Lifting a first Grand Slam trophy as the Wimbledon girls’ champion in 2018 was, as Iga Swiatek explained it, “the highlight of my career back then”.

At the same time, there was also a letdown of sorts when the then 17-year-old returned home.

“I remember I thought my life is going to be, like, perfect now. I was a bit disappointed,” she recounted ahead of The Championships this year. “It was still the same, and I still had to get back to work.”

But that early breakthrough fuelled a passion and she went on to claim five Grand Slam titles – four at Roland-Garros and one at the US Open – and rise to world No.1.

With a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Liudmila Samsonova on Wednesday, Swiatek advanced to a first semi-final at The Championships, where she will take on the unseeded Belinda Bencic.

Swiatek is the first Polish woman to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2015.

The career-best performance at The Championships points to the 24-year-old’s growing comfort on the pristine All England Club lawns.

“I feel like I’m doing a great job at just learning how to play on grass,” said Swiatek, who arrived at Wimbledon after contesting her first final in over a year – and her first ever on grass – in Bad Homburg.

“[It’s the] first time I feel, like, more comfortable. I feel like the process has some kind of logic.”

That growing confidence ensures Swiatek – contesting her 26th Grand Slam, and in her sixth main draw campaign at Wimbledon – can embrace her time on tour.

“That’s why also I’m able to enjoy the life off the court because obviously it’s not so easy when you don’t feel good,” she said.

“We’re here to play tennis. If you don’t feel good on the court you’re probably also not going to feel good off the court.”

There were positives all round after Swiatek navigated a tough test from Samsonova, who has been in imperious form this Fortnight.

The world No.19 had underlined her grass court credentials – Samsonova has won two of her five career titles on this surface – with straight sets wins over Maya Joint, Yuliia Starodubtseva, Daria Kasatkina and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. It delivered a first quarter-final appearance in Samsonova’s 21st Grand Slam campaign.

But with her movement, shot-making and focus combining superbly on No.1 Court, Swiatek quickly stamped her authority in a fifth meeting with Samsonova. After saving a break point in the opening game, the No.8 seed converted at the first opportunity for a 4-2 lead.

Confidence grew as Swiatek won four games straight to close out a 39-minute first set.

With Samsonova understandably rattled, having faltered for the first time this tournament, Swiatek seized control with another early break in the second set.

But Samsonova is far too tough a competitor to surrender easily; producing some acute angles on her groundstrokes, she increasingly forced Swiatek errors and created a second-set battle.

After dropping the first three games, Samsonova recovered to level the set at 4-4.

Swiatek required all the determination that kept her at the top of the world rankings for 125 weeks as she regained composure to complete her straight sets victory with a forehand winner on her second match point.

“Honestly, it feels great. Even though I’m in the middle of [the] tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, whose only lapse of the 2025 tournament is a dropped set against Caty McNally in the second round.

“I’m super happy and super proud of myself,” she said. “I really enjoy playing this year and hopefully it’s going to last as long as possible.”

While breaking new ground with her first semi-final appearance at The Championships, Swiatek is not quite yet contemplating adding a Ladies’ Singles Trophy to her junior silverware.

“I’ll just recover today, try not to celebrate too much but already focus on the next [match],” she said.

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