World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday, July 8, after defeating veteran Laura Siegemund.
The Belarusian defeated the 37-year-old German player Siegemund with scores of 4-6 6-2 6-4.
Siegemund was playing strongly at the start by breaking Sabalenka's serve in the first game and then broke her serve again to gain a double advantage.
Sabalenka then quickly recovered and as the set continued, both players broke each other's serves again.
Throughout, Siegemund gave Sabalenka a tough time by using slice shots, strong returns and slow playing style which frustrated Sabalenka.
However, after a long and difficult match that lasted almost three hours, Sabalenka finally managed to win the match.
After winning the match, the 27-year-old said, "After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, 'book the tickets, we are about to leave'," as per BBC Sports.
The player went on to share, "It doesn't matter if you are a big-hitter or a big server - you have to work, run and earn the victory. It is tough, but beautiful."
"I had to make sure I didn't show I was annoyed by her - even if I was slightly, I didn't want to give her that energy," she added.
Right now, Sabalenka is considered the strongest contender since she's the only one left among top six ranked female players in the tournament.
Sabalenka will now face either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semi-final.
