The 2022 ladies’ singles champion, Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan has cruised into the semi-finals of Wimbledon in London.

The fourth seeded Rybakina was ruthless in the quarter-finals of the grass-court Grand Slam as she wasted no time in beating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3 and 6-2.

She will face Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic who in turn beat the 2017 French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko.

Krejcikova took the quarter-final 6-4 and 7-6.

Rybakina, who is the only former champion in the semi-finals, said the past counts for nothing.

“I have amazing memories from 2022 and I enjoy it every time I’m on this court,” said Rybakina,

“I don’t like being called the favourite but I have an aggressive game.”

The other semi-final will be played between Donna Vekic and Jasmine Paolini.

Both of the ladies singles semi-finals will be played on Thursday.

Lorenzo Musetti - AELTC/Edward Whitaker

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy is into the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the first time after fighting back against Taylor Fritz of the USA.

The 25th seeded Musetti rallied to claim a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-1 win against the 13th ranked American to set up a semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic in turn advanced straight into the semi-finals after Australia's Alex De Minaur withdrew before their quarter-final due to a hip injury.

On Friday, the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will face Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the semis, while the 24-time grand slam champion, Djokovic, will be up against Musetti.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport