World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka had to dig deep to defeat 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund and reach the Wimbledon semifinals. After dropping the first set and falling behind twice in the deciding set, Sabalenka rallied to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a hard-fought match. Meanwhile, American Taylor Fritz booked his place in the semifinals for the first time at the All England Club with a solid win over Karen Khachanov.

 LONDON, July 8 – Aryna Sabalenka had a tough fight on her hands at Wimbledon on Tuesday. She lost the first set and was behind twice in the third, but managed to rally and win the last three games to beat Germany’s Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, securing her spot in the semifinals.

“She made it really tough,” said Sabalenka, who has held the No. 1 ranking since October. “After the first set, I looked at my team and thought, ‘Maybe it’s time to pack up and leave this beautiful place.’”

This is Sabalenka’s third time reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon – she also made it this far in 2021 and 2023 – but she’s never made it to the final here. Wimbledon remains the only Grand Slam where she hasn’t played for the title. The 27-year-old from Belarus has already won two Australian Opens and one U.S. Open, and she was runner-up this year at both the Australian Open (losing to Madison Keys) and the French Open (losing to Coco Gauff).

On Thursday, she’ll face either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or world No. 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whose previous match was marred by a technical issue that turned off the electronic line-calling system.

Sabalenka had cruised through her earlier Wimbledon matches without dropping a set, but Siegemund’s unique playing style presented a different challenge. The 37-year-old German, ranked 104th, had knocked out No. 6 seed Madison Keys last week and came into the tournament with a poor record on grass. Still, her clever mix of spins, speeds, and shot angles managed to disrupt Sabalenka’s rhythm.

“She’s not just tricky — she’s smart,” Sabalenka said. “You have to earn every single point, no matter how hard you hit or how well you serve.”

Sabalenka’s frustration showed at times – throwing up her hands, staring at her team, and even dropping to her knees after a missed shot. But down 4-3 in the final set, she broke back immediately, then held serve with her only two aces of the match. She ended the contest with a volley winner, letting out a roar of relief after nearly three hours on court.

In other Wimbledon action on Tuesday:

  • Taylor Fritz reached his first Wimbledon semifinal with a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) win over Karen Khachanov. The American, seeded No. 5, had struggled in previous Grand Slam quarterfinals, including two losses at Wimbledon, but finally broke through.

Fritz will next face either Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion, or unseeded Brit Cam Norrie, who were scheduled to play later Tuesday.

Coming up Wednesday:

  • Women’s quarterfinals:

    • No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. Belinda Bencic

    • No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova

  • Men’s quarterfinals:

    • No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 10 Ben Shelton

    • 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic vs. No. 22 Flavio Cobolli

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