LONDON: Serena Williams is still on track for a true Grand Slam.

The top-seeded American and five-time Wimbledon champion rallied to beat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club for the ninth time.

Serena, who has won 20 major titles in her career, has already won the Australian Open and French Open this season. She needs the Wimbledon and US Open titles to complete the set and become the first person to win a calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988.

Serena will next face former champion Maria Sharapova on Thursday in the semi-finals. The 33-year-old American, who famously lost to the teenage Sharapova in the 2004 Wimbledon final, has now won 17 of their 19 meetings.

Sharapova returned to the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time in four years after a three-set battle against an American making her Grand Slam breakthrough.

The fourth-seeded Sharapova was pushed hard by 47th-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe but lifted her game in the third set to win 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 and advance to her 20th Grand Slam semi-final.

It took two hours and 45 minutes for Sharapova to subdue Vandweghe, who had never previously progressed past the third round at a major.

Sharapova was well below her best on Centre Court, making 23 unforced errors, serving 10 double faults and hitting only 19 winners.

But the always tenacious 28-year-old somehow found a way to secure her 20th Grand Slam semi-final appearance that has brought her five major titles.

Advancing to the semi-finals in the bottom half of the draw was 20th-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-5, 6-3.

It will be the first Grand Slam semi-final for the 21-year-old Muguruza, who reached the quarterfinals at the last two French Opens.

“Amazing, I am so happy. It was a very tough match so I’m really excited,” said Muguruza who became the first Spanish woman in 18 years to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Muguruza will face Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals after the Polish 13th seed defeated Madison Keys 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, hit only 13 winners on Court One, but was able to take advantage of 40 unforced errors from American 21st seed Keys, while making only seven herself.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2015

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