Serena Williams clubbed her way into the Wimbledon semifinals, draining the last drop of fight from fellow American Alison Riske before sealing a 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3 win on Tuesday.
Having earlier been fined $10 000 by the All England Club for damaging one of Wimbledon’s courts with her racket prior to the start of the tournament, she hit back with a bang.
Of the win, she says: “It was really satisfying. I wouldn’t have won that match a couple of weeks ago, every match here has really counted.
“She [Riske] has played so great and beaten so many great players here.
It's fair to say @serenawilliams gave it everything to get to the semi-finals... #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/IHtpbzcQ3z
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2019
“I was really pumped, it’s for a place in the Wimbledon semis - it’s a long arduous road.”
Meanwhile, the men’s top three will all be in action in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Current champion and No.1 seed Novak Djokovic faces David Goffin, No.2 Roger Federer squares off against Kei Nishikori and the third-ranked Rafa Nadal will look to make the last four against American Sam Querrey.
Guido Pella, who knocked out South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, play Roberto Agut in the other quarterfinal.