And then there was one.
At a Wimbledon where the women’s singles was widely billed as a tripartite battle for supremacy, Aryna Sabalenka, through to the semi-finals for the second time in three years after defeating Madison Keys of the United States 6-2, 6-4, is the last member of the “big three” left standing.
The Belarusian second seed, unable to compete at the All England Club 12 months ago after Russian and Belarusian players were banned, will face Ons Jabeur after the Tunisian avenged her defeat to Elena Rybakina in last summer’s final with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 victory.
With top seed Iga Swiatek also out, beaten by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, Sabalenka is the only remaining member of a trio who have won the last five majors between them.
Should the 25-year-old thwart Jabeur’s tilt at a second successive final, she will achieve a yet more singular distinction, displacing Swiatek to claim the world No 1 ranking for the first time in her career. Like a first Wimbledon title, it would represent the fulfilment of a childhood dream. At this stage, though, Sabalenka refuses to entertain thoughts of either.
“I want both,” said Sabalenka, who won her first major title at the Australian Open this year. “But I’m trying to focus on myself, because I know if I start thinking about all this stuff, I’m going to lose my focus on court, my game.
“So I’m trying to focus on myself right now and make sure that every time I’m on the court, I bring my best tennis. Then, later on, we’ll see if I’m ready to become world No 1 or if I’m ready to play another final.”
Sabalenka certainly brought her best tennis against Keys, who saw five of the first six games fly by in a blur of booming serves and pulverising groundstrokes. But the American world No 18, playing in her second Wimbledon quarter-final after reaching the same stage in 2015, began to dig her heels in. When Keys broke to lead 4-2, 40-0, a decider looked inevitable.
“I was just kind of telling myself that it’s OK, we’re going to play a third set, that’s fine,” said Sabalenka.
There would be no third set. Instead, Sabalenka broke back immediately and saw out the win with aplomb. Yet the calmness with which she reconciled herself to the prospect of playing a deciding set for the second time in four matches, following an uneven second-round performance against Varvara Gracheva, offered further evidence of how successfully Sabalenka has tamed her previously combustible temperament.
She will need that serenity against Jabeur. Tunisia’s unofficial Minister of Happiness, who still finds last year’s final too painful to watch, went about the task of ending Rybakina’s Centre Court reign with a determination so grim that it almost made a mockery of her nickname. When she failed to serve out the opener at 6-5, finding the net with a backhand on set point before promptly handing Rybakina the initiative in the tiebreak with another error off the same wing, it looked likely to be another tale of what might have been for Jabeur.
That impression deepened when the 28-year-old missed three break points early in the second set. Jabeur had been the better player for much of the contest, absorbing Rybakina’s pace and refusing to give ground on the baseline. But as the third seed began to land her first serve with increasingly regularity, the signs were ominous for Jabeur. The Kazakhstani expressed disappointment with her delivery afterwards, but in the second set she made more than two-thirds of her first serves, winning 70% of those points. It was redolent of her performance against Shelby Rogers in the opening round, where she dropped the first set only to cruise to victory once she had found her service rhythm.
A year ago, Jabeur might have fought fire with finesse. This time around, she drew on a less familiar but no less effective area of her game: power. With Rybakina serving at 4-5, three mighty forehands brought up a pair of break points, the first of which Jabeur converted with a forceful backhand return. Jabeur finished the set with 13 winners to just three unforced errors.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Rybakina. “I knew it’s a lot about physics for me, because she plays really good slices, she’s aggressive, the ball stays really low over the net.
“I knew that I had to be there physically, well prepared, but I feel like it wasn’t the case today. Some moments I played really well, but I was not consistent.”
The tide was turning, and more was to follow in the decider, where Jabeur snatched an early break with some more heavy hitting. She did not look back. The two backhand piledrivers she fired down the line in the penultimate game will linger as long in the memory as any drop shot or dink. It was a long way from the artistry we have come to expect from Jabeur, but it was no less enjoyable for that. Her game is evolving, and perhaps our perception of it – and hers – needs to evolve too.
“I believe last year maybe I wasn’t ready to play this kind of match,” said Jabeur. “I think maybe today wasn’t that much fun. I was really hitting the ball.
“Maybe I did few dropshots. It’s not the same as before. I was enjoying myself a lot. I was enjoying using her power and enjoying showing that I’m not one kind of a player that only mixes and does drop shots and slices.
“If you want to hit hard, I’m here to hit as fast as I can. I did show that. Not only to the player, I showed [it] to myself, too.”
Whether she will want to demonstrate that quality to Sabalenka, who defeated her in the quarter-finals a couple of summers ago, is another matter. Taking on the world No 2 at her own game would seem imprudent, yet Jabeur’s appetite for retribution has not yet been sated.
“I’m going to prepare and take my revenge from two years ago,” said Jabeur, who believes facing Rybakina was perfect preparation. “I think I showed to myself that I can stand up against these players.
“It’s a great proof for me to start the game and to be confident and to go 100%. Honestly, I have nothing to lose. I’m going to go play like the second and third set I played today.”
Stand by for fireworks.