Tuesday November 26, 2024

Serena heads into semifinals with comeback victory

Published : 11 Jul 2018, 12:14

DF-Xinhua Report

Serena Williams of the United States greets the audiences after the women's singles quarterfinal match against Camila Giorgi of Italy at the Wimbledon Championships 2018 in London, Britain, on July 10, 2018. Serena Williams won 2-1. Photo Xinhua by Stephen Chung.

Serena Williams is one step closer to her eighth Wimbledon trophy after she beat Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

"I never thought I was in danger of losing this match. Even when I was down in the first set, I thought, "Well, she's playing great, [but] I'm doing a lot of the right things." I never felt it was out of my hands. If there is one lesson I would teach my daughter it's never give in, always fight. It's really important in life, no matter what you're going through, to never quit," Williams said afterwards.

This is only her fourth tournament since giving birth to daughter Olympia in September 2017, and the 23-time Grand Slam winner pointed out how motherhood had changed her approach to tennis.

"It's different now obviously because I have the baby. Being a mom is totally different," she said. "I just want to be more of a role model for my daughter, for lots of people out there that just want to be inspired."

Williams will take on No.13 seed Julia Gorges of Germany, who also managed a comeback win against Kiki Bertens 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to make her first appearance in the semifinals at the All England Club.

The other semifinal will see No.11 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany take on No.12 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia as they both bested their respective oppenents in straight sets.

With all top 10 seeds having been knocked out before the quarterfinals, 2016 runner-up Kerber is the highest-ranked player still in the ladies' competition.

In the men's singles, Juan Martin Del Potro finally defeated Gilles Simon 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 after a total of 4 hours and 24 minutes, in a match that stretched over two days.

The Argentine will have to recuperate quickly, as his quarterfinal match against world No.1 Rafael Nadal is just around the corner.

Del Potro has never beat Nadal on grass and has lost 10 of their 15 encounters. Their match-up will take place on Wednesday on Centre Court after another quarterfinal tie between Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori.