Wimbledon: Serena Williams roars into semifinals

America's Serena Williams celebrates her quarter-final win over compatriot Alison Riske at Wimbledon yesterday. Pic /Getty Images

London: Seven-time champion Serena Williams reached her 12th Wimbledon semi-final yesterday with a hard fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over unseeded American compatriot Alison Riske yesterday.

Serena, 37, who is two wins away from equalling Margaret Court's Grand Slam singles title record haul of 24, looked far from convincing as Riske pushed her the whole way over an engrossing two-hour duel.

"It was really satisfying," said Williams, whose clay court season was affected by a knee injury. "I wouldn't have won that match a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad that I was able to come through. She beat so many great players. She was really so close to taking the win today."

American Alison Riske

Family support

Having sealed the match she turned to the players box where amongst others she was supported by older sister Venus and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and yelled, pumping her fists. "I was really pumped, it was for a place in the semis at Wimbledon - that doesn't happen every day and it's a long, arduous road," said Serena.

"I just had to just button up and play hard. She was playing her heart out and she had nothing to lose and I realised neither did I."

Meanwhile, Serena yesterday revealed that she consulted a therapist after her infamous 2018 US Open final meltdown in which her bitter war of words with the umpire overshadowed Naomi Osaka's maiden Grand Slam victory.

"I couldn't find peace. I started seeing a therapist," Serena wrote in a first-person account published in US glossy magazine Harper's Bazaar. "I was searching for answers, and although I felt like I was making progress, I still wasn't ready to pick up a racquet."

Halep, Svitolina through

Earlier, Ukraine Elina Svitolina reached her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Svitolina will take on Romania's Simona Halep who defeated China's Zhang Shuai 7-6, 6-1 to book her place in the last-four for the second time.

Serena fined $10,000 for damaging court

London: Seven-time champion Serena Williams has been fined $10,000 for damaging one of the All England Club courts with her racquet, officials said yesterday. The American was sanctioned for an incident which took place during a practice session before the tournament got underway. "The code given is for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The reason is court damage," a spokeswoman said.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates