Angelique Kerber needed a brief moment in the midst of the thunderous cheers to understand her next masterpiece. In disbelief, she put her hand in front of her eyes - but then she threw bright kisses into the audience, got down on her knees and screamed out all her joy. With another confident performance, the 33-year-old rushed into her fourth semi-final at Wimbledon. After difficult months with many disappointments, the sensational second title on the "holy turf" after 2018 is suddenly very close - and "the journey is not over yet," emphasized Kerber.

"I never doubted that I could make it back," said Kerber after the well-deserved 6: 2, 6: 3 against the Czech Karolina Muchova: "It was not an easy time, but I never have faith in myself and my team lost." Immediately after the game, she told the fans on Court No. 1 called out that she was "enjoying every moment here" and that she had "left her heart on the court".

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The hurdle before her third Wimbledon final could not be higher: Kerber will meet the strong world number one Ashleigh Barty on Thursday, who defeated her Australian compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic 6: 1, 6: 3. "I will give everything to play the match against Ash well and to decide for myself in the end," said the German number one: "I know that I have to play my best tennis against her. I have the match in my hands to take."

Kerber wants to stay aggressive

For Kerber, experience speaks for itself in the race for the title - she is the only remaining player in the field who has already triumphed on Church Road, and she is the only player over 30.

Kerber had won the two previous comparisons with Muchova, but she was warned. The Czech, who is six places ahead of Kiel in the world rankings, caused a sensation in February with her semi-finals at the Australian Open. "But I have to concentrate on my game and stay aggressive," said Kerber before the match.

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A few weeks ago, not many believed that she would even make it to her eleventh Grand Slam quarter-finals, her fifth at Wimbledon. But after tough months with many defeats, Kerber gained new self-confidence by winning the tournament in Bad Homburg - and that grew with every match at Wimbledon.

Muchova misses too many opportunities

This was proven by the former number one in the world, after Alexander Zverev's knockout in the round of 16, the last German hope, also on Tuesday under the closed roof of Court No. 1 impressive. Kerber was highly concentrated from the first rally and acted with good body language. She repeatedly attacked Muchova on the weaker forehand and immediately grabbed a break. She also survived a first dicey situation when she served her own (4: 2), after 34 minutes set one was hers.

But suddenly slight mistakes crept in at Kerber. At the beginning of the second round she fended off three breakballs with strong nerves, in her subsequent service game she could no longer free herself from the same distress. The weak phase lasted only a short time, with her notorious fighting skills Kerber immediately succeeded in the rebreak.

The many missed opportunities seemed to be having an effect on Muchova, and Kerber sensed her chance. Ice cold she grabbed the decisive 4: 2, after 1:15 hours she made the semi-finals perfect with her second match point.

Here the single tableau in Wimbledon

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