London: Second seed Aryna Sabalenka ended the fairytale run of upcoming Tunisian star Ons Jabeur, winning 6-4, 6-3, while eighth seed Karolina Pliskova beat Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2 here on Tuesday to enter the semi-finals of Wimbledon.In another women’s quarter-final fixture, 25th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany beat 19th seed Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3. Although Aryna hit less aces (three against four) and committed more double faults (five against two), she converted three of the 10 break points and won 83 per cent of first-service points against Ons.
Karolina’s game was more power-packed than her opponent’s as she fired eight aces against none by Viktorija. Karolina, who won 83 per cent points on first service and converted four of the 10 break points, has now reached semi-finals in all four Grand Slam events.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz ousted second seed Daniil Medvedev after the pair returned on Tuesday to finish their rain-hit match. He reached his maiden major quarter-final following a 2-6, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win and will meet Roger Federer next.
World No.2 Medvedev was leading Hurkacz by two sets to one on Monday with the fourth set on serve when play was cancelled for the day because of rain. The players had spent two hours and 25 minutes on Court Two. But Hurkacz, seeded 14th, looked a completely different player when the match restarted under the closed roof of Centre Court.
