Karolina Pliskova stormed in her first Wimbledon semi-final with an emphatic straight-sets defeat of Viktorija Golubic.
Pliskova had never been beyond the fourth round at the All England Club before this week, but the eighth seed marched into the last four with a 6-2 6-2 victory on Tuesday.
The Czech dominated the unseeded Golubic, playing her first grand slam quarter-final, to secure a meeting with Aryna Sabalenka or Ons Jabeur at SW19.
Pliskova, eyeing a maiden major title at the age of 29, produced an exemplary display with rain crashing down on the roof of No.1 Court and has only failed to hold serve three times in her five matches en route to the last four.
Golubic showed great fight to hold in the fourth game, demonstrating her majestic single-handed backhand to save a break point and following that up with a glorious forehand winner.
Pliskova's serve was proving to be a potent weapon once again and she was a break up at 4-2 following an overhead smash that clipped the net cord before dropping in.
The former world number one was in command, hardly putting a foot wrong as she took the opening set in 32 minutes, with Golubic drilling a forehand long following a double fault.
Pliskova held to love in a flash in the opening game of the second set and showcased deft footwork, power and precision to win a thrilling rally before her 66-ranked opponent overcooked a backhand to go 2-0 down.
A rasping return from world number 13 raised the roof when she showed a potent combination of anticipation, agility and skill to race forward and steer away a magnificent cross-court backhand winner.
Golubic got on the board at 3-1 and had three break points in a lengthy game before Pliskova's serve got her out of trouble to move into a 5-2 lead and the Swiss was on her way out after failing to hold in the next game.
Data slam: Pliskova serving up strong challenge
Pliskova's venomous serve has always been a dangerous weapon and she produced another exhibition, serving eight aces.
She has not dropped a set in the tournament and Golubic was unable to secure a break. Pliskova only lost six points behind her first serve, laying the foundations for a commanding win.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Pliskova – 28/19
Golubic – 10/16
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Pliskova – 8/3
Golubic – 0/3
BREAK POINTS WON
Pliskova– 4/10
Golubic – 0/3
Swiatek confirms split with coach Wiktorowski and Wuhan Open withdrawal
Iga Swiatek has announced the end of her three-year partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, saying the split was a mutual agreement.
Wiktorowski, who joined Swiatek's team in 2022, helped her become the first Polish player to reach world number one and she has since spent 123 weeks at the top of the rankings.
Swiatek also won 19 of her 22 career titles and an Olympic bronze medal in Paris earlier this year with Wiktorowski, along with four grand slam victories.
"After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways," Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
"I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together."
Swiatek has not competed since losing to Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the US Open, choosing to withdraw from the China Open due to personal reasons.
The 23-year-old has also pulled out of the recent Korea Open in Seoul, citing fatigue, and next week's Wuhan Open.
Swiatek won the French Open and US Open during her opening season with Wiktorowski, before embarking on a 37-match winning run in 2022 - the longest streak by a woman this century.
The Pole won a fifth grand slam, which was her fourth with Wiktorowski, at Roland Garros in June, making it three consecutive wins at the tournament in Paris.
"Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game," Swiatek continued.
"His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I've never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together."
But Swiatek was disappointed with her hard-court performances this season, exiting the Australian Open in the third round and the US Open in the last eight.
The Pole said she has held "first talks" with prospective new coaches and will take a "couple of weeks" to start work with her next appointment.
"Our main goal was to become number one player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first," Swiatek concluded.
"Due to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start cooperation with a new coach.
"I'm in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because I'm ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision."
Medvedev rallies to straight-sets win in Shanghai opener
Daniil Medvedev held off a stern test from Thiago Seyboth Wild to edge through his Shanghai Masters opener on Friday.
The Russian won the tight contest in straight sets, prevailing 7-5 7-5 in just under two hours.
Seyboth Wild started brightly, superbly defending five break points in the opening game before breaking Medvedev to take a 3-1 lead.
A three-game winning run at the end of the first set was enough for the world number five to edge in front.
The Brazilian made another strong start in the second but was his own worst enemy as he racked up 47 unforced errors throughout the match to Medvedev's 28.
Despite going down a break again, Medvedev rallied, staying patient to mount another comeback and book his place in the next round against Matteo Arnaldi.
Data Debrief: Patience pays off
Last year, Seyboth Wild stunned Medvedev in the opening round at Roland Garros, as his high-risk, high-reward method paid off and he earned the win with 69 winners and 77 unforced errors.
Despite pushing the 28-year-old all the way, it did not garner the same reward this time around, despite getting 29 winners to Medvedev's 17.
Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing quarter-finals
Karolina Muchova secured an upset at the China Open, snapping Aryna Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak to reach the semi-finals.
The Czech prevailed in two hours and 48 minutes with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 win over the number one seed on Friday.
Muchova started strong, forcing Sabalenka to defend three break points in the opening game, but they were evenly matched throughout.
Sabalenka almost took the first set, but Muchova held her nerve, successfully fighting back against two set points before taking the tie-break.
The Belarusian looked back to her free-flowing best in the second though, earning two breaks as she forced the decider in comfortable fashion.
Sabalenka took an early lead in the final set, but from 4-2 down, Muchova clawed her way back, going on a four-game winning streak at the end to book a meeting with Qinwen Zheng or Mirra Andreeva in the final four.
Data Debrief: Czech mate
Given Sabalenka's recent hot streak, this does look like an upset, but it is actually pretty run-of-the-mill for Muchova.
She has now won her last three matches against Sabalenka in WTA events, defeating her at Cincinnati, Roland Garros 2023 and China Open 2024.
Excluding the BJK Cup, only Iga Swiatek (85.3%) has a higher winning percentage than Muchova on hard-court in WTA events during 2024 (84.6%, 11-2), surpassing Sabalenka (82.5%, 33-7).
The 28-year-old has reached just her second career semi-final and is the player with the fewest WTA-1000 wins during the season before the start of the China Open (one) to reach this stage of the tournament.
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