San Francisco Frontiers - Wimbledon semi-finals: Sabalenka faces Anisimova as Swiatek meets Bencic

AFP Sport looks at the two semi-finals at the All England Club:

Aryna Sabalenka v Amanda Anisimova

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka did not drop a set at Wimbledon in the first four rounds but had to survive an almighty scare to see off 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.

The Belarusian, who struggled to cope with the varied game of her German opponent, was twice a break down in the deciding set before prevailing 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in nearly three hours.

The 27-year-old is bidding to reach her fourth consecutive Grand Slam final against US 13th seed Anisimova.

Sabalenka, who lost in the finals of the Australian Open and the French Open, is facing an opponent who has won five of their eight meetings, though the top seed came out on top at Roland Garros last month.

Anisimova, who beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the semi-finals, was ranked below 400 when she returned from a mental health sabbatical at the beginning of the 2024 season.

Now the 23-year-old has matched her best-ever Grand Slam singles result, equalling her run to the last four at the 2019 French Open, and next week will jump into the top ten for the first time.

"I definitely think this surface suits her game really well," Sabalenka said. "That's why she's playing so well so far. She's serving well, she's hitting quite clean and heavy shots.

"We just played recently at the French Open. I had to work really hard to get the win. I mean, it's going to be very aggressive tennis, I think."

Belinda Bencic v Iga Swiatek

Until this year Iga Swiatek had never shown much of an affinity with grass, failing to get beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

But the 24-year-old reached the final of the Bad Homburg Open last month and has moved stealthily through the draw at Wimbledon, dropping just one set in her five matches.

The Polish eighth seed has won four French Open titles on clay and also triumphed at on hard courts at the 2022 US Open.

Swiatek, who won junior Wimbledon in 2018, said after her quarter-final win against Russia's Liudmila Samsonova that she had worked hard to improve her game on grass.

"It feels great. Even though I'm in the middle of the tournament I've already got goosebumps after this win. I'm super happy and super proud of myself and I'll keep going," she said.

Bencic, who trails Swiatek 3-1 in their head-to-head count, returned to action in October, six months after giving birth to her daughter, Bella.

Like Swiatek, the 28-year-old Bencic is a former junior Wimbledon champion, in 2013, but unlike her opponent she found her feet on grass much earlier, winning her first WTA singles title at Eastbourne in 2015.

"I'm very proud. I didn't say it to myself much before but since having Bella I say it to myself every day. It's not only me, I wouldn't be able to do it without my amazing family and team," said the Tokyo Olympic champion.

"We worked so hard on the comeback. We are enjoying life on tour and to play great is a bonus."

S.Hall--SFF