Elena Rybakina stunned former champion Simona Halep in straight sets to reach a maiden Wimbledon final. The Russian-born Kazakh's relentless display of powerful hitting proved too much for 2019 winner Halep as a 6-3 6-3 victory booked a Saturday showdown with third seed Ons Jabeur. "Simona is a great champion but I was really focused today and really happy with my performance," the 23-year-old said. "I was nervous, of course, but the matches I had before on Court One helped.
It was my first time on Centre Court but the atmosphere I had before helped me a lot. "I think today I was mentally prepared and did everything I could.
It was an amazing match. "Ons is a very good, very tricky player and it's not going to be easy to play her drop shots. But I think it's going to be a great match." Rybakina, who was born in Moscow and still lives there, dodged Wimbledon's ban on Russian players having switched to represent Kazakhstan four years ago.
That decision, taken in order to receive more funding, has paid dividends for both parties as the world No 23 became the first Kazakh player to reach a Grand Slam final.