Anna Blinkova stands alone in the girls’ singles as the only remaining seed going into the semi-finals, after enduring a marathon match on Court 18 against American Tornado Alicia Black.
Blinkova, the No.12 seed, trailed 1-6, 0-2 following some inspired play by Black, but managed to turn the tide and force a deciding set. A tussle ensued and Blinkova struggled to serve out the match, despite many opportunities. Finally, after more than three hours on court, the young Russian fired an ace to seal victory 1-6, 6-3, 12-10.
In the first set something terrible happened – I missed every ball
Blinkova’s opponent in the last four will be Vera Lapko of Belarus, who defeated Michaela Gordon 6-3, 7-6(4), and Blinkova is expecting a close match. “She is just great. I have to show my best tennis to reach the final.”
Her much-needed recovery will be interrupted by a doubles match, but the 16-year-old says she will use it to practise the parts of her game she found disappointing. “It is the best thing that happened to me in all my life. I have never been in a semi-final in a Grand Slam, it is a dream for me,” she said.
“This girl is very good, I lost to her once 6-3, 6-0 and I had no chance to beat her. Today I did my best to win. In the first set something terrible happened – I missed every ball. Sometimes it happens to me when I don’t know what to do. But then I told myself, ‘Anna if you want to win, do everything for this'.”
Britain's Katie Swan, the No.5 seed, recovered from an early break in the opening set and then broke to serve for it at 6-5. However, her unseeded opponent Viktoria Kuzmova immediately broke back to force a tie-break, which she won for the loss of just two points.
Carrying the momentum into the second set, the Slovakian broke early to lead 3-0, before Swan took a medical time-out off the court. When play resumed, the 16-year-old was broken immediately, and struggled to have an impact thereafter.
With the semi-finals firmly in her sight, Kuzmova sealed the win 7-6(2), 6-0. She will face Sofya Zhuk, who won the all-Russian quarter-final on Court 17 against Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-3.
In the boys’ quarter-finals, No.1 seed Taylor Fritz stuttered on his way to a three-set victory over No.11 seed Yunseong Chung. Having raced through the first set in just over 20 minutes, it looked as if the American would continue his blistering form and seal the win with ease. However, Chung secured a double-break in the second set and levelled the match.
Spurred on by the frustration of dropping his first set in The Championships, Fritz stormed through the deciding set without dropping a game, to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. In the semi-finals, the 17-year-old will face fellow countryman Reilly Opelka, who defeated No.10 seed William Blumberg 6-4, 6-4 in under an hour.
In the other half of the draw, Sweden’s Mikael Ymer edged past Alvaro Lopez San Martin, 7-5, 7-6(3). It was clear from the start how closely matched they were, with the first game lasting five minutes and the first set 51 minutes. The pair exchanged multiple breaks but Ymer closed out the second set tie-break convincingly. His semi-final opponent will be Finland’s Patrik Niklas-Salminen, who caused yet another upset in the boys’ draw when he defeated French Open Junior champion Tommy Paul.
Niklas-Salminen, who is enjoying a brilliant run on his Wimbledon debut, put the No.17 seed under considerable pressure from the start. He broke Paul’s first service game on his way to winning the first set. The American 18-year-old regrouped to breeze through the second set, but was unable to carry the momentum into the decider. Niklas-Salminen broke in the 10th game to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win.
“I felt great on the court, and played good tennis in the first and third sets,” he said. “When I got here I didn’t think I would make the semi-final, nowhere near. The most important thing is to enjoy the moment, as I have nothing to lose.”
