World number one, Aryna Sabalenka, narrowly avoided a seismic shock as she fought back to beat veteran Laura Siegemund to proceed into the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The Belarusian, the heavy favourite for the title, had to twice come back from a break down in the deciding set to beat the 37-year-old German 4-6 6-2 6-4.
Sabalenka has reached the final of the past three majors and, with most of her rivals falling in the first week of SW19, while she has an incredible chance of reaching Saturday’s showpiece.
Only few people would have predicted the enormous scare from Siegemund, who had previously never gone beyond the second round in singles.
Siegemund, more noted for her doubles prowess, drove Sabalenka to distraction with her slices, brilliant returning and generally slow pace of play.
It took all of Sabalenka’s grit and determination to hang in to eventually advance after two hours and 54 minutes.
Siegemund is expected to face either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in a first Wimbledon singles final.
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