Iga Swiatek said she had ‘goosebumps’ after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in her illustrious career with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova on Wednesday.
The Polish eighth seed will face former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic for a place in Saturday’s final. Bencic beat Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in another quarter-final encounter.
World No. 4 Swiatek has won four titles on the clay courts at French Open besides the US Open in 2022, but has struggled on the lawns of the All England Club. Her previous best result at Wimbledon was a run to the quarter-finals in 2023.
Dominant start
Swiatek dominated the first set against 19th-seed Samsonova on Court One, but was made to battle hard in the second set before wrapping up victory in one hour and 49 minutes. “It feels great. Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament I’ve already got goosebumps after this win. I’m super happy and super proud of myself and I’ll keep going,” she said.
“Honestly, I’ve really enjoyed playing this year and hopefully it’s going to last as long as possible. For sure I feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface,” she added.
Swiatek broke twice in the opening set to take a firm grip on the match, benefiting from a flurry of unforced errors from her opponent and winning 100 percent of her points on first serve. Two double faults from the Russian handed Swiatek an early break in the second set and she snuffed out a clutch of break points in the following game to go 3-0 up. However, Samsonova pulled level at 4-4. But Swiatek, 24, regrouped to seal the win, finishing off her opponent with a fierce forehand winner.
No. 7 Andreeva stunned
Meanwhile, on Centre Court, Russian World No. 7 Andreeva suffered a shock 6-7 (3/7, 6-7 (2-7) defeat to Swiss World No. 35 Bencic.
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