Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Wimbledon semifinals set

Though we've seen some exciting matches throughout the Wimbledon tournament, none occurred in today's quarterfinals. 8th seed Karolina Pliskova made pretty easy work of Victorija Golubic. Pliskova's first and second serve win percentages were 83 and 56, and that kind of says it all. She also did well at the net and kept her unforced errors down, defeating Golubic 6-2, 6-2. One couldn't have asked much more from the Czech star.

2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka had more with which to contend in 21st seed Ons Jabeur, but the Tunisian player didn't bring quite her customary level of energy to this match, and she was ultimately outhit by Sabalenka, who was playing in her first major quarterfinal. 

25th seed and 2018 Wimbledon champion Angie Kerber also won her match in straight sets, defeating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-3. Kerber out-served Muchova, and was broken only once, though Muchova had eight break opportunities.

Finally, world number 1 Ash Barty defeated countrywoman Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-3. Tomljanovic hit only five winners (to Barty's 23), but she made 20 unforced errors.

Here is the semifinal draw:

Ash Barty (1) vs. Angie Kerber (25)
These two have played each other four times, with each of them winning twice. They have never played one another on a grass court. Barty is the 2019 French Open champion, and Kerber has won the Australian Open (2016), the U.S. Open (2026) and Wimbledon (2018).

Karolina Pliskova (8) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2
Sabalenka is 2-0 against Pliskova, and one of their matches (2018 Eastbourne) was played on grass.

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