Aryna Sabalenka avoids Wimbledon humiliation vs world No.104 despite losing her head

Aryna Sabalenka survived a massive scare to reach her third semi-final at Wimbledon. It's been a strange tournament full of upsets and the world No. 1 was at risk of suffering arguably the biggest one yet to Laura Siegemund, who is ranked down at No. 104.

Less than 24 hours after ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner found himself in trouble on Centre Court before he was saved by his opponent's sudden injury retirement, the world's best WTA player avoided an upset and won five of the last games to seal a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory despite becoming frustrated and whacking the net with her racket.

It was a horror start for Sabalenka, who found herself a double break down by the time they got to the first changeover. The top seed branded Siegemund a "tricky player" before their quarter-final match, and she was right.

The German mixed it up with plenty of winners, dazzling the Centre Court crowd, as Sabalenka sprayed errors across the court. Sabalenka got one break back but Siegemund continued to cause all sorts of problems for the Belarusian, who was left shrugging her arms and gesturing towards her box.

The tricky 37-year-old sliced and diced her way around the court, and Sabalenka was broken again on her 10th unforced error of the match, allowing Siegemund to serve for it.

The world No. 104 threw in a poor game of her own with two double faults to get broken. But she didn't falter at the second time of asking. Some crafty hand skills at the net gave her a 30-0 lead, and Siegemund converted her second set point when Sabalenka netted a return after exactly an hour on court.

The world No. 1 then left the court for a comfort break while Siegemund spent the changeover with a towel on her head.

It was the ultimate test of Sabalenka's mentality after she recently admitted that she had transformed her attitude after her crushing French Open final loss, and learned to remain "calm" no matter what happened on the court.

Before the match, Sabalenka said: "The main thing is like not to over-rush and not to get frustrated by her game, and focus on myself." And she was made to live by her statement.

They traded breaks early in the second set, but it was Sabalenka's turn to show off her skills at the net. Siegemund was broken from 40-0 up in the sixth game as the world No. 1 started to grind her down and force errors from her racket in the longer rallies.

It was a turning point. Siegemund was up to all of her usual antics, catching the ball after her toss to slow down play, but Sabalenka won four games in a row to take the set 6-2 and force a decider.

The 37-year-old took an off-court bathroom break while Sabalenka got up and started practising some serves. They didn't do much to help - Siegemund was the first to break in the decider, finishing off a thrilling rally with a volley winner after the world No. 1 tried and failed to defend at the net.

Siegemund received a time violation after running down the shot clock while serving at deuce. But it didn't bother her, and she won the next two points, moving ahead to lead 3-1.

Sabalenka's new "calm" mindset started to slip away - she swatted the net with her racket after losing the next point on her serve. It did her some good to unleash some frustration, however. And after a flurry of breaks, the score was level at 4-4.

Chair umpire James Keothavong was forced to tell off one spectator for interrupting during the tense games. "Can the person applauding in between first and second serves stop doing that please, you're spoiling the game for everyone," he said before Sabalenka held on to lead 5-4.

After looking down-and-out, the top seed suddenly had two match points on Siegemund's serve. The German saved the first with a stunning dropshot but Sabalenka finally got the job done with a volley, roaring and pumping her fists as she booked her spot in the semis.

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