Thursday’s ladies’ singles semifinals are full of inspiring storylines, featuring the 2019 champion alongside three debutantes at this stage of a Major. Simona Halep is on a 12-match win streak at The Championships, and is yet to drop a set this fortnight. Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina had previously only reached the quarterfinals at a Slam, and have made history by becoming the first players from their countries to reach a Slam semifinal. And remarkably, 34-year-old mother-of-two Tatjana Maria had never been beyond the third round at a Major, and was on a nine-match losing streak at Slams prior to this fortnight.
Also on Thursday, the gentlemen’s doubles semifinals will be played, as well as the mixed doubles championship match.
Ons Jabeur (3) vs. Tatjana Maria – 1:30pm on Centre Court
These are two good friends who describe each other as frequent barbecue buddies. They also possess two of the sport’s most eclectic styles, with plenty of slices mixed with surges of power. But in this matchup, Jabeur is clearly the favorite. Ons has become the No.2 player in the world, with an outstanding record of 35-9 this season. She was a quarterfinalist here a year ago, and is an undefeated 10-0 on grass in 2022, and 20-2 on this surface since last year.
Maria missed the first six months of the 2021 season due to giving birth to her second child. She came into this year ranked 284th in the world, yet she’s accumulated 36 match wins at all levels. As a qualifier, she won a WTA title on clay this past April in Bogota. And despite her lack of results at Majors, with a career record of 12-34 in main draws, Tatjana has fought her way into her first Slam semifinal, with four three-set victories. In three of those matches, she came back from a set down. And she also won three of them by a third-set score of 7-5, even saving two match points against Jelena Ostapenko.
They’ve only played once at tour-level, with Maria prevailing in straight sets five years ago in Linz. But in 2022, Jabeur is the far more accomplished player, especially at Majors. And her all-court skills outmatch those of Tatjana. As long as Ons does not succumb to the pressure of being a strong favorite in her first Slam semifinal, Jabeur should comfortably advance to Saturday’s championship match.
Simona Halep (16) vs. Elena Rybakina (17) – Second on Centre Court
Halep has been on a tear in her last few matches. On Monday, she allowed fourth-seeded Paula Badosa only three games. On Wednesday, Amanda Anisimova was only able to win six. However, both of those opponents already had previous poor results against Simona, as their games do not match up well with that of the two-time Major champion. The same cannot be said for Rybakina.
While Halep leads their head-to-head 2-1, their last two encounters have been extremely right. Two years ago in Dubai, Simona required a third-set tiebreak to survive. And at last year’s US Open, she prevailed 6-3 in the third. The big difference between the set Rybakina won in New York, and the two sets she lost, was her winner-to-error ratio. In the set she won, those numbers were equal. In the sets she lost, she struck nearly twice as many unforced errors as winners.
While reducing her error count will be key for Rybakina, so will continuing to serve well. In her last two rounds alone, Elena as struck 21 aces and only one double fault. Rybakina leads the WTA ace count this season, though Halep remains of the sport’s best returners. And Simona’s serve has improved significantly over the last few seasons.
Experience may be the key factor on Thursday, which is obviously a huge advantage for Halep. This is her ninth Major semifinal, and her third at Wimbledon, while this Rybakina’s first at any Slam. Also Centre Court itself will be new territory for Elena, who has never played on this court in her career. And based on Halep’s current form, the 2019 champion should be favored to return to the final.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk (2) vs. Matthew Ebden and Sam Stosur – Skupski and Krawczyk are the defending champions, while Ebden and Stosur were finalists at last year’s Australian Open.
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (1) vs. Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell (14) – Ram and Salisbury and two-time Major champions as a team. Ebden and Purcell were finalists at this year’s Australian Open. That’s the event where these teams last met, with the Australians prevailing in the semifinals.
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (2) vs. Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (6) – Mektic and Pavic are the defending champions, while Cabal and Farah won this event in 2019. Cabal Farah are 2-0 against Mektic and Pavic this season.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.