Swiatek Dominates Samsonova in Straight Sets to Reach First Wimbledon Semi

Iga Swiatek's much-hyped grass-court breakthrough finally materialized on Wednesday when the No. 8 seed advanced to the Wimbledon 2025 semifinals with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Liudmila Samsonova.

Making her way to No. 1 Court, the five-time Grand Slam title winner produced a commanding and steady performance against Samsonova, who was playing her first-ever quarterfinal at the majors.

Swiatek took just under two hours — exactly 1 hour and 49 minutes — to beat the No. 19 seed, taking her perfect record against the Russian to 5-0, the WTA reported.

With this win, Swiatek places a new item on her already storied resume, becoming just the fourth current player — alongside Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, and Karolina Pliskova — to achieve semifinal appearances at all four Grand Slam events.

Now 23, the Polish star is performing her best on grass so far. Her season in 2025 has thus far seen her play at 8-1 on grass, including a runner-up appearance at Bad Homburg only a few weeks ago, losing in the final to Jessica Pegula. Her best previous appearance at Wimbledon had been a quarterfinal appearance in 2023.

Swiatek started the match with intent, saving a break point in the first game before dominating through the first set. She didn't lose a point on her first serve and broke Samsonova twice to seal the first set 6-2.

The second set seemed destined for a simple conclusion as Swiatek was 6-2, 4-2, 40-0 ahead. But Samsonova staged a late rally, breaking serve and taking the set to 5-5. Once again, however, Swiatek's coolness prevailed. She recovered from 0-30 down to hold for 6-5 and then broke Samsonova in the next game to seal the victory — ending it with a forehand return winner in which her grass-court confidence is not seen any longer.

Swiatek also made her mark on Polish tennis history as the first woman from her nation to advance to the semifinals in Wimbledon since Agnieszka Radwanska reached that stage in 2015.

At the same time, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka saw off a determined challenge from Germany's Laura Siegemund to also secure her place in the last four. Amanda Anisimova also went through to the final four after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 7-6(9), continuing her strong run of form at the All England Club.