Iga Swiatek makes hay on the grass to finally reach Wimbledon's last four
Swiatek has never before been able to convincingly transfer her clay-court nous to the lawns of SW19.
Jazda! 🇵🇱
Iga Swiatek defeats Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 to reach her first #Wimbledon semi-final 👏 pic.twitter.com/AWlIo5Jsbg
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2025
But after losing her Roland Garros crown last month, the Polish star looks determined to finally open her turf account.
'It feels great. Even though it's the middle of the tournament I got goosebumps after this win,' she said.
'I've really enjoyed playing this year and hopefully it's going to last as long as possible. This year I feel I can work with it.'
Swiatek's previous best run was to the quarter-finals in 2023, but she says she feels more confident on the grass now.
SWIATEK 🤝 SEMIS@iga_swiatek has secured her spot in the #Wimbledon semifinals after defeating Samsonova in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5! pic.twitter.com/FWTfHhkB9x
— wta (@WTA) July 9, 2025
'I still feel like in 2023 I had a great tournament, and I was playing good tennis, but it obviously wasn't enough to go further,' she added.
'This year, yeah, I mean, I feel like I developed as a player, and I had time to practice a little bit more.
'Match by match my confidence, for sure, went up so that I can use it on these Championships.
'I'm just happy with the work that I've been doing and proud of myself, yeah.'
A comfortable victory means the prospect of a mouthwatering first grand slam final between Swiatek and the woman who replaced her as world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, remains on the cards.
Standing in her way is Swiss 28-year-old Belinda Bencic, who has made a remarkable comeback following the birth of daughter Bella in April last year.
'I never doubted that she can't come back after pregnancy,' said Swiatek. 'She seems like she's in a good mood and she's playing well.'
Samsonova, the 19th seed from Russia, was making her first appearance in a grand slam quarter-final, and it showed.
She made 18 unforced errors as Swiatek raced away with the first set and back-to-back double faults gifted the eighth seed a break at the start of the second.
Having lost seven straight games the 26-year-old began to swing more freely and managed to reel Swiatek back in at 4-4.
However, Swiatek brought up two match points and converted the second with a forehand winner, wrapping up victory in an hour and 49 minutes.
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And, even worse, it's still not always right. I know I'm fighting a losing battle; automated line calling is here to stay, in the same way that VAR in football and every other electronic system in any other sport you want to name is here for good. We've seen the last of line judges at Wimbledon, and at most high-level tennis tournaments, and we're seeing diminishing authority and decreased appetite for any human involvement in decision-making in sport. In the end, ELC and its ilk might end up as a more reliable and accurate way to referee and umpire matches. We're certainly not at that point now, though, and the journey to get there is doing quite considerable damage to sport.
The Herald Scotland
16 minutes ago
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Computers are taking over sport, and I hate it
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We've seen in tennis, football and every other sport that uses automated systems, this ideal level of accuracy is far from the current reality. We might get to a point where the systems are almost infallible but until then, their introduction should have been vetoed. We're already at the stage that human umpires and referees are slaves to these electronic systems, despite the fact we all know they make mistakes. And my second misgiving about ELC and other automated systems is that, in sport's pursuit of perfection in terms of decision-making, so much of the entertainment value is being lost. Yes, referees, umpires and line judges getting calls wrong may make for a frustrating day for players who are on the wrong end of certain decisions, but my goodness it made for an entertaining afternoon or evening of sport. I just can't see how electronic calls enhance the sporting experience for the fans. It's time-consuming and, once the novelty has worn off, pretty dull to watch. And, even worse, it's still not always right. I know I'm fighting a losing battle; automated line calling is here to stay, in the same way that VAR in football and every other electronic system in any other sport you want to name is here for good. We've seen the last of line judges at Wimbledon, and at most high-level tennis tournaments, and we're seeing diminishing authority and decreased appetite for any human involvement in decision-making in sport. In the end, ELC and its ilk might end up as a more reliable and accurate way to referee and umpire matches. We're certainly not at that point now, though, and the journey to get there is doing quite considerable damage to sport.
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
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You thought this Wimbledon was anarchic – try these for size
What's going on at Wimbledon? We've had dodgy automated line calls, rows over the roof, and Rufus the hawk being outed by his handler. In truth, twas ever thus. You don't bring a thousand-odd players to this temple of tennis, then mix them in with 500 reporters and 39 different broadcasters, all hunting for stories, without generating the odd schemozzle. But which summers have thrown up the most chaotic tournaments? Here is Telegraph Sport 's list of Wimbledon anarchy. 1973: The Wimbledon strike When was the men's field bulked out by 30 amateur hopefuls? In 1973, the year of the strike. The Association of Tennis Professionals had been founded just nine months earlier, and flexed its muscles in a labour dispute involving Yugoslavia's Niki Pilic. Only a handful of true contenders entered the tournament, including Ilie Nastase and British No 1 Roger Taylor, who lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Jan Kodes of Czechoslovakia. 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Eventually Nigel Clarke of The Mirror pushed Charley Steiner of RKO Radio and the pair of them started brawling on the floor. 1995: A hat-trick of defaults In a mind-boggling statistical freak, Wimbledon has only ever delivered three disqualifications – and they all came at the same tournament. First up was squeaky-clean Tim Henman, then 20, who whacked the ball away in anger after missing a volley in a men's doubles match. Unfortunately, a ball girl happened to cross the net at just that moment, and took a heavy blow on the ear. Three days later it was the turn of Jeff Tarango, the hot-tempered Californian, who told a noisy crowd to 'shut up'. When Bruno Rebeuh gave him a code violation for an audible obscenity, Tarango responded by calling Rebeuh 'the most corrupt chair umpire in the world,' thus earning a point penalty. Tarango walked off court, effectively disqualifying himself. His wife Benedicte then provided the chef's kiss by slapping Rebeuh in the face. The hat-trick was completed by doubles player Murphy Jensen, who missed a mixed-doubles match – some accounts blame heavy traffic – and was so angst-filled that he immediately disappeared on a fishing trip to Scotland without telling anyone. One newspaper report quoted the Wimbledon chief of police, who was incensed about the wasted effort spent on a Jensen manhunt. 1996: The Centre Court streaker Melissa Johnson is not the only streaker to have interrupted a Wimbledon final – Mark Roberts also did so in 2002 – but she drew considerably more acclaim from the crowd. She also succeeded in distracting MaliVai Washington, the eventual runner-up, with a cheeky gesture. 'I look over and see this streaker,' Washington explained, during the presentation ceremony. 'She lifted up the apron and she was smiling at me. I got flustered and three sets later I was gone.' Commentating on TV, McEnroe asked for 'replays from all angles'. 2001: People's Monday We could choose any number of rain-wrecked Wimbledons from the era before the Centre Court roof arrived in 2009. According to meteorologists, there have been 32 days washed out across the tournament's history, although 1888, 1997 and 2004 were the only years to suffer multiple incidences. Ironically, the 2001 event was sunny and dry until the second Friday, when the weather turned horrid and Henman lost his infamous semi-final to wild card Goran Ivanisevic in several heart-stopping instalments played over three days. Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter then played the only men's final to begin on a Monday, in front of a lively and excitable audience. The Wimbledon website described it as 'more like a football crowd than a tennis crowd'. Our 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic has been inducted into the @TennisHalloFame 🇭🇷 The author of perhaps the greatest #Wimbledon story ever told... — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 28, 2020 2013: Slippery grass Seven players withdrew injured on so-called 'Wacky Wednesday', which legendary coach Nick Bollettieri said was 'easily the craziest day of tennis I have ever seen. And I have been doing this for 60 years.' One of the highest-profile victims was Maria Sharapova, who said, 'I buckled my knee three times … I've just never fallen that many times in a match before.' Victoria Azarenka, the other highest-ranked seed in the bottom half of the draw, also pulled out of the tournament as a result of an injury sustained earlier in the week. Various theories were advanced, including one unlikely suggestion from Michelle Larcher de Brito – Sharapova's conqueror – that there were loose grass cuttings on the surface. You might as well accuse Wimbledon of being a haven of closet communists. From a PR perspective, the All England Club was fortunate that the biggest story of the day still revolved around Roger Federer, who kept his footing against Sergiy Stakhovsky but lost in four sets to end his incredible run of 36 straight grand-slam quarter-finals.
