By Chris Oddo | Tuesday July 11, 2017
Magdalena Rybarikova upset CoCo Vandeweghe to become the first Slovakian woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals on Tuesday.
Photo Source/Clive Brunskill/Getty
For Magdalena Rybarikova, the dream keeps on rolling.
The Slovakian’s magical Wimbledon continued on Tuesday as she eased past CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-3, to book a spot alongside Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals.
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With the victory the 28-year-old becomes the first woman from her country to ever reach the last four at Wimbledon.
Rybarikova, who has suffered serious wrist and knee injuries in the last year, started the season at No.156 in the world. She has now won 18 of her last 19 matches on grass dating back to early June when she won the ITF Surbiton Challenger title. It has been a remarkable turnaround for a player that had not reached a Grand Slam semifinal in her first 36 appearances--she could hardly believe what she had achieved after the match.
When speaking with the BBC immediately after her trimph, Rybarikova could only shake her head in amazement. “I could never ever believe I could be in the semifinal for this tournament,” she said. “I’m so happy and grateful.”
Rybarikova and Vandeweghe started relatively early on No.1 Court on Tuesday, with the Slovakian taking advantage of a very nervous start from the American to grab the early break when Vandeweghe double-faulted on break point.
"I was reading quite well her serve," Rybarikova told reporters after the match. "That's, I think, very important against Coco, that you have to really return well and then hold your serve. I was trying to put as much first serves as is possible."
Vandeweghe continued nervously as Rybarikova steadied up and eventually broke again to close the opener. The pair would trade breaks early in the second before rains came.
Prolonged showers necessitated a switch to Centre Court's safe haven under the roof, after several hours of waiting. Rybarikova later admitted that the court change had her worried due to the fact that she felt more able to negate Vandeweghe's powerful game in the windy outdoor conditions, but the 28-year-old still managed to pick up where she left off, winning the first three games and quickly earning three match points.
In the next game Rybarikova held her nerve and closed the victory, holding at love and clinching when a backhand error by Vandeweghe missed its target.
“I think she’s playing the best tennis of her career right now,” Vandeweghe said. “All credit to her for coming back and sticking with it."
The only unseeded player remaining in the tournament will move on to face red-hot Garbiñe Muguruza next. The pair have split four previous encounters with Rybarikova taking their only meeting on grass in 2015.
"Always some player who surprise," she said. "Now I was lucky to be me. Yeah, I'm really grateful for that." .