World No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Thursday made the semi-finals of a grass-court tournament for the first time by beating Anna Blinkova in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Swiatek defeated the Russian ninth seed 6-3, 6-2 in the first meeting between the two players.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to get past the fourth round of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, although she was junior champion at the All England Club in 2018.
Photo: AP
The Pole broke Blinkova once in the first set and twice in the second, and throughout the match she demonstrated a notable improvement to her serve compared with when she crashed out to Alize Cornet in the third round at Wimbledon last year.
“I’m happy that I can play such solid tennis,” said Swiatek, who is using the extra week before Wimbledon after a schedule change to play on grass for the first time this season. “Usually there’s not much time to play on grass. I’m pretty happy that I used that time 100 percent between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Hopefully, I can play like that for the next two weeks.”
The 22-year-old has won three of the past five Grand Slams, but has never won a tournament on grass, despite claiming 14 trophies in her young career.
“I wouldn’t put myself close to being an expert on grass, but I’m making progress and that’s the most important thing for me,” Swiatek said. “The time here really helped me. Every year I feel like it’s easier to get used to the conditions.”
World No. 39 Blinkova made the final herself at the Wimbledon junior tournament eight years ago, but has never got past the second round as a senior.
Swiatek was to face Italian Lucia Bronzetti, who defeated French eighth seed Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-3.
Emma Navarro of the US also reached the semi-finals after her opponent Rebeka Masarova pulled out in the second set due to a knee injury, while trailing 7-6 (7/2), 1-1.
The quarter-final between second seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic was suspended with the score at 5-7, 6-4.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946