Key events
Patten and Skupski won’t be messing around like this, that’s for sure.
Gonzalez and Eikeri lead 4-3 with the break in that mixed doubles quarter-final, but home interest in the doubles will be on No 1 Court later, where we’re guaranteed to end up with a Brit in the men’s final. Henry Patten – a favourite of this blog (I know who Daniel will be sneakily watching while also on Euro blog duty) – partners Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, while Neal Skupski plays alongside New Zealand’s Michael Venus. Theirs is the second men’s semi-final on No 1.
Today’s order of play
Centre Court, 1.30pm BST
Donna Vekic (Cro) v (7) Jasmine Paolini (Ita)
(31) Barbora Krejcikova (Cze) v (4) Elena Rybakina (Kaz)
No 1 Court, 1pm
(1) Marcel Granollers (Spa) & Horacio Zeballos (Arg) v (15) Max Purcell (Aus) & Jordan Thompson (Aus)
Harri Heliovaara (Fin) & Henry Patten (Gbr) v (9) Neal Skupski (Gbr) & Michael Venus (Nzl)
Santiago Gonzalez (Mex) & Giuliana Olmos (Mex) v Marcus Willis (Gbr) & Alicia Barnett (Gbr)
No 2 Court, already under way
Maximo Gonzalez (Arg) & Ulrikke Eikeri (Nor) v Nathaniel Lammons (USA) & Ena Shibahara (Jpn)
(7) Jan Zielinski (Pol) & Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) v Jamie Murray (Gbr) & Taylor Townsend (USA)
Preamble
Hello! And welcome to our coverage of the women’s semi-finals. Amid all the chaos this fortnight – a late withdrawal from the title favourite Aryna Sabalenka, a first-round dethroning of the defending champion Marketa Vondrousova, a third-round exit for the world No 1 Iga Swiatek and a fourth-round defeat out of nowhere for the previously impressive Coco Gauff – there has been one constant: the steady but spectacular presence of Elena Rybakina.
The 2022 champion, apart from conceding a set in the second round, has crushed everyone in her path, dropping only 13 games in her four other matches. Despite her injury and illness-hit build-up, she’s looking more dominant at Wimbledon than she did two years ago – and with 19 wins from 21 career matches here the Russian-born Kazakh is reaching Steffi Graf-like levels of efficiency.
This afternoon Rybakina faces Barbora Krejcikova, the clever and crafty Czech who’s trying to emulate her late mentor Jana Novotna by winning Wimbledon. Krejcikova has beaten Rybakina in their two previous matches – but crucially neither of those were on grass. Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, is very much the underdog.
Jasmine Paolini, meanwhile, had never been beyond the second round of a grand slam when Rybakina claimed her Wimbledon title. The Italian had never even won a match at Wimbledon before this year. But now this most joyful of late bloomers, all life-affirming energy, enthusiasm and ebullience, is the favourite – both with the fans and bookies – to beat Donna Vekic and reach her second consecutive slam final.
Vekic – at 28 the same age as Paolini – has also saved the best until late in her career. This is the Croatian’s first major semi-final at her 43rd attempt – having admitted she felt like she was “dying out there” in her tense quarter-final comeback against Emma Raducanu’s conqueror Lulu Sun. Vekic considered quitting tennis in May after a succession of injuries affected her form and motivation – but here the world No 37 is, just two wins from making all the pain and persistence worth it.
Women’s tennis is not as wildly inconsistent as it was in the early years post-Serena – the fact that Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff are the current major holders is proof of that – and along with Rybakina they’re ahead of the rest of the field. A new Big Four? Perhaps. But they’re far from emulating the consistency that the original Big Four produced on the men’s side. Rybakina is the favourite to win the Wimbledon title from here but she’ll take nothing for granted; this tournament has reminded us that the women’s game is still more than capable of throwing up the unexpected.
Play begins at: 1.30pm BST. The sun is shining, it’s the warmest day of the championships, so there won’t be any delays. Don’t be late!