Jannik Sinner, Belinda Bencic, and Iga Swiatek all booked their places in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday, each scripting a different story at the All England Club. Top seed Sinner eased concerns over a right elbow injury with a straight-sets 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 win over American 10th seed Ben Shelton. Wearing a protective sleeve, Sinner grimaced through moments of discomfort but showed little sign of struggle in his game. The 23-year-old Italian, who slashed his practice schedule on Tuesday and underwent an MRI scan, is into the final four. Sinner had sparked fears of a withdrawal after hurting himself in his fourth-round win over Grigor Dimitrov, where the Bulgarian retired due to injury. Now the first Italian man to reach multiple Wimbledon semi-finals, Sinner awaits either Novak Djokovic or Flavio Cobolli for a place in the final. On the women’s side, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic reached her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) victory over 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva. Just over a year since giving birth to her daughter Bella, the 28-year-old is enjoying a career resurgence, already climbing to world No. 35 since returning from maternity leave.
“It’s crazy, it’s unbelievable. It’s a dream come true… I’m just speechless,” Bencic said, as quoted by AFP. “I studied all evening yesterday to come up with a plan. I think it worked out well.” A former US Open semi-finalist and Olympic gold medallist, Bencic is the first Swiss woman to reach the Wimbledon last four since Martina Hingis in 1997. She will now face Polish star Iga Swiatek, who defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 to make her first Wimbledon semi-final.
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“It feels great… I’ve already got goosebumps after this win. I’m super happy and super proud of myself,” Swiatek said. “For sure I feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface.” Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, had never been beyond the quarter-finals at SW19 but showed improvement on grass, fending off Samsonova to seal the win.
