Aryna Sabalenka powers past Madison Keys to reach Wimbledon ...

Aryna Sabalenka powered into the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the American Madison Keys. The Belarusian second seed, who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, romped through the first set but had to recover from 4-2, 40-0 down in the second to clinch victory.

A semi-finalist here two years ago, Sabalenka will now take on either Elena Rybakina, the 2022 winner here, or the runner-up 12 months ago, Ons Jabeur. If she reaches the final she will also become world No 1 for the first time.

“It’s amazing to be back in the semi-finals,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview immediately after the match. “I can’t wait to play my second semi-final. Hopefully I can do better than last time. It was a really tough match, that game at 2-4, 40-0 it was really important. Thank you for the support – even though you supported her more – I still really enjoyed playing in front of you guys.”

Sabalenka began well, breaking Keys in a six-minute first game with some thunderous hitting. Keys got on the board for 1-2 but after being broken again for 4-1, the American consulted the doctor and took some tablets.

Sabalenka wrapped up the set soon after but Keys, in her second quarter-final here, hit back well and when she broke serve and led 4-2, 40-0 in the second, it looked like she would take it to a decider. But Sabalenka found her groove again, winning 12 straight points to take control.

A horrible volley over the baseline by Keys gave her another break for 5-4 and though the American saved one match point, Sabalenka sealed the win with an unreturnable serve.

Sabalenka lost against Ash Barty in the semi-finals two years ago but is overflowing with confidence after her win in Australia at the start of this year.

“I think since that semi-final I changed a lot, I did a lot of work, I’m a different player now,” she said. “Since I was little I was dreaming about Wimbledon title. It’s something special. Wimbledon is different, it’s more special.”

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