London: The rare sighting of the sun at this year's Wimbledon championships provided no incentive for Elena Rybakina to linger around longer than necessary on Centre Court as she ended Elina Svitolina's quarter-final challenge with a 6-3 6-2 defeat.
Over the course of the last five days, the grasscourt major had started to resemble an indoor tournament with matches on the two main showcourts taking place under cover.
With the retractable roof on Centre Court finally open under a clear blue sky on Wednesday, spectators flocking into the 15,000 seater arena were hoping that the Rybakina-Svitolina duel would be a long and thrilling one.
After all this was the only singles match they were going to get to watch on day 10 of the championships since Novak Djokovic's quarter-final with Alex de Minaur had already been cancelled after the Australian pulled out with a hip injury, handing the Serbian a walkover. All the fans got in return for their £200 ($260) Centre Court tickets was one hour and one minute of singles action.
Giving value for money to the punters was not exactly high on the priority list for Rybakina. All the fourth seed wanted was to take the win and move another step closer to lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish for the second time in three years - the quicker the better.
QUEEN CAMILLA WATCHING
Rybakina, the highest seed left in the women's draw, was so fixated with the task at hand that she did not even notice Britain's Queen Camilla watching on from the front row of the Royal Box.
"Oh, wow, I didn't even see (her). That's amazing," Rybakina said after walking off court.
That single-minded focus helped Rybakina to recover from dropping her opening service game and she went on to produce a majestic performance to extend her perfect grasscourt record to 2-0 against the Ukrainian.
From 3-3 in the first set, Rybakina was on a roll as she won five games in a row as Svitolina kept looking at her husband Gael Monfils in the players' box for some much needed inspiration. Svitolina had captivated Wimbledon 12 months ago when she had cast aside four Grand Slam champions to reach the semi-finals just eight months after the birth of her daughter Skai.
There would be no repeat of that magical run on Wednesday. Rybakina's performance was so dominant and stifling, the crowd even struggled to engage with either player or get behind underdog Svitolina.
The Russian-born Kazakh, the only women's champion left in the draw, sealed the first set with a 115mph thunderbolt and fired down another ace - her seventh of the match - to complete the one-sided victory.
Krejcikova downs Ostapenko
Barbora Krejcikova reached her first Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday with a 6-4 7-6(4) win over Latvian 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the battle of former French Open champions.
The Czech 31st seed kept her composure from the back of the court to force her opponent into 35 unforced errors across the match as Ostapenko's bid for a second Grand Slam title since her first in 2017 unravelled on Court One which, on a rare occasion this tournament, had its roof open.
The 28-year-old will face 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. Ostapenko, 27, had power in her serve but struggled to place it, landing less than 50% of her first serve during the opening set. Krejcikova, French Open champion in 2021, broke in the third game and went on to clinch the opener.
Ostapenko rallied to break her opponent in the second set and open a 4-1 lead. However, mistakes once again dogged her game as she went from ruefully smiling one minute and ranting at her coaches in the player's box the next.
Krejcikova stayed focused and put together a run of four winning games to go 5-4 up. However, she was broken when serving for the match as Ostapenko extended her stay in the tournament a little while the sun peeked through the clouds.
The match went to a tiebreak and a brilliant crosscourt forehand from Krejcikova found the far line to give her a mini-break from which she went on to close out the match, sealing her first win over the Latvian in their four most recent encounters.
That Krejcikova has won five consecutive matches on grass for the first time in her career is all the more remarkable given she only had three wins on the Tour in February to June this year as she recovered from illness.
Musetti stops Fritz to make maiden Grand Slam semi
Lorenzo Musetti saved some of his best tennis for the end as the Italian moved into his first Grand Slam semi-final by outlasting big-hitting American 13th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 3-6 6-1 at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The 25th-seeded Italian's bid to join compatriot and world number one Jannik Sinner as a major champion this year faces a massive hurdle, however, as he faces seven-times All England Club champion Novak Djokovic in the last four.
Musetti has beaten Djokovic once in six clashes and dragged the Serb to five sets in their most recent one at Roland Garros. The 22-year-old showed similar battling qualities against Fritz after going behind early in the match.
After holding in a tight first game, Fritz seized the early break for 3-1 when Musetti netted a backhand, and the American consolidated the advantage in the next game with a powerful forehand winner to set the tone for the first set.
Eastbourne champion Fritz continued to crank up his forehand and serve in glorious sunshine, occasionally drawing gasps from Court One fans with rockets from the baseline, and grabbed the lead in the match with an ace.
After the pair exchanged breaks at the start of the second set, Queen's Club runner-up Musetti pounced again to go 5-3 up, and although Fritz erased the deficit the Italian raised his level to edge the tiebreak.
Musetti mixed up his game with chips and slices and forced Fritz into uncharacteristic errors, easing through the third set on the back of two breaks, but he handed the American a way back into the match after dropping the next set.
As shadows covered the manicured turf to make life tough for the players, Musetti quickly built a 5-0 lead in the decider and finished it off on serve when Fritz hit a shot long after falling awkwardly at the net in the previous point.
Musetti's reward is a meeting with 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who went through to a record-equalling 13th semi-final at Wimbledon after Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur pulled out of their match with a hip injury.
