Daily Times

LONDON: When Jelena Ostapenko walked on to Wimbledon’s Court One on Tuesday, it appeared as if she was facing an identikit opponent — both had their hair tied back into neat ponytails and wore white headbands and wristbands. Each had also reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, and had surrendered only 23 games in four matches. But there the resemblance ended for former top five player Dominica Cibulkova. The 21-year-old Latvian firecracker blasted her off court 7-5 6-4 to become the first player from her country to reach a Wimbledon singles semi-final. Thirteen months after winning her first claycourt title at Roland Garros, Ostapenko will now hope to contest her first grasscourt final at the All England Club when she meets German 11th seed Angelique Kerber on Thursday. “I am fighting till the end and it helps me gain more confidence. It’s great to be in the semis,” Ostapenko said, beaming after beating Cibulkova for the first time in three attempts.

Published in Daily Times, July 11^th 2018.