Aryna Sabalenka displayed frustration and anguish but battled back from a set down to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The world No1 appeared close to crashing out of the Championships at multiple occasions at the hands of the unseeded 37-year-old Laura Siegemund but won 4-6 6-2 6-4 in a fraught encounter on Centre Court.
Sabalenka’s facial expression throughout the match told of her anguish at how she was playing but also her difficulty with how the veteran German was raising her game against her. The Belarusian shouted at herself when she missed the court and roared with celebration after winning important points. In the deciding set, she even whacked the net with her racquet in frustration after being broken by Siegemund.
The 37-year-old was playing in only the second Grand Slam quarter-final of her career, while Sabalenka’s worst Grand Slam record is here at Wimbledon, where she has now reached the semis on a third occasion (after 2021 and 2023) but is yet to go beyond.
The three-time Grand Slam champion will face 13th seed Amanda Anisimova in the semi-final on Thursday.
Sabalenka went to the locker room after losing the first set, in which she had her serve broken twice by an inspired Siegemund.
She then broke Siegemund in the second game of the second set but was then broken back immediately for 2-1. Her response was to volley the ball powerfully into the ground and back up in anger.
But she regained the break and was beginning to look her confident self again, though elements of her irritability were still detectable on another very sweaty day at SW19. She came back with interest in the second set, winning it 6-2.
Sabalenka’s demons returned when she lost the opening break for a 1-3 deficit in the deciding set, smashing her racquet against the net.
But in a set full of breaks of serve, she broke back for 4-4 and won the final two games from there to secure passage into the last four following a battle she did not appear to enjoy but which she came through, Siegemund having pushed her all the way but ultimately bowing out in the end.
