By Christian Radnedge
LONDON (Reuters) -World number one Aryna Sabalenka may well have lost to 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund in their Wimbledon quarter-final on Tuesday had the Belarusian not had a period of reflection following her French Open final defeat last month.
As it was, Sabalenka recovered from going a set down to the 37-year-old German, who produced a startling array of slices and chops from a bygone era of tennis, to win 4-6 6-2 6-4 on Centre Court and set up a semi-final clash with Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka credits her winning display on Centre Court with learning to control her emotions, referencing the final at Roland Garros where she took the first set against Coco Gauff but lost after making 70 unforced errors.
“I think there’s a big possibility that I would have lost this match (against Siegemund) if I didn’t learn that lesson at the French Open,” Sabalenka told a press conference.
“In some moments I just … kept reminding myself, ‘Come on, it’s the quarter-final of Wimbledon, you cannot give up, you cannot let the emotions just take over you and lose another match’.
“I was just reminding myself that it’s my dream, why would I give up so easily, so I have to keep fighting … I kept telling myself that, and I was willing to win points, to push myself and to get those tough points.”
The three-times Grand Slam champion has never reached the final at Wimbledon, but has often spoken of her desperate desire to hold the Venus Rosewater Dish aloft.
To have a chance of doing so, however, the 27-year-old will have to navigate her way past 13th seed Anisimova.
The American holds a 5-3 winning head-to-head record over Sabalenka, though the Belarusian beat her in straight sets at the French Open last month.
“I definitely think this surface suits her game really well,” Sabalenka said. “That’s why she’s playing so well so far.
“She’s serving well. She’s hitting quite clean and heavy shots. We just played recently at the French Open. I had to work really hard to get the win,” the top seed added of her 7-5 6-3 fourth-round victory at Roland Garros.
“It’s going to be very aggressive tennis, I think. Less slices from her (than Siegemund). But, yeah, it’s going to be a completely different game from what I had to play against today.
“She’s a challenging player. We had a lot of tough battles. I lost tough battles against her. I won tough ones … I’m excited to face her.”
(Reporting by Christian Radnedge; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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