The Albany Gazette - Jabeur gains revenge at Wimbledon as Alcaraz eyes semis

In a repeat of the 2022 title match, Tunisian sixth seed Jabeur came from behind to beat defending champion Elena Rybakina 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1 in their quarter-final on Centre Court.

Both players broke twice in the first set before the Kazakh third seed took the tie-break.

The second set went with serve until the 10th game, when Rybakina cracked and Jabeur levelled the match.

The force was with Jabeur in the decider as she opened up a 3-0 lead and saved two break points to move 4-1 ahead.

Jabeur powered a backhand down the line to break once again and held her serve to seal the win, letting out a roar of delight.

"I'm very happy with the performance -- a lot of emotion out there, especially playing someone that serves really well," she said.

"It's frustrating to return but I'm glad I did everything, shouted, got angry, then got calm and focused and hopefully I can manage my emotions like this for the next two matches."

Sabalenka powered into a second Wimbledon semi-final with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Madison Keys of the United States.

A double break secured the first set and Sabalenka, who was defeated by Karolina Pliskova in the last four in 2021, dug herself out of a deep hole at 4-2, 40-0 down in the second set.

The world number two from Belarus was banned from the 2022 tournament following the invasion of Ukraine along with all Russian and Belarusian players.

Belarus is a key ally of Moscow.

"It was an amazing battle and I'm so happy to be back in the semi-final. I just hope to do better than last time," said Sabalenka.

"When I was a little girl I dreamed of winning Wimbledon," she added. "It's something special here."

- Friends reunited -

Men's world number one Alcaraz takes on his friend Denmark's Holger Rune.

The two players are both only 20 but Alcaraz already has a Grand Slam under his belt -- the US Open last year

"I'm really excited about this match," said the Spaniard. "We shared a lot of great moments. We played together since we were 12 years old.

"We've not texted each other, but obviously we know each other really well. Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I think he's the same."

Alcaraz may be top seed at the All England Club but Novak Djokovic is the strong favourite -- and is not afraid to say so.

The Serb star reached his 12th Wimbledon semi-final and record-equalling 46th at the Grand Slams with a four-set victory over Russia's Andrey Rublev on Tuesday.

"I don't want to sound arrogant, but of course I would consider myself favourite," said Djokovic, who will play Italy's Jannik Sinner in the last four.

"Judging by the results I had in my career here, the last four times at Wimbledon that I won, so I do consider myself favourite, yes."

In the other men's last-eight match on Wednesday, Russia's Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, faces a tricky tie against Christopher Eubanks, who is ranked 43rd, on Court No. 1.

The American has fallen in love with grass after previously describing it as the "stupidest" surface to play on.

Ukrainian wild card Elina Svitolina and unseeded Czech player Marketa Vondrousova progressed to the semi-finals on Tuesday.

(L.Kaufmann--BBZ)