Aryna Sabalenka said last year's Wimbledon ban helped her become a better player after reaching a fourth successive Grand Slam semi-final.
The Belarusian, who previously said she could not watch last year because it made her cry, beat Madison Keys 6-2 6-4 to book a meeting with Ons Jabeur.
Russians and Belarusians were banned following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"I was really sad I couldn't play," she said. "But at the same time I was thinking it's a good time to reset."
And it seems to have worked.
Since missing last year's grass-court Grand Slam, Sabalenka has won a maiden singles major at the Australian Open in January as well as reaching the semi-finals at the US Open, French Open and now Wimbledon.
Against Keys, Sabalenka began well, breaking serve in a six-minute opening game thanks to some thunderous hitting. Keys got on the board for to trail 2-1 but after being broken again for 4-1, the American consulted the doctor and took some tablets.
Sabalenka, the No 2 seed, wrapped up the set soon after but Keys, in her second quarter-final here, hit back well and when she broke serve and led 4-2, 40-0 in the second, it looked like she would take it to a decider. The WTA responded to calls, led by Svitolina, to make clear why Ukrainian players would not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian rivals given Vladimir Putin’s war.
The WTA announced: “Due to the ongoing reprehensible war, the WTA respects the position of the Ukrainian athletes in foregoing the tradition of shaking opponents’ hands [from Russia and Belarus] at the end of a match, as this is a personal decision.”
With Iga Swiatek being knocked out on Tuesday she will now have her sights on the Venus Rosewater dish to follow her Australian Open success at the start of the year.
Indeed, her eyes will have lit up when Swiatek was beaten by Elina Svitolina as it means she is now just one win away from ending the Pole’s 66-week reign as world number one.
Asked which she would value more, the Wimbledon title or to sit at the top of the rankings, the 25-year-old was willing to be greedy.
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