek’s semi-final battle will be against Switzerland's Belinda Bencic. The Swiss played aggressively against Mirra Andreeva to break into the semi-final. Belinda got a straight-set victory after beating Andreeva by 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-2) scoreline.
Swiatek and Bencic have played against each other on four occasions with the former having an upper hand with three wins. Both players last played against each other in Wimbledon 2023, where Swiatek emerge victorious in a hard fought three-setter.
