Swiatek wins way to her first Wimbledon semifinal vs. Bencic

TENNIS

Iga Swiatek celebrates winning Wednesday’s quarterfinal match against Liudmilla Samsonova at Wimbledon. KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Howard Fendrich

The Associated Press

LONDON >> Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages on Wednesday.

“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic today for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”

Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The other women’s semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.

“It doesn’t end here,” Bencic said.

There will be quite a showdown in the men’s semifinals Friday, when 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic takes on No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Djokovic ended up face-down in the grass at Centre Court on a late fall but that didn’t prevent him from beating No. 22 Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday. Sinner defeated No. 10 Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 while showing barely any signs of the right elbow injury he picked up on a tumble during his previous match.

The other men’s matchup Friday is two-time defending champ Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 5 Taylor Fritz.

Swiatek is a five-time major champion, with four of those titles on the red clay of the French Open, and the other on the hard courts of the U.S. Open. She’s also twice been a semifinalist at the hard-court Australian Open.

The grass courts of the All England Club always had given her the most trouble as a pro, even though she did claim a junior championship there in 2018. In her five appearances in the Wimbledon women’s bracket before this year, she had made it as far as the quarterfinals just once, exiting in that round in 2023.

But the 24-year-old from Poland is enjoying a career-best run on the slick surface, thanks in part to being more comfortable with the footing required.

“I, for sure, feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface,” Swiatek said. “So this year, I feel like I can just work with it and work with myself. I’ll just keep doing that.”