Wimbledon order of play - Day 10: Serena, Strycova, Svitolina and Halep take centre stage

ByReuters

Published 11/07/2019 at 07:03 GMT

Serena Williams will face unseeded Barbora Strycova on Thursday for a place in the Wimbledon final, while Elina Svitolina faces off against Simona Halep.

Serena Williams of the United States celebrates over Alison Riske of the United States during Day 8 of The Championships

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THURSDAY'S SEMI-FINALS

Order of play on the main show courts on Wednesday at Wimbledon.

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8-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v 7-Simona Halep (Romania)
11-Serena Williams (U.S.) v Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic)

MATCH OF THE DAY

8-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v 7-Simona Halep (Romania)

After 27 failed attempts to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, the 24-year-old Elina Svitolina finally made the last four when she beat Karolina Muchova on Tuesday.

Simona Halep of Romania (R) shakes hands with Shuai Zhang of China following victory in her Ladies' Singles Quarter Final match during Day Eight of The Championships - Wimbledon 2019 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 09, 2019 in London,

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The sheer relief for Svitolina at finally making it into the semis was clear to see as she had long been expected to challenge for the biggest prizes in tennis but until Tuesday all those attempts had fallen well short.

What was surprising was that the feat was achieved on Wimbledon's rather threadbare lawns as the Ukrainian's game is more suited to the sport's slower surfaces.

Standing in her way of making a maiden final is another player who excels on the slower surfaces, Simon Halep, who is also aiming for a maiden final appearance at Wimbledon.

POTENTIAL UPSET OF THE DAY

11-Serena Williams (U.S.) v Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic)

Unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova believes she has the weapons to upset seven-times champion Serena Williams in Thursday's Wimbledon semi-final and will walk on Centre Court with no fear.

Conventional wisdom suggests the canny 33-year-old, through to her first Grand Slam singles semi-final at the 53rd attempt, will be overpowered by the record-hunting American.

It looked like that was about to happen on Tuesday when she fell 4-1 behind in the face of a withering Johanna Konta onslaught, but Strycova soaked it all up and eventually drove the home favourite to distraction with her superior craft.

Barbora Strycova

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Williams represents a far stiffer challenge – not just physically but mentally – but Strycova will trust the game that won her so many plaudits against Konta and in an earlier victory at Wimbledon against big-serving Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.

Realising she was never going to win a slug-fest, she cleverly changed the pace, bamboozled the Briton with her skidding double-fisted backhand sliced returns, wicked drop shots and stealthy net raids.