World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka came back from a set down to beat Laura Siegemund 4-6 6-2 6-4 in a quarter-final thriller lasting two hours and 54 minutes, booking a semi-final spot at Wimbledon for the third time.

In a Centre Court scorcher, with another heatwave approaching in the capital to conclude the tournament, Sabalenka was given the runaround – particularly early on – as she struggled to deal with Siegemund’s impressive touch play.

The 37-year-old unseeded German, who had already disposed of sixth seed Madison Keys and 29th ranked Leylah Fernandez in earlier rounds, broke Sabalenka in her opening two service games en route to taking the first set.

The world No 104’s skill and precision with the drop shot, in particular, caught the eye on numerous occasions, though her serve started to let her down as the match wore on.

Having served two double faults to give back one of her two breaks when serving for the first set, further doubles contributed to a couple more breaks of Siegemund in the second – one sparking a Sabalenka comeback from 40-0 down to take a 4-2 lead.

When Sabalenka broke for a second-straight game, and for the third time in the set to force a decider, it appeared the momentum was firmly moving in the top seed’s favour, only for Siegemund to again up her level, breaking to love for a 2-1 advantage early in the third.

Another double-fault, when up 30-15, would lead to her dropping a further service game, only for Sabalenka to send down her own costly double when holding the advantage as she handed the break straight back.

A ridiculous rally at deuce on Siegemund’s subsequent service game – some sliced returns from both players struck to perfection inches over the net – went Sabalenka’s way for a break-back point.

The German would save that one but not a second, and from there Sabalenka would close out the contest, breaking Siegemund once more to wrap up victory with her second match point.

Sabalenka feared quarter-final exit | ‘Book the tickets’

Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said afterwards that she feared her Wimbledon might be over when dropping her first set of the tournament to Siegemund.

“I need some time to cool down and recover, she pushed me so much,” Sabalenka said. “After the first set I was looking at my box and saying ‘book the tickets, we’re out of this place.’

“It’s a smart game [Siegemund’s]. She’s really making everyone work against her. You know you have to work for every point.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a big server, if you’re a big hitter. You have to work. You have to run. And you have to earn the win.”

Sabalenka later added to reporters: “That was a real task. Honestly, I have no idea how I was able to hold myself and to be emotionally so prepared and focused.

“I’m actually really proud of myself because it was really tough battle.”

Sabalenka has never previously reached a Wimbledon final. She will face 13th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova in the final four.

The 23-year-old, through to her second Grand Slam semi-final, and first since the 2019 French Open, beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6 (11-9) after a marathon second set on Court No 1.

Anisimova blew two match points at 5-4 but Pavlyuchenkova could not take any of the five set points she had in the tie-break before Anisimova pulled through.

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