Wimbledon semifinal previews: Elina Svitolina vs. Marketa Vondrousova; Ons Jabeur vs. Aryna Sabalenka

FLASHBACK: Svitolina played one of the best matches of the fortnight to shock top seed Iga Swiatek on Tuesday.

Elina Svitolina vs. Marketa Vondrousova

Vondrousova is a classic “tricky” opponent. She’s a lefty, she relies more on spin and finesse than power, she doesn’t have any clear weaknesses, and her level tends to rise and fall, so it’s hard to gauge exactly what you need to do to beat her. She can look unbeatable and highly beatable in the space of a single match. Just ask Jessica Pegula—or maybe don’t. Nearly down 1-5 in the third set of their quarterfinal, Vondrousova “literally didn’t miss for like the next five games,” a frustrated Pegula said.

Svitolina, who calls Vondrousova a “tough opponent,” knows all about the Czech’s wily ways. Maybe too much. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-2, but Vondrousova won their last two meetings easily. The most recent came at the 2021 Olympics, so you know that was a bitter pill for Svitolina to swallow.

As in the Olympics, Svitolina will be playing this match for her country as well as herself. She says she has changed, as a person and a player, over the last 12 months, and that has certainly been borne out at Wimbledon. On Sunday she beat Victoria Azarenka for the first time in six tries; on Tuesday she beat the top seed, Iga Swiatek. Svitolina won both matches by fighting back from a deficit, and by going all-in on her attack in a way that she usually didn’t in the past. It worked against those two hard-hitters, but will it work against a more varied game style like Vondrousova’s? It feels like Svitolina has come too far not to play for the championship. Winner: Svitolina

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ons Jabeur

If the matchup in the first women’s semifinal is a bit of a shocker, this one is in line with pre-tournament expectations. Sabalenka is the No. 2 seed, Jabeur is No. 6, and each has been this far at Wimbledon before. The one semi-surprise was Jabeur’s comeback win over the woman who beat her in last year’s final, Elena Rybakina, who was many people’s pick, including mine, to win it all again.

Will Jabeur’s tougher road to the semis give her a boost? Along with Rybakina, she also made quick work of No. 9 seed Petra Kvitova, and fought off a game Bianca Andreescu. The Tunisian will need something a little extra against Sabalenka, who has won three of their four meetings.

The match will be on Sabalenka’s racquet. She’s the bigger server and harder hitter, and the one who will go for broke earlier in a rally. It will be Jabeur’s job to disrupt her rhythm. But maybe there’s also something she can learn from the woman who beat Sabalenka in her last Slam semi, at Roland Garros. In that match, Karolina Muchova, who typically plays with Jabeur-like variety, took the early initiative away from Sabalenka, attacked the net, and eventually won. Winner: Sabalenka