Jabeur beats champion Rybakina to reach Wimbledon semis; Sabalenka and Alcaraz sail
- 13 Jul 2023
Ons Jabeur gained revenge for her defeat in last year's Wimbledon final on Wednesday, coming from behind to beat defending champion Elena Rybakina and reach the last four.
Carlos Alcaraz saw off Holger Rune in straight sets and will play the semi-finals against Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, who defeated unseeded Christopher Eubanks in five sets. In a repeat of the 2022 title match, the Tunisian sixth seed beat her third-ranked opponent 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court.
The 28-year-old will face Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Madison Keys, for a place in Saturday's final at the All England Club. "I'm very happy with the performance — a lot of emotion out there, especially playing someone that serves really well," she said.
Rybakina was first to pounce, breaking to love in the fourth game when Jabeur went wide with a backhand but the Tunisian hit back immediately.
Jabeur took advantage of a loose volley at the net from Rybakina to break again and edge into a 6-5 lead. But this time she was the player who failed to consolidate, squandering a set point as Rybakina forced a tie-break, which she won.
The Kazakh survived break points in the second game of the second set while Jabeur was forced to dig deep on her serve to move into a 3-2 lead. Both players held serve until the 10th game, when Rybakina cracked and Jabeur levelled the match.
The force was with Jabeur in the decider as she opened up a 3-0 lead and saved two break points to move 4-1 ahead. Jabeur powered a backhand down the line to break once again and held her serve to seal the win, letting out a roar of delight.
Sabalenka beat Keys
Sabalenka powered into a second Wimbledon semi-final with a straight-sets win over Keys of the US.
World number two Sabalenka from Belarus, a semi-finalist in 2021, came through 6-2, 6-4. Sabalenka clinched a double break in the opening set, in the first and fifth games, with her American opponent not helped by 10 unforced errors, twice as many as the more accurate Belarusian.
Keys, playing her second quarter-final at Wimbledon, also needed a quick courtside visit from the tournament doctor at 1-4 down in the opener.
The world number 18 broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set and was 40-0 in the next game but immediately undid all her hard work. Sabalenka, 25, made the American pay by holding and breaking again for a 5-4 lead, which was converted into victory off a second match point after 87 minutes of action on Court One.
Alcaraz downs Rune
Alcaraz saw off Rune in straight sets to stay on course for a Wimbledon title showdown against defending champion Novak Djokovic. The top seed won the key moments during the quarter-final on Centre Court to progress 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4.
There was just a single break point created in the first set between the 20-year-old friends, which almost inevitably went to a tie-break.
The start of the breaker was tight but Rune's double-fault gave Alcaraz a 4/3 lead and he won the next three points to take the first set. It was a similar story in the second set until Rune dumped a forehand into the net in the ninth game to give the Spaniard break point. Alcaraz made no mistake, smoking a backhand down the line to break and holding with ease to move two sets up.
The US Open champion broke again in the fifth game of the third set, giving Rune a mountain to climb. The Danish star saved one match point on his own serve but was powerless to stem the tide as Alcaraz served out to reach his first semi-final at the All England Club.
Medvedev into first semis
Medvedev battled back to defeat unseeded Eubanks in five sets and reach his first Wimbledon semi-final. The world number three from Russia triumphed 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Former US Open champion Medvedev hit 52 winners compared to Eubanks' 74 but crucially committed just a meagre 13 unforced errors to his opponent's 55. Eubanks was attempting to become just the third man to reach the semi-finals on debut.
However, the 27-year-old's challenge fizzled out in the final set of a bruising, big-hitting contest. Medvedev was untroubled in the opening set, carving out the only break in the third game before claiming the opener in which he committed just one unforced error to 11 for Eubanks.
Agencies
