Belinda Bencic dug deep to stun seventh seed Mirra Andreeva and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in straight sets.
Bencic, an Olympic champion four years ago, required two tie-breaks to get over the line but triumphed 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) to reach just her second grand slam semi-final, and first since the 2019 US Open.
There was nothing to split the pair in the opening set; it was not until the 11th game that Andreeva forced the first break points of the match, but Bencic held on to maintain her lead.
She then got a mini break in the tie-break and clung onto that advantage, winning the final three points to take the first set.
Andreeva defended two break points early in the second to stay in the fight and responded well to going a break down as she was on the brink of the exit.
The 18-year-old levelled the score straight away, but fell off once again in the tie-break, with Bencic smashing a winner at the net to set up a clash with five-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Data Debrief: The wait is over
It has been a long time since Bencic stepped foot onto the court in a grand slam semi-final, but her surprise win has ended that wait.
Only four players in the Open Era have a longer gap between their first and second women's singles semi-finals at a grand slam event than Bencic (five years 309 days) – Mirjana Lucic, Natalia Zvereva, Lori McNeil and Amanda Anisimova.
Bencic is now only the second Swiss player in the Open Era to reach the final four in the women's singles on multiple surfaces at grand slams, after Martina Hingis.
The 28-year-old has now won 19 main draw matches at Wimbledon – she has only won more matches at the US Open (21).
