Top seed and title favourite Aryna Sabalenka was ready to book her ticket home after staring down the barrel of a major Wimbledon shock.
The runaway world number one and three-time grand slam champion had not dropped a set on her way to the quarter-finals.
But then she came up against 37-year-old Laura Siegemund, the world number 104 from Germany who had never previously been beyond the second round.
And Siegemund almost produced one of the all-time Centre Court upsets after taking the first set and then twice leading by a break in the decider.
“She pushed me so much,” said Sabalenka. “After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, ‘book the tickets, we are about to leave this beautiful place’.”
When Siegemund, a former US Open doubles champion who has rarely caused a ripple in singles, broke for 4-3 in the decider she was two games from reaching the semi-finals.
But Sabalenka broke straight back and then let out an almighty roar after sealing a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory with a smash.
Siegemund is a master of the darker arts of tennis and regularly kept Sabalenka waiting to serve.
But the 27-year-old from Belarus kept her cool – even if she had a face like thunder while standing idly at the baseline.
“I think I was really well-prepared for her game, for the way she’s taking time and everything,” she added.
“But of course, inside I was struggling because she was playing a really smart game. At the beginning I was missing a lot. I felt like I was rushing.
“So I’m really glad that after the first set, I was able to kind of like reset a little bit and change my tactic a little bit and get the win.
“But about her game, I wasn’t really annoyed. What can I do? It was great play, smart play.”
Sabalenka said she was determined not to repeat the mistake she made during her acrimonious French Open final defeat by Coco Gauff last month.
“Honestly, I think there’s a big possibility that I would have lost this match if I didn’t learn that lesson at the French Open,” she said.
“In some moments I was just keep reminding myself – which it’s probably a little bit crazy – ‘come on, it’s the quarter-final of Wimbledon, you cannot give up, you cannot let the emotions just take over you and lose another match.”
Sabalenka’s 10th semi-final from the last 11 grand slams will be against American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova, who beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6 (9).
An early birthday present for Amanda's nephew, Jaxon #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/rOdWBEftm4
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025
Anisimova was joined on court afterwards by her nephew Jaxon, who will celebrate his fourth birthday on Thursday, the day of the match.
“My nephew has never seen a match of mine in my life, so it was super special,” she said.
“Especially for the first time to be here at Wimbledon, and to get the win also on top of that is just an incredible experience.
“I feel like everything has been kind of clicking for me, and I’ve been feeling more and more confident with each tournament I’ve played this year.
“So I feel like my confidence is pretty high. On top of that, I’m just enjoying every moment.”
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