Simona Halep is hoping to reach her second Wimbledon final when she faces Elena Rybakina in the last four this afternoon.
The 16th seed won the tournament in 2019 and has not appeared at SW19 since then, but Halep has picked up from where she left off and has not dropped a set on her run to the semi-finals. Despite a slightly shaky spell when serving for the match, she brushed aside Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-finals with real ease.
Rybakina dropped her first set of the tournament in her last-eight clash against Ajla Tomljanovic, but the response was as swift as it was impressive. This is only the second time the 23-year-old, who was born in Moscow but represents Kazakhstan, has played in the main draw at Wimbledon.
“She’s moving really well, reading the game,” Rybakina said of Halep as she looked ahead to the semi-final.
“I just try to do my best, focus on things which I can control: my serve, my shots, emotions. Also you get quite nervous if you’re up, down. No matter what’s happening, just to stay calm, keep playing point by point.”
Rybakina vs Halep date and start time
The pair will take to Centre Court on Thursday, July 7, 2022.
It will be the second match to take place, following the conclusion of Ons Jabeur’s semi-final against Tatjana Maria.
How to watch Rybakina vs Halep
TV channel: BBC One coverage of the women’s semi-finals begins at 1.45pm BST. If the match is still being played at 6pm, coverage will switch to BBC Two.
Live stream: TV licence fee-payers can stream the tennis action via the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app.
LIVE blog: Keep across all of the coverage with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog.
Rybakina vs Halep head-to-head (h2h) results
The pair met last year in the third round of the US Open, when Halep won in three sets.
It was the same result a year earlier in Dubai, while Rybakina won in 2019 at the Wuhan Open when Halep had to retire.
Rybakina vs Halep prediction
This has all the makings of an absolute classic. Halep has been in sensational form, but Rybakina has been powering her way past opponents and responded superbly to losing a set against Tomljanovic.
Rybakina can be expected to be aggressive, but may then grow frustrated should the unforced errors start to flow.
While this will be Rybakina’s first Grand Slam semi-final, Halep has been in eight and that experience on the biggest stage could prove to be the difference in what looks likely to be a tight encounter.
