Day 11 and the day of the ladies semi-finals. The day shaped up to be a good day on paper and reality it was. The first semi-final was between the number 1 in the world, Ash Barty, and her opponent was past Wimbledon champion, Angelique Kerber. They had played 4 times before and they had each won twice. Barty came out a bit nervous and found herself 15-40 down in her first service game. She managed to hold in that game, winning 4 points in a row. She then broke Kerber’s serve and led 3-0. She controlled the set from there and won the first set 6-3. Kerber found a bit of rhythm as she hit back in the 2nd set. She led 4-1 and then 5-2 in the 2nd set. Barty wasn’t done with the set and held twice and broke to make it even at 5-5. Both ladies then held and we were going to a tiebreak. Kerber began the tiebreak with a very nervy forehand into the net. Barty capitalised on the nerves and went up 6-0 and had 6 match points. Kerber saved 3 but the 4th she slammed a backhand into the net. Barty was through to her first Wimbledon final. The other semi-final was between 2nd seed, Sabalenka, and 8th seed, Pliskova. Pliskova was holding serve easily and creating chances to break. Sadly for her, Sabalenka was pulling out the big serves when they were needed. At 5-5 Sabalenka saved 4 break points and all 4 break points were unreturned serves. This frustrated Pliskova and it showed as she was underpressure for the first time on her serve at 5-6. Sabalenka conjured up her first break point of the match and it turned out it was also a set point. She took it and was up a set. Pliskova stayed positive and at 2-2 in the 2nd set, she found herself 0-40 again. This time she took the break point and this allowed her to control the set. She took the 2nd set 6-4 and this semi-final was going the distance. Pliskova again was the first to strike in the 3rd set and again the 1 break was all she needed as she took the 3rd set 6-4. She was through to her first grand slam final.

In the fantasy tournament, our leader ‘Anyone for Tea’ is still our leader after day 11. They lead by 1 point over second place ‘Hotshot’. ‘2nd choice’ loses their 2nd place and is now 6 points off the lead in 3rd. ‘Stentastics’ and ‘Top Turtles’ still occupy 4th and 5th. 3 more teams were eliminated on Day 11 and they were ‘Optional’, ‘Kicking grAss’ and ‘Chalk Dust’.

Results of the ladies Semi-Finals:

• Barty(1) beat Kerber(25) – 6-3; 7-5(3)
• Pliskova(8) beat Sabalenka(2) – 5-7; 6-4; 6-4

Mens Semi-Finals:

• Berrettini(7) vs Hurkacz(14) (14:30)
• Djokovic(1) vs Shapovalov(10) (16:30)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.