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The schedule for Day 11 of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships is finally out. The four players who remain in the women’s singles category will play their semifinal fixtures on Thursday.
Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria begin the proceedings on Center Court, with Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina following them on the same court. Without further ado, here are the predictions for the women's singles semifinals on Day 11 of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
#1 Ons Jabeur vs Tatjana Maria
Number three seed Ons Jabeur will take on the resurgent German Tatjana Maria in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Jabeur arrived in London as one of the favorites to win the grass Major. Her win-loss tally of 30-9 this season includes titles in Madrid and Berlin, and runner-up finishes in Charleston and Rome. The Tunisian beat Mirjam Bjorklund, Katarzyna Kawa, Diane Parry, and Elise Mertens, all in straight sets, to reach the Round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Marie Bouzkova gave her a scare by taking the first set. It turned out to be nothing but a hiccup as the World No. 2 returned to her best and took the next two sets to a loss of just two games.
Tatjana Maria, on the other hand, is on a fairytale run right now. Ahead of the grasscourt Slam, she made early exits in Berlin and Bad Homburg, and was expected to continue the trend at SW19. However, she beat Xinyu Wang, second-seed Anett Kontaveit, Ukrainian veteran Lesia Tsurenko, and local favorite Heather Watson. She then defeated compatriot Jule Niemeier in three sets to reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Maria has had an excellent season this year, with a 30-13 win-loss record and a title each in the ITF and Challenger circuits. Up until now, she had never made it past round three in the Majors – which she has been competing in since 2007.
Jabeur and Maria have faced each other three times. Two of those came in the qualifying rounds of the 2014 US Open and the 2018 Beijing Open, with the Tunisian winning both. Their only tour-level meeting came in the Round of 32 at the 2017 Linz Open, which Maria won in straight sets.
When Jabeur and Maria, who are very close friends off the court, face each other on Center Court, anything can happen. The German is an experienced player and is playing like she’s destined to win the title. Jabeur, on the other hand, has momentum and form going into the fixture. Barring one set in the quarterfinals, she is close to her best and has shown an exceptional level of mastery on grass.
Jabeur starts as the favorite but Maria is an underdog worth backing. In this battle of skill vs grit, the Tunisian should come out on top and go through to the Wimbledon final.
Predicted winner: Ons Jabeur.
#2 Elena Rybakina vs Simona Halep
Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep faces 17th seed Elena Rybakina in the semifinals of Wimbledon.
Rybakina comes into the semifinals on the back of a three-set win over Ajla Tomljanovic. The Kazakh player dominated after dropping the first set, and her serve was on point. She’s now hit a combined 21 aces in her last two matches.
The 23-year-old has won six of her last eight matches on grass and will be looking to reach her first-ever Grand Slam final. Her path to the Wimbledon semis also includes wins against Coco Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu, Qinwen Zheng and Petra Martic.
Meanwhile, Halep finds herself in familiar territory as she's set to appear in her ninth Grand Slam semifinal. The Romanian is coming off a straight-sets win over Amanda Anisimova that took 18 games to decide. She won 63 percent of her first-serve points and 77 percent of her second-serve points, converting four of her six break points. She also saved seven of eight break points.
The 30-year-old is yet to drop a set this tournament, and she’s on an eight-match win streak. At SW19, she has also beaten Karolina Muchova, Kirsten Flipkens, Magdalena Frech and Paula Badosa. Halep is looking to make her sixth career Grand Slam final, and first since the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
Halep has won two of her three matches against Rybakina, which includes winning the most recent clash at the 2021 US Open. Rybakina’s lone win over Halep came in 2019 Wuhan, a match where Halep retired in the first set. The semifinals will be their first clash on grass.
Halep's well-rounded game is in stark contrast to Rybakina's serve-reliant approach. While the 23-year-old Kazakh recovered from a slow start against Tomljanovic, Halep will not give her time to make a comeback in the semifinals. The Romanian’s experience will also come in handy in the business end of the competition.
Predicted winner: Simona Halep.
