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It was a rare sight on Centre Court as a frustrated Aryna Sabalenka battled her nerves as much as her opponent in her 11th consecutive grand slam quarter-final. The world No 1 had bested every opponent here in straight sets, but needed a decider to beat Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and book her place in the semi-finals, where she will face the No 13 seed, Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka had a clear early tactic: get to the net as soon as possible. She struggled though, with an early double fault and hitting it long. Siegemund troubled her with an unreachable backhand drop shot and, despite slipping, hit a forehand winner to earn her second break point before a cross-court backhand return secured the game.
The German held serve and then broke her more illustrious opponent again. An 113mph serve earned Sabalenka a sole point in a game riddled with errors as the 37-year-old’s nimble movement and court coverage helped her go 3-0 up. The No 1 seed soon got back on track and on the board, breaking to love, before earning a hold with a backhand volley winner.
Sabalenka continued to struggle against Siegemund’s killer drop shot as the German won two games in a row to lead 5-2. Serving for the set, she began with a double fault before hitting a forehand long. Sabalenka was handed the game by her opponent’s sudden breakdown after another double fault. The Belarusian made the most of the lucky break and held serve.
At 4-5, the pressure built. Sabalenka screamed in frustration and slapped her thighs after netting an early return and the crowd were in full voice after her opponent’s masterful net play. A wild Sabalenka shot into the stands and a blasted forehand return into the net handed Siegemund the set.
Forced to respond to dropping a set for the first time, Sabalenka opened the second with her third double fault, but managed to hold after two long returns from her opponent before the players traded breaks of serve.
Sabalenka’s spirits were down, hitting a ball high up in the air in exasperation, and the German capitalised by holding. However, her nerves seemed to get the better of her, going 40-0 up on her serve before handing Sabalenka the break after a string of errors. Neither player could get their forehand under control as Sabalenka held and then broke to take a scrappy set.
She stormed out in the decider holding to love with a few speeding serves before Siegemund made it 1-1 with a stroke of luck after a forehand slice clipped the net. The German then broke Sabalenka’s serve after a great rally with a forehand winner that had the crowd on their feet for the first time and a hold followed.
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Sabalenka angrily whacked the net with her racket during her service game after a long forehand, but held to 15 after poor shot selection the other side of the net. Sabalenka broke twice to keep it level at 4-4 after two sliced forehands by the German were just long. A couple of aces handed Sabalenka the lead before seeing out the match with a winner from Siegemund’s defensive lob.
Anisimova had little trouble in her quarter-final, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 7-6.
