Ons Jabeur has enjoyed sweet revenge over Elena Rybakina for her defeat in last year's Wimbledon final, sending the champion spinning out of the tournament.
The Tunisian all-court wizard became the first player at Wimbledon to come from a set down to beat the brilliant front-running Kazakh, neutralising the No.3 seed's easy power with her scrambling defence and varied strokeplay to prevail 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1 in their quarter-final on Wednesday.
Now Jabeur will have to defuse another power player in the semi-final after Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka reached the last four at Wimbledon for the second straight time, after a year's break when she was banned from the tournament in 2022 along with her compatriots and Russian players over the Ukraine war.
While Jabeur was working her magic on Centre, the powerhouse Sabalenka, already the Australian Open champion this year, advanced by dismissing American Madison Keys 6-2 6-4 on No.1 Court.
Jabeur, the trailblazer who became the first African and Arab woman player to reach the final last year, kept her nerve after the frustration of missing out on a set point in the opening stanza.
Instead, it just provided the prelude to Jabeur outplaying the tournament favourite for the rest of the one hour, 53 minute contest, even surprising the champion with the power of her hitting.
"I’m very happy, there was a lot of emotion out there," said a thrilled Jabeur. "I wish I could exchange this match for the final last year!
“It really feels amazing to be back in the semi-finals. I can’t wait to play in my second semi-final at Wimbledon,” No.2 seed Sabalenka, who lost to runner-up Karolina Pliskova in 2021, said.
“Hopefully I can do better than I did last time.”
The victory improved Sabalenka's record to 17-1 at major tournaments this year. After victory in Melbourne, she reached the semi-finals at the French Open before her five wins so far on the grass at Wimbledon.
Jabeur will doubtless be a popular favourite for Thursday's semi-final which looks set to be played in good spirit, even if the Tunisian admits it will be noisy and emotional.
"I saw she (Sabalenka) won very quick, which I wasn't happy with," said Jabeur. on court.
To which Sabalenka later responded with a grin: "I saw that. I was in the locker room watching her interview, sending kisses and love."
Thursday's other semi-final will be between Ukraine wild card Elina Svitolina, whose inspirational return as the pride of her war-torn country and a new mother has been the biggest story of the tournament, and Czech left-hander Marketa Vondrousova.
