LONDON: Slowed by a balky ankle, trailing by a service break in the third set of her Wimbledon quarter-final, Serena Williams appeared to be in trouble Tuesday against an opponent playing the tournament of her life.

Serena was down, yes. But out? No way. And now she is two victories from that 24th Grand Slam title that’s been barely eluding her.

Lifting her play a much-needed notch down the stretch to grab the last three games, capping the comeback with her 19th ace at 121 mph, no less Serena reached the semi-finals at the All England Club by gutting out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over 55th-ranked Alison Riske.

“I had to just button up and play hard,” said Serena, who owns seven Wimbledon titles. “She was playing her heart out.” That she was. Riske, a 29-year-old from Pittsburgh, was appearing in her first major quarter-final. For Serena, this was a 51st.

That might have made all the difference. It’s Serena who possesses boundless muscle memory in these situations, who knows what it takes to come through in the tightest contests on the biggest stages.

“I definitely thought maybe I had a peek here and there at a couple openings, but Serena really upped her level, as only a champion would,” Riske said.

“It was really, actually, very interesting for me to be on the opposite end, because I felt her up her game and her intensity,” Riske said with a smile. “Yeah, I hope she takes the title now.”

Next for the 37-year-old Serena will be a match against 54th-ranked Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 33 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory over 19th seed Johanna Konta of Britain.

The other semi-final on Thursday will be Romanian seventh seed Simona Halep against eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Halep, a former world number one who won the 2018 French Open, followed up her elimination of 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff by defeating Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to get to her second semi-final at Wimbledon. Svitolina will make her debut in that round at any major tournament thanks to beating Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4.

Serena, whose total of 97 Wimbledon match wins compares to the 82 combined of the other seven quarter-finalists, will look back on her victory with some relief.

Riske converted all five of her break points while Serena succeeded with just six of her 16 opportunities. However, she relied on her power to keep her in the match.

In doing so she managed to avoid the fate that befell world number one Ashleigh Barty at the hands of Riske on Monday. Serena was constantly cajoling herself and letting out roars of come on during the match.

Having sealed the match she turned to the players box where she was supported by older sister Venus and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and yelled, pumping her fists.

Halep took the match by the scruff of the neck once she won the first set.

“I fought hard in the first set, even if I was down 4-1,” said 27-year-old Halep. “I knew I had to be strong, play aggressive as much as possible and I did it great. I have energy, I feel fresh, I feel healthy, I feel confident when I step on the court.”

For Svitolina breaking new ground in terms of her career is exciting enough.“It feels amazing,” she enthused. “It is the first time in the semi-finals for me and I didn’t expect it would happen here. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to my semi-final already.”

In Monday’s late action, Roger Federer became the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in 28 years when he booked his place in the last-eight for the 17th time.

The eight-time champion breezed past Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in just 74 minutes to make sure of a spot in his 55th quarter-final at the Slams. It was also his 99th win at the All England Club.

At 37, he is the oldest man to reach the last eight at the majors since 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open. Federer, who hit 24 winners and just five unforced errors, will face Japan’s Kei Nishikori for a place in the semi-finals.

Japanese eighth seed Nishikori defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight for the second successive year.

Also, Argentine 26th seed Guido Pella reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final with a come-from-behind 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 8-6 win over Canadian 15th seed Milos Raonic.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2019