TENNIS – Lorenzo Musetti saved some of his best tennis for the end as the Italian moved into his first Grand Slam semi-final by outlasting big-hitting American 13th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 3-6 6-1 at Wimbledon yesterday.
The 25th seed’s quest to join compatriot and world number one Jannik Sinner as a major champion this year faces a massive hurdle, however, as he faces seven-times All England Club champion Novak Djokovic in the last four.
Musetti has beaten Djokovic once in six clashes and dragged the Serb to five sets in their most recent one at Roland Garros.
The rare sighting of the sun at this year’s championships provided no incentive for Elena Rybakina to linger around longer than necessary on Centre Court as she ended Elina Svitolina’s quarter-final challenge with a 6-3 6-2 defeat.
Over the course of the last five days, the grasscourt major had started to resemble an indoor tournament with matches on the two main showcourts taking place under cover.
The retractable roof on Centre Court was finally open under a clear blue sky as Rybakina produced a majestic performance in front of Britain’s Queen Camilla to reach the last four for the second time in three years.
Barbora Krejcikova reached her first Wimbledon semi-final under blue skies with a 6-4 7-6(4) win over Latvian 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the battle of former French Open champions.
The Czech 31st seed kept her composure from the back of the court to force her opponent into 35 unforced errors across the match.
&uuid=(email))