Certainly no one had all four of these ladies as the semifinalists in their fantasy draws. We have a 21-year-old Latvian who shocked the tennis world by winning her first-ever tour title at last year’s Roland Garros. With the pressure to defend that title behind her, is she ready to do it again? We also have two veteran Germans: one a two-time Major singles champion, while the other had never been passed the fourth round at a Grand Slam event. And of course we have a 36-year-old American with 23 Major singles titles to her name, who is just two wins away from tying the all-time record of 24.
Angelique Kerber vs. Jelena Ostapenko
It’s extremely rare to have the first meeting between two Major singles champions in the semifinal of a Grand Slam event. With no history to go off, it’s hard to know how this one will play out. Will the relentless offens of Ostapenko prevail, or the defence and guile of Kerber? No one’s been able to thwart the groundstrokes of Ostapenko through five rounds. Jelena is yet to drop a set, though she’s also yet to face a seeded player. Kerber has already taken out two top 10 seeds, and has much more experience on grass than Ostapenko. Angelique has 62 career wins on grass, compared to 20 tour wins for Jelena. But Ostapenko knows all about winning at The All England Club: she won the juniors title here in 2014. And based on Ostapenko’s run in Paris last year, she’s unlikely to be overwhelmed by the weight of this occasion. The match will probably be on her racket, with the result depending upon her winner-to-unforced-error ratio. Kerber’s scrambling will make Jelena hit a few more winners than most opponents. Can Ostapenko maintain the successful offense at the pivotal moments? I’m hard-pressed to bet against her. Neither woman is likely to hand the win to the other, and we should see a fair amount of exciting rallies considering their competitive natures and contrasting styles. This could be a fun one.
Serena Williams vs. Julia Goerges
The second quarterfinal of the day would appear to be one-way traffic. 3-0 head-to-head, with Serena never dropping a set. 35 Major singles semifinals to one. 92 career singles titles to 13. But as we saw yesterday with Kevin Anderson, anything can happen on any given day, regardless of history. And like Anderson, the big-serving Goerges should play pretty freely on Thursday, knowing Serena is the heavy favorite. Julia is one of the best servers on tour. If she can hold easily and keep the score close late in sets, an upset is not out of the realm of possibility. Let’s also keep in mind that Serena is only four tournaments into her year-long layoff. While her form has been quite impressive through five rounds, especially considering she didn’t arrive at SW19 in 100% health, she can’t be fully match-tough. A letdown in form leading to an upset would not be shocking. Much like Serena’s last match against Camila Giorgi, this semifinal may come down to just one or pivotal breaks in the match. As good as Goerges’ serve is, Serena’s is better, as is her return game and movement. Serena should comfortably advance to her tenth final at The Championships. After all, she’s 9-1 in Wimbledon semifinals, with her only loss coming 18 years ago.
Centre Court order of play
1 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12] 17 vs Angelique Kerber (GER) [11] 49
2 Julia Goerges (GER) [13] 81 vs Serena Williams (USA) [25] 104
3 Jay Clarke (GBR) / Harriet Dart (GBR) 6 vs Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Abigail Spears (USA) [10] 9
