Aryna Sabalenka has just matched a Serena Williams record by beating Laura Siegemund to reach Wimbledon semi-finals

   

Aryna Sabalenka battled her way through to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The WTA’s world number one has not had it easy throughout her latest campaign at the All-England Club.

She took on the creative and tricky Laura Siegemund, who defeated Australian Open champion Madison Keys on the way to the last eight at Wimbledon.

The German pushed Sabalenka to her limit, but ultimately it was the three-time Grand Slam champion who prevailed and reached the last four at SW19 for a third time.

Aryna Sabalenka matches Serena Williams record after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals

Aryna Sabalenka had plenty of work to do after losing the first set of her Wimbledon quarter-final to Siegemund.

 

She was missing plenty of forehands as she struggled to come to terms with the slices and short shots the 37-year-old was playing as she made great use of the grass.

Sabalenka steadied the ship by securing the second set, which preceded a final set with plenty of momentum swings.

Siegemund broke Sabalenka’s serve on two occasions to edge ahead but each time she was reeled in by Sabalenka.

When Siegemund was serving to stay in the match at 5-4, she was broken one final time by Sabalenka, who sealed a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

That win means Sabalenka has become the second woman since 2000 to reach 10 singles Grand Slam semi-finals from 11 successive appearances.

The first woman to achieve that feat was Serena Williams, who ended her illustrious career with 23 majors to her name.

Billie Jean King says Laura Siegemund was driving Aryna Sabalenka ‘crazy’ at Wimbledon

Siegemund was able to frustrate Sabalenka with a grass court game ideal for disrupting powerful players.

Sabalenka struggled playing against a game style she is not accustomed to, but although it was not pretty, she found a way to win.

Post-match BBC Sport commentator Billie Jean King outlined the ways in which Sabalenka was troubled by Siegemund before pulling off a comeback victory.

“From Sabalenka we saw every emotion possible. The important thing is that near the end, she started to slice her forehand, and that’s grass court tennis,” the American said.

“Siegemund was killing her with grass court tennis. She was giving her no power, she was giving her nothing, and it was driving Sabalenka crazy.”