NICE SURPRISE FOR WILLIAMS
HUNGRY as ever, Serena Williams expressed relief after surviving her first scare of the tournament to remain on track for an eighth Wimbledon singles crown — and first as a mother.
“I hate losing. That’s no secret,” the 23-time major winner said after digging deep to deny Camila Giorgi a famous victory with a rousing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final comeback win over the unseeded Italian.
Contesting her fourth tournament following 16 months of maternity leave either side of the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia in September, Williams will play German 13th seed Julia Goerges in her 11th semi-final at the All England Club tonight.
“Everything right now is a little bit of a surprise,” the American said. “To be here, to be in the semi-finals ... I mean, I always say I plan on it, I would like to be there, have these goals.
“But when it actually happens, it still is, like, ‘Wow, this is really happening’.
“It’s different now, obviously, because I have the baby.”
Triumphant in her two previous Wimbledon tilts in 2015 and 2016, Williams’s victory also extended her winning streak on the London grass to 19 matches. The 36-year-old is two from also matching Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam singles titles.
Goerges is at the other end of the spectrum, preparing for her maiden major semi-final after also recovering from a set down to defeat Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
She had won only five matches in 10 previous visits to the All England Club — and none in the past five years — before arriving last week.
“I don’t have many words today to describe the moment I’m going through right now. It’s pretty unreal for me at the moment to get to that stage at a grand slam,” the 29-year-old said.
“It’s been obviously always a dream for every player, to be in a semis in Wimbledon.
“But I’m just very glad the way I handled everything today because it wasn’t an easy match at all. It was quite tough.
“I was maybe the better player in the first set but didn’t actually take the chances I would have loved to take, but still found a way to somehow come back and close out that match.”
Winless in three previous meetings with Williams, including last month in Paris, Goerges could face compatriot Angelique Kerber in the first allGerman women’s grand slam final if she somehow fashioned a way to turn the tables.
Kerber, the former world No.1 and runner-up to Williams in 2016, plays Latvia’s 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in tonight’s second semi-final after outclassing Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-5. Ostapenko, the 12th seed, overpowered Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-4 to reach Wimbledon’s final four for the first time, and without dropping a set.