Knowing how much he had to improve to compete with the best after a straight-sets defeat by the German in the final in Sydney in 2018 has been key to Kerber getting to the top of Barty. She was a fast learner as just one year later she won the French Open and topped the world rankings – Kawley is the only other Australian woman to be world number one.
Kerber has improved as the championship progressed from earning a five-minute standing ovation to a three-hour marathon with her second-round rival, Sarah Soribes Tormo. The 25th seeded pair registered impressive victories over top seeded pair Coco Gauff and then Karolina Muchova.
Pliskova also never doubted herself, despite being out of the top 10 – she’s ranked 13th after being a regular since 2016. Her first appearance at the Wimbledon semi-finals has justified that confidence – she hasn’t missed a set yet and has only broken her serve three times. The 29-year-old Czech has hit 40 aces and scored a serve with full force directed at his downers after defeating Swiss Viktorija Golubic on Tuesday.
Sabalenka has defied skeptics questioning her second-seeded position as she broke new ground to reach the last four and has never progressed past the fourth round of a major before. The tiger tattoo on his left thigh – being born in 1998 in the year of the Tiger – his parents didn’t talk to him for a week.
However, he has lived up to the image of the tiger in both power and fighting spirit in a lucrative victory over Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabur to make it to the last four in the last two rounds.
Pliskova won’t need to be reminded of 23-year-old Sabalenka’s struggling qualities. When they last met in Cincinnati in 2018, Sabalenka defeated Pliskova with two match points to spare.
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