Swiatek's first Wimbledon semifinal comes against Bencic

LONDON (AP) — Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday. "Even though I'm in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win," said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. "I'm super happy and super proud of myself." Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The other women's semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday. "It doesn't end here," Bencic said. There will be quite a showdown in the men's semifinals Friday, when 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic takes on No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Djokovic ended up face-down in the grass at Centre Court on a late fall but that didn't prevent him from beating No. 22 Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday. Sinner defeated No. 10 Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 while showing barely any signs of the right elbow injury he picked up on a tumble during his previous match. The other men's matchup Friday is two-time defending champ Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 5 Taylor Fritz. Swiatek is a five-time major champion, with four of those titles on the red clay of the French Open, and the other on the hard courts of the U.S. Open. She's also twice been a semifinalist at the hard-court Australian Open. The grass courts of the All England Club always had given her the most trouble as a pro, even though she did claim a junior championship there in 2018. In her five appearances in the Wimbledon women's bracket before this year, she had made it as far as the quarterfinals just once, exiting in that round in 2023. But the 24-year-old from Poland is enjoying a career-best run on the slick surface, thanks in part to being more comfortable with the footing required. "I, for sure, feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface," Swiatek said. "So this year, I feel like I can just work with it and work with myself. I'll just keep doing that." Before the start of Wimbledon, Swiatek was the runner-up in Bad Homburg, Germany, her first final at a tournament played on grass — and her first final at any event in more than a year, a drought that resulted in her falling from the No. 1 ranking and being seeded No. 8 at the All England Club. Her rough stretch included a one-month ban last season in a doping case after an investigation determined a failed out-of-competition drug test was caused by an unintentional contamination of non-prescription medication for issues with jet lag and sleeping. On the court, a semifinal loss to Sabalenka at Roland-Garros last month ended Swiatek's 26-match French Open winning streak. Swiatek led by a set and 3-0 in the second against Samsonova, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Soon, though, it was 4-all, then 5-all. But Swiatek held for a 6-5 lead, then broke to end it, and a smile spread across her face. "I saw how I can play on practice courts. I was just not sure if I can do it on the match court," Swiatek said. "I kind of already did. I'm going to try to continue that." Bencic, who at 28 is a decade older than Andreeva, is competing in her second major tournament since returning to the tour after giving birth to a daughter, Bella, in April 2024. "I'm very proud, actually. All my career, I didn't say it a lot to myself, but after having Bella, I really say it to myself every day," Bencic said. "We are just enjoying life on tour with Bella, traveling. It's been beautiful to create these memories together. And obviously, to play great is so amazing, but for me, it's a bonus. I'm generally just really happy to be able to play again." ___ AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis