The tennis equivalent of a hitwoman, Swiatek routinely metes out drubbings of the kind Pavlyuchenkova experienced at the Foro Italico. And when the former French Open finalist instantly fell a break behind, it was hard not to fear for her again. That feeling deepened in the fourth game, when Swiatek stabbed back a return on the stretch that, spinning violently, cleared the net before bouncing back into the Polish world No 1’s side of the court, leaving the dismayed Pavlyuchenkova flailing at air.

Despite that stroke of good fortune, however – “I would be giving too much credit to myself if I would say I had control over it,” Swiatek later admitted – the second meeting between the pair was, as the 6-4, 6-2 scoreline would suggest, markedly different to the first. Not least because if anyone was dodging bullets, it was Swiatek, who narrowly avoided being poleaxed at the net for the second time in a month.

In an echo of the controversial moment at the Paris Olympics when Danielle Collins drove a passing shot straight into Swiatek’s midriff, the top seed was forced into evasive action after chasing down a drop volley at the start of the second set. As the ball popped up invitingly, Pavluchenkova stepped in and slammed it straight at the startled Pole from point-blank range, before turning on her heel without a hint of apology. Swiatek managed to get her racket in the way, but she was evidently unimpressed, shooting Pavlyuchenkova a look that could have melted glaciers.

It proved to be a turning point. Up to that moment, the only difference between the players was a single break of serve. Pavlyuchenkova had left no stone unturned in her quest for an effective strategy, throwing herself into one of the most dangerous backhands in the game, nailing big serves and forehands, reminding all present that she has been a quarter-finalist at all four majors in doubles, as well as singles, with some fine touches at the net. But when Swiatek unleashed an unanswerable forehand on the next point, the impassioned cry of “Jazda!” that accompanied it – “Let’s go!” in Polish – spoke of a renewed determination. In short space, she reeled off 10 points in a row to establish what would prove an unassailable lead. All that remained was for Pavlyuchenkova to offer what looked like a belated apology at the net afterwards.

“For sure I was happy with the performance, because I felt like she’s a player who can play a really powerful first shot,” said Swiatek, without a trace of irony. “So I wanted to be ready for that, and I was. I’m happy that I was in control of the match.”

So she should be. Through to the second week for the fourth year in a row and yet to drop a set, Swiatek has improved steadily since her error-strewn opening-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova. The assured nature of her victory over the 25th-seeded Pavlyuchenkova – a former junior winner at Flushing Meadows enjoying a renascent summer after defeating Qinwen Zheng, the Olympic champion, en route to the Cincinnati quarter-finals – bodes well for her challenge for a second title in three years, which will continue on Monday against another Russian, Liudmila Samsonova. Swiatek has won all three of their previous meetings.

If further encouragement were needed for the world No 1, it came in the form of a pre-match visit from Serena Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion and another player who knew what it meant to be a stone-cold killer on court.

“She’s really nice and really positive,” said Swiatek. “I’m happy that she’s following tennis, and my games. She told me that she’s cheering for me, so it’s always nice to hear that from somebody like Serena.”

Swiatek enjoys listening to heavy rock as she makes her way into battle. While she may not be updating her pre-match playlist to include the surf-rock vibes of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack any time soon, she could do worse than take her cue from a line in the movie: “I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.”

So far, she is.

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Rybakina, who trounced Aryna Sabalenka to win the Brisbane International last month and defeated Daria Kasatkina to take the spoils in Abu Dhabi last week, is fast emerging as the player to beat in 2024. Her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Pavlyuchenkova was her eighth in a row since the Australian Open, where a shock second-round loss to Anna Blinkova looks increasingly like an outlier. Swiatek, who was beaten by the Kazakhstani world No 4 at Melbourne Park and Indian Wells last year, and also withdrew with injury in the deciding set of their quarter-final meeting in Rome, can expect to have her work cut out in the final.

Rybakina, however, did not have things all her own way against the resurgent Pavlyuchenkova. Swiatek and her team will have noted with interest how hard the third seed had to work to hold serve on a slow court that nullifies the pace of her delivery. The Pole is likely to be less forgiving than Pavlyuchekova, who converted just one of the nine break points she fashioned, tempting Rybakina into a low-percentage forehand down the line as she served for the match at 5-2 in the second set. 

That miss heralded an auspicious few minutes for Pavlyuchenkova, who held convincingly before conjuring a brilliant topspin lob to earn a point for 5-5. Rybakina clung on, ripping a forehand down the line to force an error and going on to seal the win with her third ace of the afternoon, but a ratio of 39 unforced errors to 27 winners made her straight-sets victory a good deal more complicated than the scoreline would suggest.

“[I’m] really happy that it was two sets,” said Rybakina. “Maybe the score in the first set doesn’t show [it], but it was a very physical match and we were both fighting. Every point was tough, and in the first set it went my way. I served really well and [made] some good returns. 

“In the second, it was a little bit shaky in the end, but I’m very happy that I closed it out.

“I knew it was going to be tough. Nastia, she plays really well now, she returns really well, so you need to really work on the service games. Here it’s not that fast, so I cannot really get many easy points. So for every point you need to work, and it was really tough physically.”

Defeat notwithstanding, it has been a memorable week for Pavlyuchenkova. Barely a year ago, she was languishing at 846 in the rankings following a protracted layoff with a knee injury. It has taken time for the former world No 11 to re-establish herself, but after reaching the fourth WTA 1000 semi-final of her career – and claiming notable wins over Daria Kasatkina, Marketa Vondrousova and Danielle Collins along the way – the 32-year-old will rise eight places to No 24 next week. 

Hot on her heels will be Pliskova, who is projected to rise 23 spots to No 36. The Czech’s withdrawal follows a remarkable run of nine victories in 10 days that began in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where the 31-year-old won her first title in four years on Sunday. A 10-hour flight to Doha followed, leaving Pliskova just four hours to sleep before taking to the court for her opening-round match against Anna Kalinskaya. 

Extended to a third set by the Russian, Pliskova also went the distance against Anastasia Potapova and Linda Noskova before winning two tiebreaks to see off Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals. It has been a marathon effort by the former US Open and Wimbledon finalist, and unsurprisingly it finally caught up with her.

“Unfortunately my body couldn’t compete today in [the] semi-finals,” Pliskova wrote on social media. “The schedule of [the] last two weeks was too difficult to recover from all these tough matches. I have an MRI scan tomorrow. Hope to be back on court soon.”

Pliskova’s withdrawal means Swiatek becomes the first player to reach the title round at the same hard-court event for three years in succession since Serena Williams made the last of three straight Australian Open finals in 2017. Rybakina is well aware that three victories in four previous meetings with Swiatek will count for little at a tournament the Pole has made her own. 

“For sure it gives some confidence, but every match is a new match,” said Rybakina. “She plays really well, she’s fresher now for sure, and she likes the conditions here, she was winning a lot. I’m already happy [to be in the final] and I will try to enjoy tomorrow and do as much as I can.”

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The decision – prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus – means world No 2 Medvedev, who reached the fourth round in SW19 last year for the first time, will be among a host of big names denied entry to the tournament. That includes the eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, a semi-finalist last year, and Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Russian world No 15.

“Given the profile of the Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible,” the All England Club said in a statement.

“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with the Championships.”

Wimbledon’s stance, which follows legal advice, was followed by the Lawn Tennis Association, which has confirmed that the ban will be extended to all professional tournaments held in Britain for as long as the conflict in Ukraine continues.

However, the move was criticised by the men’s and women’s tours, both of which have so far allowed Russian and Belarusian players to continue competing under a neutral flag.

A WTA statement said the organisation was “very disappointed” by the All England Club’s decision, which it condemned as discriminatory. 

“As the WTA has consistently stated, individual athletes should not be penalised or prevented from competing due to where they are from, or the decisions made by the governments of their countries,” said the statement.  “Discrimination, and the decision to focus such discrimination against athletes competing on their own as individuals, is neither fair nor justified.”

The ATP also took aim at “discrimination based on nationality”.

“We believe that today’s unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game,” said an ATP statement.

Novak Djokovic, the world No 1, also took aim at the decision.

“I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war,” said Djokovic, who is playing at the Serbia Open in Belgrade this week. “I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history.

“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. The players, the tennis players, the athletes have nothing to do with [the invasion]. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”

The Kremlin, meanwhile, reacted with fury.

“Given that Russia is a strong tennis country and our athletes are among those at the top of the world rankings, the tournament itself would suffer because of this ban,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press secretary. “It is unacceptable to make the athletes once again hostages of certain political prejudice, intrigues and hostile actions towards our country.”

Ian Hewitt, the All England Club chairman, acknowledged that the imposition of a blanket ban was tough on players, several of whom have gone out on a limb to voice their opposition to the war. After reaching the final at February’s Dubai Tennis Championships, Rublev wrote on a television camera: “No war please”, while Pavlyuchenkova has also spoken out against her country’s aggression.

“I’ve been playing tennis since I was a kid,” Pavlyuchekova wrote on social media last month. “I have represented Russia all my life. This is my home and my country. But now I am in complete fear, as are my friends and family. But I am not afraid to clearly state my position. I am against war and violence.”

The British government had previously floated the idea that Russian and Belarusian players should be barred from Wimbledon if they refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s regime. However, the All England Club eventually rejected the idea as unworkable, fearing it might place players and their families at risk of retribution.

“We recognise that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime,” said Hewitt. 

“We have very carefully considered the alternative measures that might be taken within the UK government guidance but, given the high-profile environment of the Championships, the importance of not allowing sport to be used to promote the Russian regime and our broader concerns for public and player (including family) safety, we do not believe it is viable to proceed on any other basis.”

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To do so, Barty will need to play a great deal better than she did in her 6-4, 6-3 win over the 89th-ranked Anna Blinkova. It was a strangely subdued display from the top seed, littered with uncharacteristic mistakes and missed opportunities. A nervous start set the tone for a performance that included nine double faults and 33 unforced errors. By the end, you had to wonder whether all the talk of emulating Goolagong Cawley and her legacy was not adding to the pressures facing a player who has yet to provide conclusive evidence that she has recovered from the hip injury that forced her out of the French Open.

Few players are more open in the interview room than Barty, but the Queenslander offered an unusually terse response to an enquiry about whether her struggles on serve might be down to her recent hip problems. “I feel fine, it was just not a great serving day, so certainly not something that I’m going to blow out of proportion,” she said. On the subject of Goolagong Cawley and her legacy, Barty, whose Wimbledon outfit is a tribute to the dress worn by the former champion in 1971, was more forthcoming.

“From when I was quite young, I learnt about the way that she played the game of tennis,” said Barty, who will play the 64th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova in round three. “I think probably when I first met Evonne, when I was 13 years old, was when I began to really understand the impact that she had on peoples’ lives outside of tennis. I met her in Brisbane one day when we were talking about her foundation and all of the things that she was doing off the court, and of course that led to more curiosity of how she played the game and to more curiosity of how she’s impacted people since she’s retired, and her legacy that she left after her tennis.

“It’s a legacy of opportunity in my opinion. The way that she approached her tennis and approached her matches here at Wimbledon, it was a courageous stepping into the unknown. There was no one that had done it before her from our heritage, and for her to be able to be the first one to pave that path was really showing that, no matter what anyone says, you can go out there and believe in your dreams.”

Barty’s dreams of a senior Wimbledon title to go with the junior crown she won a decade ago were never seriously threatened by Blinkova, whose energy and enthusiasm were not always matched by the quality of her tennis. The 22-year-old nonetheless displayed admirable composure on her Centre Court debut. Having elected to serve first, Blinkova took time to steady herself between points and refused to be overawed by either the occasion or her feted opponent.

It was the perfect platform to capitalise on a ragged start by Barty, who served three double faults to concede her opening service game. The world No 1 recovered the break immediately but continued to look out of sorts, spraying errors as she allowed Blinkova, herself a former junior Wimbledon finalist, to recover from 0-40 down in the fifth game. Barty would eventually end the set with 18 unforced errors. Her erratic play continued into the second set, where an early break was cancelled out by an eighth double fault before Barty finally took control. 

“It was a tough one, there were a few things that didn’t feel quite right today,” said Barty. “But that’s half the battle in sport, being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great. When my back was against the wall today, I was able to bring the good stuff, it just wasn’t quite there all the time.”

It is a feeling that Elina Svitolina, the third seed, will know only too well. The Ukrainian lost her second-round match 6-3, 6-4 against Magda Linette, the 44th-ranked Pole against whom Barty retired at Roland Garros, and afterwards cut a disconsolate figure.

“Mentally, for sure, I need to reset,” said Svitolina, a semi-finalist at the All England Club in 2019. “When you play a grand slam, it is all of the time a lot, different kind of pressures. Sometimes it’s tough to handle, but it is part of the job, it’s part of the grand slam. You have to be strong, try to be good to yourself and try to overcome the fears, the difficulties. Today probably I was not fresh mentally to do that. I have been on the tour for years now and been in different kind of situations. But right now I wouldn’t say it’s very smooth times in my career. For sure, it’s a tough time, but I have been in these situations in my career a few times.”

Svitolina, who was seeded to meet Barty in the semi-finals, becomes the highest-ranked casualty in the women’s singles following the defeat of Sofia Kenin, the fourth seed, who lost to her compatriot Madison Brengle on Wednesday, and fifth seed Bianca Andreescu, who lost in desultory fashion to Alizé Cornet of France, also on the third day. Next up for Linette is Paula Badosa of Spain, the 30th seed, who eased past Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-1. Coco Gauff beat Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court and will play Kaja Juvan in round three after the Slovenian defeated Clara Burel, a French qualifier, 6-3, 6-4.

Barbora Krejcikova, the French Open champion, defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany, 7-5, 6-4, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the losing finalist at Roland Garros, eased past Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3.

Angelique Kerber, the former Wimbledon champion, won an extraordinary match against Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, who saved a match point in the second set before Kerber prevailed  7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in three hours and 18 minutes.

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It was a triumph of patience and perseverance for the Russian, whose struggle to fulfil the promise of a spectacular junior career has spanned 52 grand slams in the senior ranks. No major finalist has waited longer to make the breakthrough, and there must have been times when Pavlyuchenkova wondered whether she would ever emulate the success of her youth, when she won topped the junior rankings and won the girls’ singles at the Australian and US Open. She now stands one win away from exorcising those demons permanently.

“I had my own long, special road,” said Pavlyuchenkova, who will face Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday’s final after the Czech defeated Maria Sakkari. “Everybody has different ways. I’m just happy I’m in the final, trying to enjoy. I think about [winning a major] all the time. Been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. That’s what you’re playing for. That’s what you want. It’s been there in my head forever.”

She has certainly had long enough to contemplate it. It is a decade since Pavlyuchenkova’s previous best run in Paris, and she was forced to draw deeply on the rich well of experience she has accumulated in the interim to get past Zidansek. But she has worked hard to add greater mental and physical steel to her repertoire, and here she showed admirable composure against a tenacious opponent who simply refused to lie down. 

Defeat ended a marvellous run for Zidansek, who put out former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu on day one and has improved with each passing round. The Slovenian’s powerful forehand, struck with ferocious topspin, often with both feet off the ground, is a wonder to behold. She fired 109 winners from that wing on her way to the semi-finals, more than Rafael Nadal or any other player, and Pavlyuchenkova knew she would have her work cut out.

The Russian had done her due diligence, however, and sensibly trained her fire at the Zidansek backhand from the outset. Her approach paid off in the eighth game when the Slovenian missed three consecutive two-handers from 40-0 up, paving the way for what looked a vital break. 

But as Pavlyuchenkova served for the set, Zidansek shifted gears, hitting her forehand with renewed venom and scrambling desperately for every ball. A high backhand volley came off the top of Zidansek’s frame and flew into the corner for a winner, and when Pavlyuchenkova was subsequently broken a change of momentum looked almost inevitable. 

The Russian stuck to her guns, however, peppering her opponent’s backhand as she staved off two break points to move 6-5 ahead, and the pressure finally told on Zidansek when she double-faulted on set point in the next game. The 23-year-old had twice recovered from a set down over the fortnight, but another recovery proved beyond her  

“I had a game plan obviously, I knew that Tamara’s forehand is dangerous, so I tried to avoid that,” Pavlyuchenkova told Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander. “But sometimes it was tough to play every single ball to her backhand, especially on the return, so I was trying to adjust.”

So was she as calm as she looked? “No, just total poker face,” said Pavlyuchenkova, the first Russian to reach the final since Maria Sharapova won the title six years ago. “But you have no time to panic – every point, every ball is important.”

Come Saturday, they will be even more so.

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