The quarter-finals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships are in the books. Once again, the top half hasn’t been able to match the excitement from the bottom half. We did get another three setter though. Three of the four quarter-finals went the distance which is the most three setters at this stage of a Slam since the 2015 US Open! Thursday is a return to norm as it will be women’s semi-finals day. Read on for day 10 highlights…
QF #3 🎾
Elena Rybakina advanced to her first Slam semi-final, rallying from a set down to beat Ajla Tomljanovic, 4-6 6-2 6-3. I thought Rybakina was a clear favourite to win this match so I was quite surprised by how the first set unfolded. Tomljanovic meant business and came racing out of the blocks. Not sure i’ve seen Tomljanovic play a better set EVER! Tomljanovic exerted so much pressure on Rybakina’s second serve and hit nine winners to three (!!!) unforced errors.
Second and third sets were a different story. Rybakina steadied herself with solid service holds at the end of the first set and took that forward. It was always going to be a tough ask for Tomljanovic to maintain that first set level. Every service game was a struggle from there on and Tomljanovic’s forehand began to leak errors as Rybakina just got better and better, and began to dictate with increasing authority.
First time round, Rybakina blinked when serving for the match. Second time round, she was absolutely emphatic! This is Rybakina’s best result of the year since the first week of the year down under in Adelaide.
QF #4 🎾
I’m still holding out hope that one day we will get a close match between Simona Halep and Amanda Anisimova where both are playing well at the same time! 6-2 6-4, 6-0 6-1, 6-2 6-1 and now 6-2 6-4. And 6-2 6-4 could easily have been more one-sided. Halep beat Anisimova for the third consecutive time, fending off a late surge from the American to make it 12 straight wins at SW19.
For a set and a half, Halep was brilliant. Untouchable on serve, notably the second serve, great depth on the groundies and using angles to unsettle Anisimova. Halep forced Anisimova to go for more and unsurprisingly, that resulted in errors from Anisimova’s side. Anisimova ran out of ideas at the start of the second set and it became an uncomfortable watch for a time. The scoreboard was going at supersonic speed. Anisimova even backed off to try and make the court and was still missing. From my own personal experiences on a tennis court, it’s a horrible feeling!
Anisimova enjoyed a comfortable service hold at 1-5 in the second set and then began to relax and fire off winners. Halep stopped grunting and went into her shell. Out of nowhere, 1-5 quickly became 4-5 and Anisimova had three break points to level up the set at 5-5. I think Anisimova got tight again. Halep refocused to win five points in a row and deservedly seal the win. Anisimova left herself with far too much ground to make up at the end. Disappointed for Anisimova but this tournament was another step in the right direction. Halep is on an absolute roll and is still yet to be tested at this tournament.
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
Hot shot 🔥
Everything was going in for Halep in that first set and a half. This was special.
Best point 👏
Nothing really of note from today’s quarter-finals so one from yesterday. How did Bouzkova win this point?!
Snap of the day 📸
Something a bit different!
Moo's Tennis Blog 