The balls kept on listening to Iga Swiatek on Wednesday as the Polish eighth seed walloped Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 7-5 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. After years of nightmare outings on tennis' fastest surface,

Iga Swiatek has reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages.

It’s Iga Świątek, the five-time Grand Slam champion who spent 125 weeks as the world No. 1 between early 2022 and late 2024. She’s the No. 8 seed at Wimbledon, but she’s actually the world No. 4. Only three of the top seven players in the world are left in the draw.