Serena survives a scare

London, July 10

Serena Williams survived a major scare before sealing her 11th Wimbledon semifinal appearance as the seven-time champion hit back to beat Italy's Camila Giorgi 3-6 6-3 6-4 today. Serena was in danger of a stunning quarterfinal exit after world No. 52 Camila became the first player in this year's tournament to take a set off the former world No. 1.

But Serena bludgeoned her way out of trouble over the final two sets to stay on course for an eighth All England Club triumph. It was Serena's 100th career main draw victory on grass. The 36-year-old will play German 13th seed Julia Goerges on Thursday for a place in Saturday's final. “I knew after the first set, 'all right, let's go three sets'. I'll just keep fighting,” Serena said. 

A first for Ostapenko 

Jelena Ostapenko became the first Latvian woman to reach a Wimbledon semifinal as the former French Open champion beat Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-4 today. 

She will take on former Wimbledon finalist Angelique Kerber in the semis on Thursday. “It's really great to be in the semis. I'm just enjoying being here,” she said. 

Del Potro scraps past Simon, in quarters

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro earned himself a chance to set the record straight against Rafael Nadal after sealing a place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Tuesday. He completed a 7-6(1) 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) win over Frenchman Gilles Simon after fading light interrupted their last-16 clash the previous evening with the fifth seed up two sets to one. Del Potro was in danger of being dragged into a fifth set when he squandered four match points, one with a double-fault, at 5-4 having hit back from 1-3 down. He eventually finished off world No. 53 Simon in the match's third tiebreak to move into his second Wimbledon quarterfinal where twice champion Nadal is waiting.

Del Potro was thrashed by the Spaniard in the French Open semifinal last month but feels his game matches up better against the world No. 1 on grass despite losing their only two meetings on the surface. "It will be a different match that we played in Paris a few weeks ago," said del Potro. — Agencies

Results

Women: Angelique Kerber bt Daria Kasatkina 6-3 7-5, Jelena Ostapenko bt Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-4, Julia Goerges bt Kiki Bertens 3-6 7-5 6-1, Serena Williams bt Camila Giorgi 3-6 6-3 6-4  

Men: Juan Martin del Potro bt Gilles Simon 7-6(1) 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5), Kei Nishikori bt Ernests Gulbis 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (12/10), Novak Djokovic bt Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-2 6-2