Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic reached her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) victory against Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday. Former Olympic champion Bencic is enjoying her best run at the All England Club just over a year after giving birth. The 28-year-old had her daughter Bella in April 2024, but has already climbed back to 35th in the world since returning from maternity leave. Wimbledon seems to be child’s play for Bencic this year, and she dispatched Andreeva in two hours and eight minutes of enthralling quarter-final action on Centre Court. Bencic, a former world number four, will face five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek for a place in the final. Bencic’s only other Grand Slam semi-final appearance ended in defeat at the US Open in 2019, two years before she won singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics. She is the first Swiss female semi-finalist at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis 27 years ago, having failed to progress past the last 16 in her previous eight visits to south-west London. The rising star of the WTA Tour, 18-year-old Andreeva, was the youngest women’s Wimbledon quarter-finalist since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007. Under the guidance of former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez, Andreeva had impressively breezed through the first four rounds without dropping a set. Andreeva said she was so focused on each point during her fourth-round tie against Emma Navarro that she did not realise when she won on match-point. But Bencic proved equally locked in, and the Swiss veteran took the first set in a tense tie-break. The second set was equally hard-fought, with break points saved by both players before Bencic broke in the ninth game. Bencic had requested the trainer to come on court at the end of the game to deal with a cracked toe nail but changed her mind with a memorable victory within touching distance. Whether it was the foot issue or the pressure of serving for the match, Bencic got within two points of winning but was unable to finish the job as Andreeva broke back. That set up another tie-break, with Bencic visibly hobbling between points but somehow summoning up the willpower to seal the win with a booming forehand. (With inputs from AFP)