Aryna Sabalenka trailed by a set, then twice was down a break in the third before grabbing the last three games to reach the Wimbledon semifinals by overcoming 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at Centre Court on Tuesday.
Sabalenka, No. 1 since last October, never has been to a title match at the All England Club, the only Grand Slam tournament where that's the case. She won the Australian Open twice and the US Open once, and she was the runner-up at this year's Australian Open (losing to Madison Keys) and French Open (losing to Coco Gauff).
A month after her loss to Gauff -- during which she made 70 unforced errors -- Sabalenka knew she needed to keep her emotions in check and straighten out her strokes.
"I think there's a big possibility that I would have lost this match if I didn't learn that lesson at the French Open," Sabalenka said. "In some moments I just ... kept reminding myself, 'Come on, it's the quarterfinal of Wimbledon, you cannot give up, you cannot let the emotions just take over you and lose another match.'"
The 27-year-old Belarusian lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023. On Thursday, Sabalenka will get a third chance in that round against No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova, as she looks to join Venus Williams as the only active women to reach the final at all four major tournaments
Sabalenka hadn't dropped a set during this year's trip to the grass-court major until Tuesday -- but she also hadn't faced an opponent whose style is as an unorthodox as that of the 37-year-old Siegemund.
The German, who eliminated No. 6 Keys last week, was the oldest woman in the quarterfinals, as well as the one with the fewest career titles (two).
She arrived at Wimbledon with a career record there of 2-5 and with a 4-9 mark on tour in 2025. She was bidding to become the oldest first-time major semifinalist in the Open era.
Siegemund's ability to change the depth, speed, angles and spins of her shots frustrated Sabalenka, especially in the final set.
"It's not like it's an annoying game. It's a smart game. She's really making everyone work against her," Sabalenka said. "You know you have to work for every point. It doesn't matter if you're a big server, if you're a big hitter. You have to work. You have to run. And you have to earn the win."
As her mistakes mounted, she would look up at her box with a quizzical expression and raise her hands. After missing one forehand off a short ball, she knelt on the grass near the net.
After breaking Sabalenka for the sixth time of the afternoon, Siegemund was serving up 40-30 for a chance to take a 5-3 lead in the final set. But Sabalenka broke right back to open her match-ending run that included winning 12 of the final 16 points to close out the 2 hour and 54 minute contest -- the third longest of this year's women's tournament.
"She pushed me so much, and honestly after the first set I was just looking at my box thinking, 'Guys, I mean like book the tickets, you know -- I think we're about to leave this beautiful city, country, place,'" Sabalenka said. "But wow she played an incredible tournament, an incredible match, and I'm just super happy right now with the win."
Since 2022, Sabalenka is 11-3 in majors after losing the opening set; prior to that, she was 2-13.
Sabalenka improved to 12-1 in major quarterfinals, the only loss coming at last year's French Open against Mirra Andreeva. That's the second-best winning percentage by any woman in the Open era after Chris Evert.
This will be the second straight meeting at a major for Sabalenka and Anisimova, after Sabalenka won their round of 16 match at the French Open in straight sets.
Anisimova holds a 5-3 edge in their head-to-head meetings -- the only players with more wins over Sabalenka at the tour level are Iga Swiatek (8) and Gauff (6) -- though they have never played on grass.
"I definitely think this surface suits her game really well," Sabalenka said. "That's why she's playing so well so far."
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.