Serena Williams dug deep into her bag of tricks to escape Camila Giorgi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday's quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
With the comeback win, Williams is set to go up against Julia Goerges of Germany in the penultimate round which is scheduled this Thursday. The victory also marked Williams' 11th appearance in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Additionally, Williams also improved his ranking from No.181 to No.51 by just making it through the semifinals. Williams is expected to go up to 28 when she clinches a finals spot and at No.14 when she bags her eighth Wimbledon title.
Prior to the match, Williams sported an excellent 10-2 win-loss record in the quarterfinal round of the Wimbledon. She only lost to Jennifer Capriati in 2001 and Justin Henin in 2007.
"Well, it's better than 183 or whatever I am. Got to keep trekking on, though. Serena Williams, 51, eh. It doesn't have that same ring to it. The '1' part does, but not the '5." Williams quipped.
Williams became the first player since Victoria Azarenka to make it through a Grand Slam semifinal without going up against a top 40 player. Giorgi was also the highest-ranked player Williams has competed against in this year's Wimbledon.
Strong Comeback For Williams
It wasn't the dream start Williams had hoped for as she failed to match the pace and angles of Giorgi's game early. Despite succumbing in the opening set, Williams only gave up 14 points on serve courtesy of 14 service games.
The 36-year-old Williams imposed her dominance in the second as she leveled the game to force a third set. Williams broke the game wide open in the third by converting six of her seven aces. Williams also improved her record to 39-35 when losing an opening set in a major tournament.
However, Williams will have a little time to celebrate as she is set to go up against a motivated opponent in Goerges. The German netter has been on a losing skid lately, suffering first round exits in the past five editions of the Wimbledon.
Goerges clinched a slot in the semifinals after pulling off a come-from-behind victory over Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Goerges and Williams have squared up three times with the latter winning all games in straight sets.
Kerber And Ostapenko Clinch Semis Berths
Two-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber registered a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Daria Kasatkina to reach the semifinals for the third time. Kerber is also hoping to bounce back after a runner-up finish in the 2016 Wimbledon tournament.
Kerber is set to battle last year's French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko who eked out a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Dominika Cibulkova. Ostapenko became the first Latvian woman to make it through a Wimbledon semifinal.
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