Alcaraz, Sabalenka through to Wimbledon semis in contrasting fashion

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Carlos Alcaraz earns a decisive win to continue his quest for a third consecutive Wimbledon title, while Aryna Sabalenka survives to stay in the hunt for a maiden crown in the grass court Grand Slam

Men’s second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals in contrasting fashion on Tuesday, July 8 (Wednesday, July 9, Manila time).

Alcaraz swatted side unseeded home bet Cameron Norrie of Great Britain at Centre Court, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, while Sabalenka took longer than expected to get past Germany’s Laura Siegemund, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The Spaniard fell 0-40 down in his opening service game, but quickly snapped out of his slumber to seal the victory that should send shudders down the spine of anyone hoping to dethrone him.

There were hundreds of empty seats at the start as fans sought refreshment after watching Sablaneka’s protracted last-eight victory.

By the time most of them returned to cheer on the underdog, Alcaraz was in full flow having blazed through the opening set in 28 minutes with a barrage of brilliance.

The tone was set, and although Norrie tried his best to dig in, raising his fist in mock triumph as he held serve late in the third set, Alcaraz mercilessly extended his current match winning streak to 23.

Alcaraz, 22, reached his eighth Grand Slam semifinal and will continue his quest for a third successive Wimbledon title against American Taylor Fritz.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian needed all her powers of ball bludgeoning and belief to emerge from a befuddling battle, somehow the victor.

For much of the spell-binding contest it looked as though the world No. 1 would find no answers to Siegemund’s sorcery as the 37-year-old German veteran chipped, chopped, and drop-shotted the world’s best player to pieces, leaving the top seed’s power game neutered on the turf.

Ranked a lowly No. 104 in the world, Siegemund drew on the game of a gentler age to bring low the mighty Belarusian, casting spells of slice and sleight with vintage flair.

But slowly, if not exactly surely, the 10 years younger and seemingly stronger Sabalenka managed to wrestle back the upper hand, and now plays American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, for a place in Saturday’s final.

“I need some time to recover … She pushed me so much and honestly after the first set I was just like looking at my box thinking like, ‘Guys I mean like book the tickets you know, I think we’re about to leave this beautiful city, country, place.'”

“But wow she played an incredible tournament, an incredible match and I’m just super happy right now with the win and, oh my god guys, like atmosphere — it’s just another level.” – Rappler.com