Sabalenka survives Siegemund spell to reach Wimbledon semis

LONDON :Aryna Sabalenka was dragged into a bygone era on Tuesday and tormented for almost three hours on Wimbledon’s Centre Court before finally imposing her 21st-century power game to beat mesmeric Laura Siegemund for a place in the semi-finals.

The Belarusian needed all her powers of ball bludgeoning and belief to emerge from a befuddling battle, somehow the victor, 4-6 6-2 6-4.

For much of the spell-binding contest it looked as though the world number one would find no answers to Siegemund’s sorcery as the 37-year-old German veteran chipped, chopped and drop-shotted the world’s best player to pieces, leaving the top seed’s power game neutered on the turf.

Ranked a lowly 104 in the world, Siegemund drew on the game of a gentler age to bring low the mighty Belarusian, casting spells of slice and sleight with vintage flair. 

But slowly, if not exactly surely, the 10 years younger and seemingly stronger Sabalenka managed to wrestle back the upper hand, and now awaits either 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in Saturday’s final.

“I need some time to recover ... She pushed me so much and honestly after the first set I was just like looking at my box thinking like, ‘Guys I mean like book the tickets you know, I think we're about to leave this beautiful city, country, place’.

“But wow she played an incredible tournament, an incredible match and I'm just super happy right now with the win and, oh my god guys, like atmosphere — it's just another level.”

For Siegemund, this was not the performance of a player whose previous Wimbledon record amounted to three first-round exits and a solitary second-round finish.

Everything about the German evoked nostalgia.

The ball left her racket not with a thud, but a