Karolina Pliskova roared back to win the power battle against Aryna Sabalenka and book a first appearance in a Wimbledon final where she will face Ash Barty.
Thursday's second semi-final lived up to its billing as a clash of two of the WTA's most ferocious competitors, and it was eighth seed Pliskova who triumphed 5-7 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court.
There were 32 aces in total in a match where long rallies were scarce. Ultimately, though, it was Pliskova's supreme consistency – she gave up just one break-point opportunity – that won the day.
Sabalenka offered up eight break-point chances alone in a fierce first set, but Pliskova barely had a sniff on any of those as textbook power serving from her opponent kept the Czech at bay.
Conversely, Pliskova sailed through her own service games with ease until trailing 6-5 when, after an exquisite sequence from Sabalenka brought up a first break point, she blinked with a double fault to cede the opening set.
Undeterred, the turning point came in game five of the second set when Pliskova broke to love before consolidating with three straight aces and Sabalenka going long.
Having won that only break point of the second set, Pliskova stole the advantage in game one of the decider as a couple of Sabalenka errors were followed by a backhand into the net.
To her credit, second seed Sabalenka forced Pliskova to serve out for the match, which she did somewhat fittingly with a mammoth ace.
Data slam: More aces than a playing card factory
Pliskova's consistency on serve was always likely to be crucial to her chances of victory in a battle between two real power hitters. Prior to this semi-final she led the way for aces (40) in the tournament and had only been broken three times. Here she was out-aced 18 to 14 but had a slightly better first-serve points won percentage (78 to 75) and significantly better on the second-serve points won (69 to 48). In a match where opportunities were always likely to be at a premium, it proved significant.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Pliskova – 32/17
Sabalenka – 38/20
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Pliskova – 14/4
Sabalenka – 18/4
BREAK POINTS WON
Pliskova – 2/10
Sabalenka – 1/1
Djokovic makes winning return in Italian Open
Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the ATP Tour as he overcame a tough opener in Rome with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Corentin Moutet on Friday.
The Serbian, who has not played since the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo, made a slow start, falling 1-3 behind in the first set, but recovered to take the first match.
Moutet could not regain his level, and Djokovic dropped only one set as he cruised through the second match to advance after one hour and 26 minutes.
Djokovic, a six-time champion in Rome, will take on Alejandro Tabilo in the third round after the Chilean beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Data Debrief: Still on top
Djokovic now has 23 wins in ATP-1000 events since turning 35. He eclipses John Isner (22) for the outright second most wins in such tournaments since the introduction of the format in 1990; only Federer, with 51, has more.
The Serbian will have the opportunity to clinch his 1100th match win in the third round as he chases his first trophy of the season.
Defending champion Rybakina withdraws from Italian Open due to illness
Defending champion Elena Rybakina has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to illness.
Rybakina has enjoyed a fine start to 2024, boasting a 30-5 record and capturing three WTA titles to match Iga Swiatek for the most of any player on the tour.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion won her second WTA 1000 title in Rome last year, defeating Swiatek and Jelena Ostapenko en route to the final, which she won by virtue of a walkover after taking the opening set, due to an injury to Anhelina Kalinina.
The Kazakhstani was set to open her title defence against Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, but lucky loser Oceane Dodin took her place after she felt too unwell to play.
The world number four said: "Unfortunately I do not feel well enough to compete. I have such good memories from last year and was looking forward to defending my title.
"Rome is so special to me, and I look forward to being back next year to reclaim my title and play in front of the Italian fans."
Former US Open champion Thiem to retire from tennis this year
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season.
Thiem memorably fought back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the 2020 tournament at Flushing Meadows, also reaching three other grand slam finals during his career.
Having reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in the aftermath of that US Open success, Thiem has since struggled with wrist and knee injuries, failing to progress beyond the second round of a major since the 2021 Australian Open.
The Austrian failed to reach the recent Madrid Open, going down to Thanasi Kokkinakis in qualifying on the clay, which he had previously regarded as his strongest surface.
In a video posted to Instagram on Friday, the 30-year-old said: "I have to tell you a very important, and very sad but very beautiful message. The 2024 season will be my last one, I'm going to finish my career at the end of the season.
"There are reasons behind it; first of all, my wrist is not exactly the way it should be, and the second reason is my inner feeling.
"I was thinking about this decision for a very long time, thinking about my whole journey as a tennis player, which was incredible.
"I've had success and won trophies I would never have dreamed of. It was an incredible journey that I am so thankful for, but in the end I came to the conclusion that this decision is the only right one."
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