Simona Halep’s return to Wimbledon after winning the title three years ago is going as well as it did the last time.
Simona Halep is back in the Wimbledon semifinals
The 16th-seeded Romanian advanced to the semifinals and extended her All England Club winning streak to 12 matches after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court on Wednesday.
Halep was unable to defend her Wimbledon championship twice, first in 2020 when the event was suspended due to the coronavirus epidemic. And then again in 2021 due to a left calf injury.
Halep will play Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. On No. 1 Court, Rybakina defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Kazakh Rybakina is competing at Wimbledon for just the second time in her life. In the previous year, she lost in the 4th round.
Rafael Nadal, a two-time champion, was facing Taylor Fritz on Centre Court in the men’s quarterfinals. While Nick Kyrgios was matched up against Cristian Garin on No. 1 Court.
In her tenth Wimbledon appearance, Halep has advanced to the semifinals three times. She is the only Title Holder currently participating in the game.
Her first four victories at this year’s tournament, all in straight sets, suggested that the match against Anisimova would be equally straightforward. But with the match tied at 5-2, the 20th-seeded American defeated Halep.
When Halep again served for the match at 5-4, Anisimova had three more break points, but the Romanian won five straight games to seal the victory.
More than a year ago, Halep suffered a calf injury that required her to retire from the French Open and Wimbledon. In April, she began working with Serena Williams’ previous coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.
Rybakina lost her opening set of the grass-court competition in the other match, but she broke her Australian opponent start of the second and third sets. She had 15 aces when the game was over.