Iga Swiatek reaches Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time, Fognini retires

Eighth-seeded player Iga Swiatek entered the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the first time. She defeated 19th-seeded Ludmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 in straight sets. The match took place on Wednesday, in which Swiatek took an easy lead in the beginning, but faced a little challenge in the later moments.

Swiatek is a five-time Grand Slam champion, four of whom have been on the red clay of the French Open and one on the hard court of the US Open. She has also been a semi-finalist twice on the hard courts of the Australian Open. The All England Club's grass courts were the toughest on her to date.

But she did win the junior championship here in 2018. Previously, in her five women's appearances at Wimbledon, she had only made the quarter-finals once, when she lost in 2023. But the 24-year-old Pole now plays her best on grass thanks to the ease she discovered playing with better balance on this surface.

Before Wimbledon, she played the first grass court final of her career by finishing runner-up in Bad Hamburg, Germany, and this was her first final in any tournament after more than a year. Earlier, she saw her 26-match winning streak come to an end by losing in the semi-finals to Arina Sabalenka at Roland Garros (French Open).

After winning the first set against Samsonova, who was playing in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career, Swiatek took a 3-0 lead in the second set. But soon the score became 4-4 and then 5-5. After this, Swiatek took a 6-5 lead and then broke to win the match. A smile bloomed on his face after the victory.

Former world top 10 player Fabio Fognini retired from professional tennis on Wednesday after losing the first round of Wimbledon against Carlos Alcaraz last week. Fognini, 38, of Italy, was defeated by Alcaraz 7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in more than four and a half hours in the first round match. This was Fognini's 10th consecutive defeat at the tour level.

He has lost all seven matches in 2025. Fognini had earlier said that he would end his career at the end of the season, but on Wednesday, he announced his retirement in a press conference at the All England Club. Fognini said that this is the best way to say goodbye. Wimbledon was Fognini's 63rd Grand Slam tournament. His best performance in a Grand Slam was in the 2011 French Open when he reached the quarter-finals. 

However, he did not play in that match due to a thigh injury, and Novak Djokovic made it to the next round. US Open 2015 champion Flavia Pennetta is Fognini's wife. Fognini won nine singles titles at the tour level. He won his last title in Monte Carlo in 2019. That same year, he reached ninth place in the ATP rankings and became the first Italian player to make it to the top 10 since 1979.