Simona Halep to face Elena Rybakina in Wimbledon semis

LONDON: Elena Rybakina became the first player from Kazakhstan to reach a semifinal at the All England Club or any of the four Grand Slams after defeating Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2. 6-3 here on Wednesday.

The No.17 seed Rybakina delivered a dazzling serving performance against Tomljanovic in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, firing 15 aces en route to her victory in 1 hour and 51 minutes and setting up a semifinal clash against Simona Halep.

Former champion Simona Halep reached the semifinals after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 in their quarter-final match.

Three Kazakh players had previously reached the Grand Slam quarterfinals -- Yaroslava Shvedova, Yulia Putintseva and Rybakina herself at Roland Garros 2021.

The 23-year-old, who would not have been allowed to play at this year's Wimbledon had she not switched allegiance from Russia four years ago, finished the match with an ace - her 15th of the match.

No woman has produced more aces at The Championships than Rybakina -- she's up to 43 now, 13 more than the next woman on the list -- and her serve was a significant part of why she went through to play Simona Halep, the 2019 champion.

"It's amazing and I'm really happy that I got through after a really tough match," she said.

Explaining a final set wobble after serving for it at 5-1, she added: "Maybe I was nervous. She played really well. I just tried to focus on myself to find my way and then I found it."

Halep hadn't set foot on court at the All-England Club since she lifted the trophy in 2019, as the 2020 Championships were cancelled and she was forced to withdraw last year due to a calf injury.

The Romanian's return to the site of her second career major title has been stellar as she hasn't lost a set in five matches so far, losing just 28 games in 10 sets. In fact, Halep has won the last 21 sets she's played at Wimbledon. Agencies

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