LONDON: The Wimbledon women's singles semi-final take centre stage at the All England Club on Thursday. Former champion Elena Rybakina is the highest seed in the women's semi-finals where the number four will take on former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova. In the other semi-final in-form Italian Jasmine Paolini, the seventh seed, faces experienced Croatian Donna Vekic.
PAOLINI AIMING TO CONTINUE DREAM RUN
Until arriving in Eastbourne this year the 28-year-old Paolini had never won a Tour-level match on grass. Now she has become the first Italian woman to reach the semi-finals of the women's singles at Wimbledon.
The story could even better too as the ever-smiling French Open runner-up is playing unseeded Vekic in the last four. She demolished American Emma Navarro in the quarter-final on Tuesday and will be full of confidence when she walks out on to Centre Court on Thursday.
"Maybe I didn't realise before, but my coach was telling me that I could play well here. I wasn't believing too much," Paolini said of her sudden liking for grass.
"I felt great in Eastbourne. I was hitting the ball well. I was repeating to myself, okay, it's nice to play on grass."
World number 37 Vekic will be a tough obstacle, though.
Also aged 28, her career has been a rollercoaster with injuries ever-present and she almost pulled out of the French Open feeling that she needed a break from the sport.
"It's crazy how in tennis things turn so fast," she said. Though she might be the outsider of the four survivors, Vekic will take inspiration from last year when Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded player in the professional era to win the Wimbledon women's singles title.
RYBAKINA HOPING TO SERVE UP ANOTHER TITLE
As a succession of top seeds perished at this year's soggy Wimbledon the one reliable factor in all the chaos was Kazakhstan's 2022 champion Rybakina.
Barring a blip in the second round when she dropped a set against Germany's Laura Siegemund, the Moscow-born 25-year-old has been imperious, winning four matches in straight sets.
Underpinning her powerful game is one of the best first serves in women's tennis, a weapon that has delivered a tournament-leading 31 aces so far and wins her a point 82% of the time she lands it in the box.
Against Ukraine's Svitolina in the quarter-final she won 10 successive service points at one point and says it is all about going with the flow on her delivery.
"I think it's more a flow, of course. If it's going well, you don't want to really take much time between points," she said after her comfortable win over Svitolina.
"Definitely I think my return improved, but yeah, the serve is helping me, even though today maybe not as high percentage. But in important moments, I served it out."
Krejcikova, unusual in that she excels in both singles and doubles, will certainly not be daunted by facing Rybakina.
The Czech has won both their previous meetings although they are yet to face each other on grass.
"She has big weapons. I mean, on the other hand, I do have big weapons as well. I expect that it's going to be a big fight," Krejcikova said. — REUTERS