Wimbledon 2025: Iga Swiatek books a spot in semi-finals; set to face Belinda Bencic
Swiatek took one hour and 49 minutes to get past Samsonova 6-2, 7-5, and has reached the final four at all three grand slams this year.
Samsonova matched Swiatek during the first four games of the first set, but Swiatek held off a break point in the first game and maintained her dominance throughout.
After fending off four break points, the eighth seed won two straight breaks to seize the lead and extended her winning streak to seven games as she raced 3-0 ahead at the start of the second set.
But as Samsonova leveled the score at 4-4 with consecutive breaks of her own, she pushed her way back into the game.
The Russian could not hold on to force a tie-break, though, as Swiatek earned her fifth break of the quarter-final, converting on her second match point.
Switzerland's Bencic reached a first Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) win against Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva. The Swisswoman is a former top-10 player, Olympic gold medallist (Paris 2020).
She is the first Swiss woman semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis 27 years ago, having failed to advance past the last 16 in her prior eight appearances in southwest London.
In Men's singles, Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic took one step closer to record-levelling eighth-time Wimbledon glory as he battled past Flavio Cobolli to advance to a record 14th semifinal at the tournament on Wednesday.
Djokovic found his answers when it was needed the most, producing a clutch comeback to secure a 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times of Oman
15 hours ago
- Times of Oman
India's Lord's heartbreak: Skipper Gill reflects on India's Test defeat, Bumrah's availability for next match
London: India's captain, Shubman Gill, expressed disappointment and frustration after the team's narrow defeat in the third Test at Lord's, falling just 22 runs short of victory. Gill reflected on the team's performance, expressed pride in his team's performance despite missing out on a chase of 193 runs. Following his side's narrow 22-run loss to England in the third Lord's Test, Indian skipper Shubman Gill expressed pride in his team's performance despite missing out on a chase of 193 runs and explained how they could have applied themselves better with the bat on the final session of day four. India experienced one of their most heartbreaking losses in Test cricket despite a resilient half-century by Ravindra Jadeja and a solid supporting act played by tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Team India missed out on a 193-run chase, falling short by 22 runs after a brilliant fight from a troublesome situation of 82/7. Speaking in the post-match presentation, the Indian skipper said that he was confident of a successful run-chase, and a couple of 50-run partnerships from the top order could have done the job. "We were not able to do that (get top order partnerships), and they played better than us. There is always hope as long as there is a batsman batting, there is always some hope, because the target was not massive and a fifty-sixty run partnership we knew we would be back in. He (Jadeja) is very experienced, and did not want to give him any message. I think he was batting really well with the tail and I just wanted him and the tail-enders to bat as long as possible," he added. Gill said that the team felt that a lead of 80 to 100 runs could have been crucial, with the fifth-day wicket not really being conducive for big chases. "I think the last one hour (yesterday), we could have applied ourselves a bit better, especially the last 2 wickets that fell. And even in this morning, the way they came out with the plans we were hoping for one 50-run partnership, and if we had gotten one 50-run partnership in the top order, then things would have been easier for us. Sometimes, the series scorecard does not really reflect how well you have played. I think we played some really good cricket and I think it is going to be an even exciting series from hereon. Speaking on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the fourth Test, Gill said, "You will get to know about it soon." England won the toss and opted to bat first. England was reduced to 44/2, but a 109-run stand between Ollie Pope (44 in 104 balls, with four boundaries) and Joe Root (104 in 199 balls, with 10 fours) and a counter-attacking 84 run stand for the eighth wicket stand between Brydon Carse (56 in 83 balls, with six fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (51 in 56 balls, with six fours) took England to 387. Jasprit Bumrah (5/74) was the highlight for India with the ball. In the second innings, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but a 61-run stand between Karun Nair (26 in 46 balls, with five fours) and KL Rahul and a 141-run stand between KL (100 in 177 balls, with 13 fours) and Rishabh Pant (74 in 112 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) took India close to England's score. A brilliant half-century from Ravindra Jadeja (72 in 131 balls, with eight fours and a six) and lower-order contributions from Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) took India to 387, with nothing separating the sides. Chris Woakes (3/84) was the top bowler for England in this innings. In England's second innings, India continuously kept England under pressure, except for a 67-run fifth wicket stand between Root (40 in 96 balls, with a four) and Stokes (33 in 96 balls, with three fours). Sundar (4/22) delivered a game-changer spell, running through the middle-order and bundling out England for 192. India was set 193 to win. During the run-chase, Team India was reduced to 82/7. However, Jadeja (61* in 181 balls, with four boundaries and a six) was not in a mood to give up. He put up resilient partnerships with the lower-order batters that put England under tension, but Mohammed Siraj's unlucky dismissal, where the ball spun back to the stumps following its landing on the pitch hurt a million of hearts as India was bundled out for 170. India trails 1-2 in the series. Stokes won the 'Player of the Match' for his handy knocks of 44 and 33 and total of five wickets in the match, including a three-wicket haul taken in the second innings taken in tandem with Jofra Archer, who also got three wickets.
Times of Oman
15 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Nobody cried themselves to sleep: Stokes "all for" on-field "spectacle" after tempers flared at Lord's
London: England Test captain Ben Stokes is "all for" the aggression and tempers that flared during the third Test against India at the 'Home of Cricket', Lord's. According to Stokes, despite all the emotions that boiled over in the last three days, nobody overstepped the line or cried "themselves to sleep over what was said or done out" on the field. Temperament frayed, emotions ran thin as the element of spice entered the picture. In the last three days, India and England players engaged in sledging, which even led to Mohammed Siraj receiving a demerit point and losing 15 per cent of his match fee. After a thrilling contest concluded with England's 22-run victory, Stokes was quizzed about the heated on-field atmosphere. The English skipper didn't mince his words and claimed that it was understandable for emotions and tension to soar high when two behemoths are scuffling for victory. "No, I think in big series like this there's always going to be a time and a moment where the two teams are going to clash. I'm all for it. I don't think it really stepped over the line. I think at the end of it, if you think about it, there's 22 people out there playing for their country. It's the highest honour that you can do in our given sport. So you can understand that sometimes the emotions and the tension can get quite high," Stokes told reporters in the post-match press conference. It all started with India Test captain Shubman Gill screaming at Zak Crawley in the final moments of the third day. He felt the lanky English opener was trying to run down the clock to deny India the opportunity of bowling a second over. Fingers were pointed, words were exchanged, and the trend continued for the next two days. On Sunday, Siraj celebrated close to Ben Duckett in his follow-through after scything his wicket and made contact as the English opener began his walk back to the Lord's long room. "But I don't think there's anyone in the Indian dressing room or anyone in the English dressing room that's going to bed, going to cry themselves to sleep over what was said or done out there. Sometimes it gets a little bit over-egged from an outsider's point of view. I don't think it overstepped the line from the Indian team or from our team," he added. Even on the last day, Carse and Jadeja engaged in a heated altercation, which was soon subdued. In the 35th over, the two players collided while Jadeja sprinted for the first run. After the first contact, Carse had his arm around Jadeja's shoulder, which didn't sit well with the seasoned Indian all-rounder. Jadeja and Carse began a war of words, which led to Stokes intervening in the matter and cooling things off. Stokes didn't believe that there was a buildup to the heated moment and said, "There was always going to be a moment in a series like this when it was going to implode. It wasn't really boiling up to it, it just sort of happened. But look, that's the spectacle of England v India, isn't it." (
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Sinner downs Alcaraz to win first Wimbledon title
LONDON: Jannik Sinner downed defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first Wimbledon title, gaining sweet revenge for his painful defeat in the French Open final. The world number one is the first Italian to win at the All England Club and now has four Grand Slams to his name at the age of 23. Sinner stayed ice cool after losing the first set, with the momentum quickly shifting, and he was not broken once in the final three sets. He squandered three championship points in the final at Roland Garros last month but this time made no mistake as he served out for victory. Sinner said he was "living his dream", prompting an eruption of cheers from the Centre Court crowd. "An amazing tournament, thank you for the player you are," he said to world number two Alcaraz. "It is so difficult to play against you. "I am going to keep hold of this (trophy), you have two already!" The tennis world has been captivated by the emergence of the new rivalry between the players to follow the storied "Big Three" era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Sinner and two-time defending Wimbledon champion Alcaraz have now shared the past seven Grand Slam titles between them, with the Italian winning four of those. Defeat in Paris last month was a bitter blow for Sinner, who led by two sets and had a clutch of championship points. Prior to Sunday's victory, he had lost five consecutive times against Alcaraz, including the final of the Italian Open in the first tournament he played after returning from a three-month doping ban. But this time he turned the tables in impressive fashion. Both players were solid on serve until the fifth game, when Alcaraz sprayed a forehand long to hand Sinner the first break of the match. But the Spaniard levelled at 4-4 to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, which included Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales. Sinner double-faulted to hand Alcaraz a second set point. The Italian laced a searing forehand down the line but Alcaraz produced a magical backhand winner, pointing his finger to his ear as the crowd rose to their feet. MOMENTUM SHIFT Sinner, still wearing a protective white sleeve after his nasty fall in his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, broke in the first game of the second set and led 3-1 after play was briefly halted by a flying cork. Sinner shook his racquet after winning the first point as he served for the set and was rewarded with cheers before levelling the match with a whipped forehand. The third set was a tense affair that went with serve until the ninth game when Sinner broke as Alcaraz slipped over on the baseline and he went 2-1 up. The momentum was now all with Sinner and he broke again in the third game of the fourth set to take the match by the scruff of the neck. The chance was always there that Alcaraz would produce the magic he found at Roland Garros but Sinner stayed focused. The Spaniard had two break points to hit back in the eighth game but Sinner shut the door. Sinner stepped up to serve for the championship amid a cacophony of noise, sealing the deal on his second championship point. The Italian cruised through the first three rounds at Wimbledon, losing just 17 games — equalling an Open era record set in 1972. But he got lucky in the fourth round against inspired Bulgarian 19th seed Dimitrov, who was leading by two sets when he suffered an injury that forced him to quit. Sinner got back into the groove against 10th seed Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals before demolishing seven-time champion Djokovic in the last four. Alcaraz had been aiming to become just the fifth man in the Open era to win three consecutive Wimbledons after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Federer and Djokovic. — AFP
