Wimbledon: Jabeur, Svitolina, Vondrousova and Sabalenka on court
It is semi-finals day in the Ladies’ Singles at Wimbledon and two seeds, a wildcard, a non-seed – all different nationalities – are involved as four become two at the All England Club.
We’re guaranteed at least one surprise in the final with the two non-seeds playing in the first match and the two seeds facing off in the evening semi-final. Potential final storylines include Europe versus Africa, Belarus against Ukraine, seed versus wildcard and Grand Slam winner versus wannabe champion.
Wimbledon magic
Arguably the match between Elina Svitolina and Marketa Vondrousova is the most intriguing.
Svitolina has been making headlines on her comeback to Wimbledon since she became a mother late last year. The Ukrainian has also been vocal about the conflict in her homeland and has copped both support and criticism for her refusal to shake the hands of Belarusian and Russian athletes before and after matches.
She’s toppled three seeds on her way to the final four, including world No1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals but, surprisingly, is not favourite with the bookies today.
Instead they favour Vondrousova, who has beaten four seeds in a row to reach the semi-finals, each ranked 12th, 20th, 32nd and fourth. Her win over Jessica Pegula was mightily impressive and was completed in under two hours, despite it going to a deciding set.
There is a feeling that the Centre Court crowd will be backing the Ukrainian wildcard today given the storyline following the 28-year-old. But whoever wins this battle of the non-seeds, a higher-ranked, more fancied challenger will await.
Seed sensations
Ons Jabeur made history last year when she became the first African and Arab woman to reach a Wimbledon final. Last year she lost in the final to Elena Rybakina; she ensured there would be no repeat of that when the Tunisian beating the Kazakhstani yesterday in the quarters. She takes on Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the only semi-finalist in the women’s draw who has a singles Grand Slam to her name – the 2023 Australian Open.
Sabalenka reached the semi-final at Roland Garros, too, so she’s got form when it matters. She also reached finals in Madrid, Stuttgart and Indian Wells, losing to players – Swiatek and Rybakina – who are no longer in the Wimbledon draw.
Sabalenka is favourite with the bookies for this seeded clash on Centre Court with the winner – whomever it is – backed to go on and lift the famous grass court title.
Wimbledon always throws up surprises and those have often come in the women’s draw, and with the world No1 out and the 2022 winner dispatched there’s room for yet another astonishing storyline.