Only two points from defeat, Johanna Konta staged a remarkable fightback to deny Simona Halep’s ascension to the world No.1 ranking in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on a drenched Tuesday.
Roared on by a parochial Centre Court crowd, the 26-year-old’s 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4 upset of the No.2 seed also ensured she became the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since Virginia Wade in 1978.
Konta will need to find a way past five-time champion Venus Williams to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final after the veteran American ended French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko’s 11-match Grand Slam winning streak 6-3, 7-5 under the roof on Centre Court. Williams, who made her All England Club debut in 1997, defeated her third straight opponent born in 1997 to reach her 10th Wimbledon semi-final.
A day after ending Angelique Kerber’s reign as world No.1, Garbiñe Muguruza is through to her second ladies’ singles semi-final after defeating No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
After a rain-delayed start, the Spanish No.14 seed made quick work of her fellow former French Open champion with a 6-3, 6-4 result on No.1 Court. The 23-year-old is one win away from reaching her second Wimbledon final, having lost out to Serena Williams two years ago.
Muguruza will take on surprise semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova in the semi-finals after the 28-year-old Slovak continued her astonishing route through the draw with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 defeat of former quarter-finalist CoCo Vandeweghe.
Rybarikova led the American No.24 seed 6-3, 2-2 when played was suspended on No.1 Court. The match was completed under the roof on Centre Court where the world No.87 secured her maiden Grand Slam semi-final berth having never passed the third round in 25 prior Grand Slam main draw runs.
Earlier, in a gentlemen’s singles fourth round clash held over from Monday, two-time champion Novak Djokovic had few hassles on his way past unseeded French lefty Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4. The Serb will carry a 25-2 head-to-head record into his quarter-final with Tomas Berdych.
Brit Jamie Murray kept his hopes of a first Wimbledon mixed doubles crown in a decade on track when he and Swiss legend Martina Hingis became the first pair through to the quarter-finals. The No.1 seeds saw off the all-Czech pairing of Roman Jebavy and Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 6-4.
British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski continued their surprise run through the gentlemen’s doubles draw. The unseeded pairing reached their first Grand Slam quarter-final with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7) 6-4 victory over New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner.
Stat of the day: Venus Williams has reached back-to-back Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since reaching consecutive Wimbledon finals in 2008 and 2009.
Quote of the day: “I was showing more emotions on the court. Now I'm trying to handle it better. I think that's experience … The year I made [the] final here, I felt like I was a completely different player. Now I maybe feel more solid mentally, going out there knowing what to do.” – Garbiñe Muguruza on how she has grown as a player since her last Wimbledon semi-final two years ago.
