Wimbledon Lookahead: Barty-Kerber, Sabalenka-Pliskova in SFs

Published Jul. 7, 2021 4:09 p.m. ET

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO THURSDAY

Of the four women's semifinalists at Wimbledon, only 25th-seeded Angelique Kerber has been at this stage before at the All England Club. And now she faces the only other remaining woman with a Grand Slam title to her name, top-seeded Ash Barty. Kerber won Wimbledon in 2018, along with two other major titles in 2016, and looks to have rediscovered her best grass-court form this year. Barty won the 2019 French Open and is a former junior champion at Wimbledon. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka tries to reach her first Grand Slam final when she plays No. 8 Karolina Pliskova, who lost to Kerber in the 2016 U.S. Open final. Pliskova has not dropped a set during this fortnight. The remaining quartet includes three women who have been ranked No. 1: Barty, Kerber and Pliskova.

THURSDAY'S FORECAST

Rain. High of 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius).

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WEDNESDAY'S WEATHER

Cloudy. High of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Celsius).

WEDNESDAY'S KEY RESULTS

Men’s Quarterfinals: No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; No. 14 Hubert Hurkacz beat No. 6 Roger Federer 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0; No. 7 Matteo Berrettini beat No. 16 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; No. 10 Denis Shapovalov beat No. 25 Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

STAT OF THE DAY

3 — The number of times Federer has lost a set by a 6-0 score in 429 career Grand Slam matches. Before Wednesday, the only other shutout sets at majors for Federer came at the French Open — in his very first Slam match against Pat Rafter in 1999, and in the final against Rafael Nadal in 2008.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I don’t know. I really don’t know." — Federer, asked whether this might have been his last appearance at Wimbledon, which he has won a men's-record eight times.

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