Wimbledon 2022: Women's semi-finals see three new names in quest for maiden Slam

Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina and Tatjana Maria are three of the semi-finalists at Wimbledon. Not the household names that one’s become accustomed to seeing in the latter stages of the All England Club. But all three deserve to be in the last-four.

Also making it through, and the anomaly from the four, is the 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep. The Romanian is a two-time Grand Slam winner and has been into the semi-finals of a major at least seven times. Jabeur vs Maria [caption id=“attachment_10879871” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Ons Jabeur faces Tatjana Maria with both women chasing history in the Wimbledon semi-finals. AP[/caption]

Both players are on the cusp of creating history. Jabeur, who hails from Tunisia, will become the first Arab and North African woman to make a major final if she wins. Only in May, Jabeur became the first African to win a WTA 1000 title in Madrid and then suffered a shocking first round exit at the French Open. To prepare for Wimbledon, she won the tournament in Berlin and the Tunisian player has dropped just one set at SW19 to remain 10-0 on grass this season. The 27-year-old has form and momentum on her side. She’s won 21 of 23 matches in the last two months and has a crafty game to take on Maria. With deft drop shots and strong volleying skills, she holds the edge. Her BBQ buddy, Tatjana Maria is 34 and a mother of two. The German player has her young daughters Charlotte and Cecilia in attendance at the All England Club. If she wins, Maria would become the lowest-ranked woman to make the Wimbledon final. She already has created history by becoming the oldest first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist in the Open Era.

Maria can take confidence in her big wins thus far. She’s accounted for seeded players in Sorana Cirstea, No 5 Maria Sakkari and No 12 Jelena Ostapenko. She comes into this match on the back of a win over compatriot Jule Niemeier. If Jabeur has the tricky out-of-nowhere shots, Tatjana has a never-say-die attitude to match it. She trailed Astra Sharma by a set in the first round, Cirstea by a double break in the decider. In the third round, Sakkari led 5-2 in the second set; Ostapenko was up by a set and 4-1 (then two match points) in the fourth round, then 2-0 in the decider; Niemeier led by a break in both the second and third sets having won the first. Pre-match chat: Ons Jabeur: “It is going to be tough to play her (Maria), she is a great friend. I am really happy she is in a semi-final – look at her now, she is in a semi-final after having two babies. It is an amazing story.” Tatjana Maria: “To be now here in this spot – I mean, like I said, one year ago I gave birth to my second daughter – if somebody would tell me one year later ‘you are in a semi-final of Wimbledon’, that’s crazy.” Head-to-head: Jabeur leads 2-1 Halep vs Rybakina [caption id=“attachment_10879841” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Simona Halep takes on Elena Rybakina in the second women’s semi-final at Wimbledon 2022. AP[/caption]

In a way, Halep is the defending Wimbledon champion. She won the title in 2019, didn’t get an opportunity to defend in 2020 due to the tournament being cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, she suffered an calf injury and had to withdraw. Halep is yet to drop a set in the Championship and the farthest she’s gone is 7-5 to Kirsten Flipkens. Against Amanda Anisimova in the quarter-final, Halep was racing away before suffering a blip. It was only temporarily as the Romanian player booked a place in the last-four. It also took her unbeaten run to 12 matches - longest since Serena Williams’ 20 matches from 2015 to 2018. The 30-year-old doesn’t earn herself many free points on the serve and yet has been broken just seven times in five matches. She leads the women’s field at Wimbledon with second serve points won (62%), first serve points won (72%) and break points saved (65%).

If Halep isn’t expected to light up the serve stats, her opponent on Thursday - Rybakina - is. The 23-year-old has struck 44 aces at Wimbledon in five matches which extended her tally in the season to 212, which is more than any other player. The tall Kazakh, born in Moscow, has put the weapon to good use. In first four rounds, she was taken to 5-5 six times and won them all courtesy some important cheap points. Rybakian reeled off seven straight games between second and third set to beat Alja Tomljanovic in three sets after coming from a set down. Rybakina is hoping to become the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam final. If their previous meeting is an indication, expect a cracker of a contest. Their 2020 Dubai final was voted the Match of the Year that season. Pre-match chat: Simona Halep: “I know she’s a big hitter. I played against her few times. I’m sure that she has a lot of confidence being in semis now here in Wimbledon. But it’s a new match, new challenge. I’m ready for it and I will try to give everything to take my chance.” Elena Rybakina: “It is a big challenge for me. We have already played a few times and it was a tough battle.” Head-to-head: Halep leads 2-1 Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .