News : Wimbledon: Serena Williams and Simona Halep are in the semifinals

The first two semi-finalists at Wimbledon are clear: Serena Williams and Simona Halep. Williams defeated her compatriot Alison Riske 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 3 in two hours. Halep scored two sets against Chinese Zhang Shuai and the match ended 7: 6, 6: 1.

Williams will face Barbora Strýcová in the semi-finals, who later beat 7-0, 6-1 in the afternoon against Briton Johanna Konta. In the other semi-final, Halep and Ukrainian Elina Switolina, who beat Karolína Muchová 7: 6, 6: 4, are in the match.

For Williams it's the first semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament this year. In Melbourne she was in the quarterfinals, in Paris already eliminated in the third round. Against Riske the 38-year-old had to fight, it came to the crucial third set. At the score of 4: 3 Williams took an important break and used their first serve ball at their own serve. With an ace she promoted to the semifinals. With a 24th Grand Slam triumph Williams would set the record of the Australian Margaret Court.

"She's playing so great, has left her heart in the field, the win is a great satisfaction to me, a few weeks ago I would not have won," Williams said about Riske. The world ranking-55. had surprisingly prevailed in the round of 16 against French Open champion Ashleigh Barty. Riske is the first player ever to get the crucial third set in the first five rounds of Wimbledon in the Open Era.

With Halep another top ten player reached the round of the last four. In the duel with Shuai Halep came back from an early 1: 4 deficit in the first set and finally decided the passage in the tiebreak for himself. In the second set Halep did not give her opponent a chance and finished the game after 87 minutes. The semi-final of the turf classic had reached the Romanian so far only in 2014.