Bencic beats Andreeva to enter first Wimbledon semi-final

LONDON: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic said her dream had come true after she reached her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) win against Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday.

The former Olympic champion is enjoying her best run at the All England Club just over a year after giving birth.

The 28-year-old had her daughter Bella in April 2024, but has already risen to 35 in the world since returning from maternity leave.

Wimbledon appears to be child's play for Bencic this year and she dispatched Andreeva in just over two hours of enthralling quarter-final action on Centre Court.

Bencic, a former world number four, will face five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek for a place in Saturday's final.

"It's crazy, it's unbelievable. It's a dream come true. I tried not to think about it at the match point. I'm just speechless," Bencic said.

Bencic's only other Grand Slam last-four appearance ended in defeat at the US Open in 2019, two years before she won singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

She is the first Swiss woman semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis 27 years ago, having failed to make it past the last 16 in her previous eight visits to southwest London.

The rising star of the WTA Tour, 18-year-old Andreeva was the youngest women's Wimbledon quarter-finalist since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.

Andreeva said she was so focused on each point during her fourth-round tie against Emma Navarro that she did not realise when she won on match point.

But Bencic proved equally locked in and the Swiss veteran defied a painful cracked toe-nail in the second set to seal her memorable triumph.