By Chris Oddo | Tuesday July 10, 2018
Jelena Ostapenko defeated Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets to book a milestone victory for herself and Latvia.
Photo Source: Clive Mason/Getty
Wimbledon, England—Jelena Ostapenko continued her torrid tennis on Tuesday by dispatching Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time.
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The 21-year-old sent a steady wave of return winners past Cibulkova and broke five times on 11 opportunities to earn her victory in one hour and 22 minutes.
She becomes the first Latvian woman to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon and improves to 2-1 lifetime in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The former Wimbledon Girls Singles champion is playing her 13th career major and she improves to 10-3 lifetime at the Championships.
After falling behind 3-1 Ostapenko rallied back to level and then took charge by winning the final eight points of the set. She broke for 6-5, cracking two return winners and another backhand winner from the baseline, then held to love to close the opener, finishing with back-to-back aces.
Ostapenko moved ahead for good in the fifth game of the second set with a break to 15. Down the stretch she held three consecutive times to finish off the Slovakian.
In total Ostapenko gained a big advantage on the second serve where she won 15 of 25 of her own second-serve points to go with 22 of 30 against Cibulkova’s second serve.
Ostapenko will bid for her second career Grand Slam final when she meets Angelique Kerber in semifinal action on Thursday at Wimbledon. The pair have never met previously.