Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press
The four women’s semifinalists at Wimbledon carry a deep list of achievements on their respective resumes.
Ashleigh Barty is the current No. 1 seed and she won the 2019 French Open. Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon in 2018. Karolina Pliskova is a former world No. 1 and Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 2 seed behind Barty.
Each of the four women looked dominant in their quarterfinal victories on Tuesday. None of them dropped a set on Centre Court or No. 1 Court.
Those wins set up two show-stopping semifinals for Thursday. Barty faces Kerber and Sabalenka will go head-to-head with Pliskova.
Women’s Quarterfinal Results
No. 1 Ashleigh Barty def. Alja Tomljanovic, 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka def. No. 21 Ons Jabeur, 6-4, 6-3
No. 8 Karolina Pliskova def. Viktorija Golubic, 6-2, 6-2
No. 25 Angelique Kerber def. No. 19 Karolina Muchova, 6-2, 6-3
Barty produced the most commanding single-set victory of the four quarterfinals. She breezed past Alja Tomljanovic in the first set in 24 minutes.
The No. 1 seed did not waste time securing her spot in the final four, as she finished off the first-time quarterfinalist in one hour and six minutes.
Barty has not dropped a set since the second frame of the opening round against Carla Suarez Navarro.
Since then, the Australian won five sets by three games or more to set up a showdown of Grand Slam champions with Kerber.
Kerber looked as dominant as Barty in her last two matches. The former Wimbledon champion squashed the threats posted by Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova with back-to-back straight-set wins.
The 25th-seeded German has gone through a bit of a Grand Slam resurgence in London. She did not advance past the fourth round in any major since the start of the 2019 season.
However, Kerber is one of the most experienced Grand Slam players on the women’s circuit. She has six Grand Slam semifinal appearances and three major titles, the most of any remaining woman in the field.
Barty and Kerber split their four head-to-head meetings and they have not played each other since 2018.
Pliskova and Sabalenka will play on Thursday for a chance to win their first major title over a former Grand Slam champion.
Pliskova reached the 2016 U.S. Open final and lost to Kerber in three sets. Sabalenka has never made it past the fourth round at a major before London.
The eighth-seeded Pliskova has not lost a set on the London grass in five rounds. She blew past unseeded Swiss Viktorija Golubic and lost four games in the process to reach the final four.
On paper, Sabalenka had the toughest matchup with Ons Jabeur, but she did not have much trouble with the No. 21 seed.
Sabalenka was not fazed much by the moment of her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and she took a straight-set victory from the Tunisian.
The No. 2 seed owns a pair of head-to-head wins over Pliskova, but just like Barty and Kerber, the two other semifinalists have not played each other since 2018.
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