There will be capacity crowds for the Wimbledon finals next month and around 45,000 people are set to be allowed into Wembley for the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a four-week delay in lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England to July 19 due to rising cases of the Delta variant.

However, Wimbledon and the European Championship are being treated as test events, so there is set to be a full house of 15,000 on Centre Court for the championship matches on the weekend of July 10-11.

The grass-court grand slam will be the first outdoor sporting event to have a capacity crowd since the start of the pandemic.

When the tournament, which was not staged last year due to the COVID-19 crisis, starts on June 28 it will be at 50 per cent capacity.

A statement from the All England Club said: "We are pleased to have worked closely with the government, public health bodies, and our local authority in Merton, to confirm that, as part of this next phase of pilot events, The Championships 2021 will begin on Monday 28 June with 50 per cent capacity across the Grounds, building to full capacity crowds of 15,000 on Centre Court for the finals weekend.

"This will enable us to fulfil our aspiration of staging the best Wimbledon possible within the current circumstances, with the health and safety of all those who make Wimbledon happen - our guests, competitors, members, staff, media, officials, local residents, and partners - remaining our highest priority."

Crowds for England's first two Euro 2020 group games at Wembley have been capped at 22,500, but that figure is expected to be doubled so the stadium is half full for the semi-finals and final.

The semi-finals will be staged on July 6 and 7, with the final held on July 11.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "We want to gather further evidence on how we can open up all big events safely, and for good.

"The expansion of trials of the NHS app and lateral flow testing will mean that bigger crowds will be able to attend a limited number of major sporting and cultural events early this summer as part of our events research programme.

"In the next few weeks, this means more fans enjoying the Euros and Wimbledon, and some of our biggest cultural and sports events."

Belinda Bencic got her grass-court season under way with a battling victory over qualifier Jule Niemeier in the first round of the inaugural bett1 Open.

Fifth seed Bencic came from a set down to beat 167th-ranked German Niemeier 4-6 6-4 7-5 in Berlin on Monday.

The 21-year-old Niemeier was playing her first professional match on grass and gave a great account of herself against the world number 12, who needed two hours and 12 minutes to secure her place in the second round.

Bencic secured the only breaks in the second and third set to ensure she will face Petra Martic or Asia Muhammad in round two.

Madison Keys progressed in straight sets, getting the better of Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-4.

The American, a winner of two WTA singles titles on grass, struck 19 winners as she set up an encounter with top seed Aryna Sabalenka.

There were also first-round victories for Alize Cornet and Ekaterina Alexandrova earlier in the day over Amanda Anisimova and Anna Kalinskaya respectively.

Johanna Konta says she will not take her first WTA singles title in four years for granted after beating Zhang Shuai in Sunday's Nottingham Open final.

The top seed made it third time lucky by avenging her 2017 and 2018 final defeats to Donna Vekic and Ashleigh Barty with a straight-sets win against Zhang.

Konta prevailed 6-2 6-1 for her fourth singles title – and a first on grass – as she became the first British woman to win a WTA singles title on home soil since Sue Barker at the Daihatsu Challenge event in Brighton in 1981.

It is her first trophy since winning the Miami Open in 2017 and leaves the world number 20, who last week split with coach Dimitri Zavialoff, in good shape ahead of Wimbledon in two weeks' time.

"I didn't take this win for granted. I've lost quite a few finals and it's hard to win a tournament so I know how lucky and fortunate I am to be standing here winning trophies," she said in her post-match interview.

"I'm grateful I've been able to put five matches together and I'm proud of myself and my team. I'm enjoying my tennis and doing the best I can.

"I've not done a winning speech in a long time and it's very nice. I love Nottingham and this centre court is a beautiful court to play on."

Konta made light work of seeing off world number 46 Zhang in a little under an hour.

The British number one held her serve throughout the contest, faced just a single break point and finished with 25 winners to four unforced errors.

Konta has now won six of the pair's seven previous meetings, including the past five in a row.

Johanna Konta has returned to the Nottingham Open final, where she will aim to finally earn a first grass-court WTA Tour title against Zhang Shuai.

Home hopeful Konta has twice previously lost the final of this event, beaten by Donna Vekic in 2017 and Ash Barty in 2018.

But she will hope it is third time lucky after scraping past Nina Stojanovic 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 in the last four.

Konta last played a final in May 2019, losing on clay at the Italian Open. That was a fourth straight final defeat as her three prior titles have all come on hard courts.

"It's a final and it's a privilege to play one," said Konta, who failed to make the most of a match point in the second set.

"But it is just another tennis match and my job is to just go out there and win. I'm just going to enjoy it."

Zhang was slightly more comfortable as she defeated Lauren Davis 6-4 6-3.

Konta has won five of the pair's six previous meetings, including the past four in a row.

A look to the sky, a wide smile, and a kiss. I did it, Jana. We did it.

Barbora Krejcikova is a grand slam singles champion, barely eight months after she first cracked the world's top 100, and the first instinct is to suggest this will be a one-off.

Ladies and gentlemen, a pandemic champion, an asterisk champion.

Jana Novotna, her former coach and mentor, who died in November 2017, won just one singles slam too, but she was a long-time force in the women's game. Indeed, Krejcikova left no doubt about her influence on Saturday's success.

But for those doubting Krejcikova's credentials, a little pause for thought.

Novotna won 14 of her 16 grand slam doubles titles before landing that elusive singles crown in 1998 at Wimbledon, and Krejcikova landed five doubles majors ahead of her own remarkable singles breakthrough.

Martina Navratilova, who handed Krejcikova the trophy, also won doubles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open before she ever landed a singles major.

This is, to some extent, a well-worn path by Czech players. So there is more nuance here. And stuff first instincts. Perhaps, like Novotna and Navratilova before her, this Czech player might he here to stay at the highest level.

The 25-year-old from Brno has joined the ranks of those few champions who have won grand slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles, and she will be up to 15th in the WTA rankings on Monday.

Krejcikova might be back at number one in the doubles rankings too, as she and partner Katerina Siniakova have a Roland Garros final on Sunday against Iga Swiatek – last year's singles champion – and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Win that, and Krejcikova will be on top of the world once more in the discipline where she has honed the tools that brought her glory at Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's expense in what proved a thoroughly absorbing singles final.

The slices, the drop shots, the lobs and the net approaches, and the double-handed backhand that flits between being weapon and weakness: all those shots were honed in doubles, mostly alongside Siniakova.

Krejcikova spoke at the trophy presentation of her giddy amazement that Justine Henin, the four-time French Open winner, knew who she was when they bumped into each other behind the scenes in Paris.

Navratilova chipped in.

"In 2014, when you found out Jana moved back to Brno, you had the courage to go knock on her door and ask her for help. What gave you that courage?" asked the player who won 59 majors, including 18 singles slams.

Krejcikova's reply? "My mum."

Bravo Mrs Krejcikova.

Krejcikova has spoken often about Novotna but here she opened up to explain how she had spent so much time with the great champion before her death.

Novotna had kept news of her cancer out of the public consciousness, but Krejcikova not only knew, she felt she owed her driving force to stay by her side throughout the illness.

"I was going through a really hard time when Jana was passing away," Krejcikova told the crowd.

"I was most of the time with her and I really wanted to experience this, because I thought this was going to make me really strong.

"And pretty much her last words were just, 'Enjoy and just try to win a grand slam'.

"I know that from somewhere she's looking after me and all of this, this two weeks, is pretty much because she's looking after me from up there.

"I just want to thank her. It was amazing I had a chance to meet her and she was such an inspiration to me. I just really miss her. I hope she's happy right now. I'm extremely happy."

Three mixed doubles titles – one with Nikola Mektic and two with Rajeev Ram – plus two women's doubles with Siniakova, and now a singles triumph.

Except we know Krejcikova does not feel alone on the court. She senses Novotna's guiding hand. This is a doubles partnership dressed up as a singles player.

Novotna, weeks after winning Wimbledon, her destiny ever since she wept on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after losing to Steffi Graf in the 1993 final, shed some light on what it meant for her.

"I felt enormous relief and I felt that now it seems like this would be a new beginning for me," Novotna said.

This is a new beginning for Krejcikova too. Never a factor in singles previously, she has properly arrived now. Like you always had to with Novotna, watch out for her at Wimbledon.

Johanna Konta emerged triumphant from a tough test against Alison Van Uytvanck to move within two matches of Nottingham Open glory.

Home hope Konta has made the final of this event on two previous occasions but is yet to win it and she will face Nina Stojanovic in the last four as part of her latest attempt at glory.

Number one seed Konta won 6-3 7-6 (8-6) against Belgium's Van Uytvanck, who was seeded eighth for the tournament, on Friday.

Konta served well, winning 80 per cent of her first-serve points and conceding only two break points over the course of the 96-minute contest.

There were no breaks from either player in a tense second set and the Briton must have been concerned after letting three match points slip away in the tie-break before ultimately converting her fourth.

Konta split from her coach after a dreadful first-round loss at the French Open but now meets Stojanovic - who beat Tereza Martincova 6-2 6-4 - with a ninth WTA final in her sights.

On the other side of the draw, Kristina Mladenovic saw her campaign come to an end after losing an entertaining battle with Zhang Shuai that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.

Chinese fourth seed Zhang came from behind to win 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4), forcing 17 break points in the match as she never let Mladenovic settle.

Zhang will face Lauren Davis in the semi-finals, after the American's British opponent Katie Boulter retired early in the second set of their early-evening clash.

Boulter had edged the opener 7-6 (8-6) and was a break down at 0-2 in the next when she pulled out due to an injury worry.

Davis had earlier reached that quarter-final match by finishing off a three-set win over second seed Alison Riske, winning the decider 6-4 as the match was completed.

Barbora Krejcikova felt the guiding hand of Jana Novotna influence her stunning 7-5 4-6 9-7 Roland Garros victory over Maria Sakkari as the former doubles expert reached a first singles grand slam final.

Five times a slam winner in doubles, in which she is a former world number one, Krejcikova has diverted a large part of her focus to singles.

Novotna – the former Wimbledon champion and two-time French Open semi-finalist – helped to coach and mentor Krejcikova in the early stages of her professional career.

The death of Novotna from cancer in 2017 hit Krejcikova and many others in tennis hard, yet the rookie finalist continues to feel her fellow Czech is watching out for her.

"When I'm on court, I only think about tennis. I don't really think about anything else. So I was just thinking about tennis," Krejcikova said.

"I was just thinking about next ball, thinking where she's going to serve, where I should serve, what shot should I play, where should I place the ball.

"I don't really think about the things from outside. It's something actually she taught me. I just try to do that.

"Like every time before the match or after the match I just feel like she's there, she's looking after me."

Sakkari had a match point when 5-3 ahead in the third set against Krejcikova but the 17th seed went on to lose in Thursday's chaotic battle.

When that big chance came her way, the Greek player floated a short backhand that Krejcikova smashed away with a nerveless drive volley.

"I have to be deadly honest: I got stressed," Sakkari said. "I was starting thinking that I'm a point away from being in the final. I guess it's a rookie mistake."

There was a reprieve late in the decider for Sakkari when a shot of hers landed out and was signalled as being out, but the chair umpire overruled, incorrectly. That was on a match point for Krejcikova, who had to rein back her excitement and play another point.

"At that moment I was just like, 'Well, it's out, but what can you do?'," Krejcikova said.

On Saturday, Krejcikova faces the biggest match of her life, against fellow pre-tournament long shot, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The world number 32 and 33 will meet in the biggest women's match of the clay-court season, an outcome nobody expected.

Krejcikova won her first career singles title in the lead-up to this fortnight, triumphing impressively in Strasbourg.

She has a French Open title already in her back pocket, having landed the women's doubles with Katerina Siniakova in 2018.

There could yet be a twin title success for Krejcikova this weekend, as the 25-year-old and Siniakova have a doubles semi-final ahead of them on Friday.

"I always wanted to play tournaments like this, big tournaments, big opponents, last rounds," Krejcikova said, speaking of her new-found singles prowess.

"It was just taking so long. It just took me some time, but I think right now it's actually the right moment. Especially mentally, I think I'm just there.

"I really matured. I just really appreciate things a lot, especially after what I've gone through, also with this pandemic and everything."

Johanna Konta kept up her hopes of winning the Nottingham Open for the first time as the British number one beat Kateryna Kozlova to book a quarter-final berth.

Top seed Konta had to bounce back from a disappointing second set to claim a 6-2 1-6 6-3 win over the Ukrainian, and will now face Alison Van Uytvanck in the last eight.

The 30-year-old Konta, who has twice reached the final of this event, split from her coach following a disappointing first-round exit from the French Open.

In Nottingham, she will be joined in the last eight by Katie Boulter, a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 winner over fellow Briton Heather Watson.

Alison Riske, the American second seed, could be Boulter's next opponent. Riske was required to play twice on Thursday, firstly when completing a match against Wang Xiyu that began on Wednesday.

Following that gruelling 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-3) win, which secured a first WTA singles victory for Riske since last year's US Open, the 30-year-old returned to the court against compatriot Lauren Davis and they were tied at one set each when play was suspended for the day.

Third seed Donna Vekic slipped to a 6-3 6-4 defeat against Nina Stojanovic, who will play Tereza Martincova next.

The other quarter-final will see Kristina Mladenovic – a winner over Caty McNally – take on Zhang Shuai.

Barbora Krejcikova reached her first grand slam final as she beat Maria Sakkari in a chaotic and error-strewn French Open last-four battle.

Sakkari, who defeated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the quarters, could not capitalise on a match point as she missed out on becoming the first Greek woman to reach the final of a tennis major.

World number 33 Krejcikova, a title winner in Strasbourg before this remarkable Roland Garros run, overcame her own inconsistency to edge through 7-5 4-6 9-7 in three hours and 18 minutes.

The 25-year-old will face another maiden major finalist in the form of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Tamara Zidansek in much more routine fashion earlier.

"I always wanted to play a match like this," Krejcikova said of her semi-final win. "Such a challenging match, both had chances, both playing so well, but only one can win. Even if I'd lost today, I'd have been very proud of myself. Fighting is the most important thing."

Krejcikova certainly did have to battle hard, coming back from two breaks down to clinch an enthralling opening set which would set the tone for what was to follow.

Sakkari responded in fierce fashion, and seemed destined to claim a second-set bagel at 4-0 up, yet Krejcikova had other ideas, and three games later she was a break away from restoring parity.

The break did not come, however, with Sakkari holding to love. The Greek's first set point was wasted with a dreadful forehand effort, but she set up a decider at the third time of asking, leaping across the court in celebration, much to the delight of a partisan crowd.

Krejcikova made her opponent wait with a lengthy stoppage between the sets, and Sakkari's momentum appeared to have been dashed as the Czech held to race into a lead.

But Sakkari's composure returned – she dropped a deft touch shot over the net to hold, before capitalising on Krejcikova's sloppiness to make it 3-1.

Krejcikova dragged herself back again, some sensational, down-the-line backhands frustrating Sakkari, who did nevertheless move to within a game of victory.

Once more, Krejcikova refused to roll over, and a dreadful drop shot handed her a reprieve.

Krejcikova took full advantage but saw three match points go begging as Sakkari took her turn to bounce back from the brink.

Victory looked to have been assured when Sakkari sent a forehand long, only for the chair umpire to incorrectly rule the shot as in, but in a remarkable show of resilience, Krejcikova fittingly hammered a backhand down the line to seal a hard-earned victory.

Data Slam: Sakkari's trips to the net prove her downfall

The Greek seemed reluctant all match to take steps towards the net, instead relying on some thunderous efforts from the baseline.

Perhaps her reluctance was justified, as she missed three presentable opportunities for points when she did charge forward, playing some woefully executed drop shots, finishing with five out of eight points at the net, as opposed to 13 from 17 for Krejcikova.

In total, both players clocked up over 50 unforced errors.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Krejcikova – 31/58
Sakkari – 27/53

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Krejcikova – 5/5
Sakkari – 2/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Krejcikova – 7/15
Sakkari – 6/11

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova conceded a younger version of herself would have been bemused by why it had taken so long to reach a grand slam final after she finally did so at the French Open on Thursday.

The 29-year-old turned her first major semi-final appearance into a maiden final berth with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Tamara Zidansek in Paris.

It will be Pavlyuchenkova's first outing in a grand slam final in what is her 52nd major, which establishes an Open Era record. She has become the first woman to play more than 50 majors before reaching a final.

Asked what her 14-year-old self would have said if she had known the wait would be so long, the Russian replied: "Fourteen-year-old me would tell me, like, what took you so long?

"It's tough to really talk about it right now. I don't know. It's been a long road. I had my own long special road. Everybody has different ways. I'm just happy I'm in the final.

"This is something I've been thinking about every single time. I think as tennis players, that's the only goal I think we have in the head. That's why we are playing tennis.

"That's for us the biggest achievement you can get. That's what you are playing for, of course. I think about it all the time.

"I've been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. It's been there in my head forever."

Pavlyuchenkova had six quarter-final singles losses to her name in slams before this tournament, a record that suggested a career of near-misses might be on the cards.

Curiously, she has also reached six doubles quarter-finals in the majors and also failed to win through any of those.

She now has a chance to end her long wait for a major title this weekend at Roland Garros, but admits she has had worries along the way.

"I had a lot of doubts. I could beat top-10 players and make the quarter-final of a major. I was very close to semi-finals a couple of times, but then it wouldn't happen," she said.

"It was just up and down in terms of results. But I feel like I'm there, I can beat those players, but the consistency is off, something is always off.

"Those little puzzles were not coming together every time. I guess maybe I had a lot of expectations that I couldn't deal with over the years. It's been a lot of different things."

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova turned her first grand slam semi-final appearance into a ticket to the final thanks to a 7-5 6-3 victory over Tamara Zidansek at the French Open.

The Russian had already broken new ground by ending a run of six consecutive quarter-final losses in slams, with the 29-year-old now set to face Barbora Krejcikova or Maria Sakkari in the showpiece.

She certainly did not have it all her own way against surprise package Zidansek – another slam semi-final debutant – on Court Philippe Chatrier, having been broken in the opening game to suggest perhaps a hint of nerves.

But Pavlyuchenkova, who at 29 is six years older than her opponent, drew on all her experience to finish the job in straight sets and remain on course for a career-defining success in Paris.

A hold to love in game three of the first set seemed to put Pavlyuchenkova at ease as she began to find her range, which showed as the number 31 seed became increasingly aggressive in her approach.

The path to a one-set lead was still dotted with stumbles as there were five breaks of serve between the players, the last of which sealed it at 7-5 in Pavlyuchenkova's favour.

At 4-1 up in the second set she appeared to be coasting, before losing six points and two games on the bounce.

But again Pavlyuchenkova dug deep to find another level and finally send her Slovenian rival packing.

Data Slam: Second serves stifle Zidansek

In a match where both players looked vulnerable on serve at times, the disparity in points won on second serve proved telling.

While Pavlyuchenkova showed cunning and variety to mix things up, winning 54 per cent of the points on her second serve, Zidansek could only manage 38 per cent and was broken six times.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Pavlyuchenkova – 19/22
Zidansek – 27/33

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Pavlyuchenkova – 3/3
Zidansek – 1/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Pavlyuchenkova– 6/10
Zidansek – 4/11

Iga Swiatek blamed a gruelling recent schedule after her French Open defence ended in a shock quarter-final defeat to Maria Sakkari.

The Pole came into Wednesday's last eight match having won her last 22 sets at Roland Garros, but lost 6-4 6-4 to the competition's 17th seed.

Swiatek headed to Paris full of confidence after winning on clay in Rome two weeks prior, and she had also helped Bethanie Mattek-Sands into the semi-finals of this year's doubles.

However, the world number nine believes she may have paid the price for all that tennis in the form of a lacklustre display against Sakkari.

She said: "Well, obviously I didn't play my best tennis. That's for sure. But Maria did a good job with playing at my forehand, which wasn't working pretty well today.

"It's good for her that she saw that. She picked good tactics, for sure. I struggled with picking the right place where to play. I couldn't play some shots that usually give me points.

"Yeah, my balls weren't, like, really deep and heavy. Basically that's my biggest weapon, so it was really hard to play without that.

"Also, you know, I think, like, past couple weeks hit me kind of yesterday. I just didn't have good days, I couldn't do like physical recovery well because I was stressed. Days like that happen, and it's normal."

Swiatek left the court for treatment on her thigh after losing the first set, but she refused to blame that issue for her defeat.

She added: "Right now I know it's nothing serious. When I was on court, I felt it totally differently. As I said, I couldn't even sleep well yesterday. I slept like a few hours.

"I think I was feeling everything twice as much as I should. It was hard to rationally just see what's going on. I made the decision to tape it just to feel sure [to give] me, like, a little bit more confidence when I was moving.

"Still my reaction was bad. I didn't play well, like, tactically and also technically. I was on my heels, so it's hard to make something of that kind of game."

Sakkari, meanwhile, revealed that her commitment to simply enjoying Wednesday's match helped her secure a maiden Grand Slam semi-final berth.

She said: "I'm speechless - it is a dream come true. It is a very nice feeling, I couldn't have done it without my team and their support so I want to thank them.

"We still have a long way to go of course [if we want to win the tournament] but we made a huge step.

"I'm not going to tell you the game plan of course because we will play again [against Swiatek] for sure! So I'm not gonna say our little secrets!

"But I really enjoyed it. Before coming into the match I just sat down and spoke to myself and said it is a very important match but just enjoy it - playing at one of the best stadiums in the world. So I have enjoyed it."

Greece boasts two semi-finalists in this year's French Open after Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed to the last four of the men's draw.

And Sakkari believes the sport may even have overtaken football and basketball in terms of popularity back in her homeland.

She continued: "Now it's probably the biggest sport these days. Football is over. Basketball is over. So tennis is in the spotlight.

"Yeah, with Stefanos, I mean, we're very close. We know each other since a very young age. I mean, I see him every day here. We're actually having dinner with our teams next to each other every night.

"I'm very, very happy for him and his family. It's very exciting times for Greek tennis."

Marie Bouzkova crashed out of the Nottingham Open at the hands of home hope Katie Boulter, but Kristina Mladenovic survived a scare to progress.

Briton Boulter, ranked 262 in the world, triumphed 6-4 6-3 on Wednesday to impressively eliminate sixth seed Bouzkova, who was only able to convert one of her seven break-point opportunities.

Seventh seed Mladenovic, meanwhile, fought hard for a 6-2 5-7 6-2 triumph in a battle lasting two hours and 15 minutes against Japan's Kurumi Nara.

Nara converted all four of her break points but ultimately could not pull off the upset.

There were more comfortable days on court for Alison Van Uytvanck – who thrashed Marina Melnikova 6-1 6-1 – and fourth seed Zhang Shuai, a 6-3 6-4 victor over Arina Rodionova.

American Caty McNally continued her progress with an easy 6-0 6-3 win over Nao Hibino to book what looks like an exciting last-16 tie against Mladenovic.

Second seed Alison Riske will play Xiyu Wang in the last match of the day, while top seed Johanna Konta continues her campaign against Kateryna Kozlova on Thursday.

Coco Gauff believes her French Open quarter-final woe against Barbora Krejcikova will ultimately help her to become a major champion.

The 17-year-old was playing in the last eight of a grand slam for the first time on Wednesday, though the occasion did not go as she hoped.

Unseeded Krejcikova won 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in a back-and-forth battle in which Gauff had her opportunities.

She led 3-0 and 5-3 in the first set as five set points passed her by and at one stage lost seven straight games.

The American, who had 41 unforced errors, trailed 5-0 in the second set before briefly threatening a comeback in a fighting finish and believes the experience will prove to be beneficial.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm obviously disappointed that I wasn't able to close out the first set," said Gauff. "To be honest, it's in the past, it already happened. 

"After the match my hitting partner told me this match will probably make me a champion in the future. I really do believe that.

"I never want to give up. I really did fight till the last point. 

"I'm proud that I didn't give up because I could have easily gave up at 5-0 or 5-1 [down in the second set]. 

"I think losing these matches are going to pay off in the future. If I continue fighting like this, other players, maybe if they do have the lead, will start to get nervous because they know I'm not going to give in.

"Obviously it was a great season. I just want to keep continuing to get better. Hopefully next year I'll be better. 

"But I think that I've learned a lot over this swing and I have a lot that I can take with me later into my next tournaments later this year."

Gauff, who confirmed she still planned to play in the Olympics this year, reflected on what had gone wrong against Krejcikova, who will face Maria Sakkari in the semis.

The teenager added: "I feel like the set points I did have I did play a little bit passive. That's not kind of how I want to play tennis. I always want to play first-strike tennis. So that's something I'll work on.

"I mean, for me the biggest thing she played well in the pressure points. She also redirected the ball really, really well, kind of making me make mistakes. 

"I knew she was going to play very smart tennis and play the high-percentage plays. That's what she did.

"Next time going into it, I'm definitely going to focus more making less errors, just trusting myself on the set points." 

A return to Wimbledon, where she stunned the world to reach the fourth round as a 15-year-old in 2019, is now fast approaching for Gauff.

She added: "I'm excited to go back, for sure. My most memorable thing from Wimbledon is just the crowd experience. 

"That was like one of my first matches on a big stadium like that, playing against really great people like Venus Williams. 

"It kind of just was the start of, like, my career, I guess, and making it on the pro tour. So, yeah, I'm excited to go back.

"I'm just happy that right now I'm healthy and everything. Hopefully that keeps up all the way through Wimbledon."

Iga Swiatek saw the defence of her French Open title ended by a rampant Maria Sakkari in Paris.

Number 17 seed Sakkari was playing in her first grand slam quarter-final but showed no signs of nerves as she closed out a 6-4 6-4 victory against last year's champion in one hour and 35 minutes.

Sakkari will play unseeded Barbora Krejcikova in what will be a first major semi-final appearance for both players.

It was a scrappy start to the contest with both players struggling to establish a rhythm on serve.

Early breaks were exchanged before Sakkari had to save four break points in her next game to avoid another and Swiatek then fended off three in the next.

Sakkari looked a different player from then on as she seized control. At 4-4, a powerful forehand winner gave her two break points and she claimed the first of them.

After a first opportunity to move ahead was not taken as she served for the set, two big serves saved a break point and gave her another chance that was taken with a fine backhand, prompting huge emotion from the Greek.

Sakkari had the momentum and went 2-0 up in the second set, at which point Swiatek called for a medical timeout that resulted in a 10-minute delay.

After emerging with strapping on her right thigh, Swiatek looked more confident on her return, holding confidently before saving two break points in her next service game to remain in contention.

But Sakkari was undeterred, serving superbly and not allowing a single break-point opportunity in the second set, clinching a famous triumph that brought tears to her eyes with her third match point.

Data Slam: Swiatek streak ends

Having not dropped a set in any round of her successful campaign last year or in her four victories in 2021, Swiatek saw her streak of winning 22 consecutive sets in Paris abruptly halted. 

Still just 20, Swiatek will have many more opportunities but this result will have come as a shock to the system.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Sakkari – 26/24
Swiatek – 17/25

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Sakkari – 5/2
Swiatek – 0/2

BREAK POINTS WON
Sakkari – 3/8
Swiatek – 1/6