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We’ve arrived at the Wimbledon Semifinals, and the four remaining women will play today, while the men’s semifinals are set for tomorrow. We already previewed the Aryna Sabalenka vs Amanda Anisimova semifinal matchup, so I’ll cover the second semifinal between Belinda Bencic and Iga Swiatek. In my Wimbledon preview, Swiatek was one of my picks to win this year’s Grand Slam, and I expect the Pole to advance to Saturday’s final.
However, she still needs to get past Bencic, who is playing her best tennis at the right time. Let’s dive into my Wimbledon picks for the second women’s semifinal this afternoon.
Belinda Bencic is the World No. 35 and has the longest odds to win this year’s Wimbledon. The Swiss international has done well at this year’s tournament, winning three of her five matches in straight sets. Her most impressive win came in the quarterfinals against Mirra Andreeva, as she eliminated the World No. 7 in straight sets, winning two tie breakers to secure the victory.
Other than that win, she began the tournament with a smooth 2-0 win against Alycia Parks before coming back from a set down to eliminate Elsa Jacquemot 2-1. Her biggest test came in the 3rd Round against Elisabetta Cocciaretto, as the Italian took her to a 3rd-set tiebreaker, but Bencic survived and won the tiebreaker 10-7. She went on to eliminate the World No. 17 Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets before her big win against Andreeva, so she’ll be brimming with confidence as she faces the 4th-ranked woman in the world, Iga Swiatek.
Iga Swiatek has played great at this year’s Wimbledon, even though she’s historically struggled on grass. Swiatek began the tournament by taking down Polina Kudermetova in straight sets, and she followed that up with a 2-1 win over Caty McNally. She dropped the first set in that match but rebounded by winning the next two sets 6-2 and 6-1. Since dropping that set, she’s been nearly perfect.
Swiatek eliminated Danielle Collins in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-1 and Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5. As you can see, she hasn’t had too many issues outside the early scare against McNally, and she’ll feel as if this year will be her best chance to secure her first Wimbledon title.
When looking at this match, Swiatek is the obvious favorite, and I expect her to win convincingly. Overall, I expect the Pole to win routinely, and this match should be wrapped up in straight sets. Although she dropped a set early in the tournament, she bounced back by outscoring the American 12-3 over the next two sets. Additionally, her recent surge in this tournament isn’t too surprising, given that she reached a final in Bad Homburg before Wimbledon. Additionally, she’s 3-1 against Bencic in their four meetings, which includes a straight-set win at Wimbledon in 2023.
Swiatek’s form is unparalleled right now, and Bencic has featured in more competitive matches thus far and could feel fatigued in this one. Overall, I expect Swiatek to win in straight sets, but I do think Bencic will put up a fight on her serves. Swiatek has recorded 28, 43, 24, 23 and 26 1st serve points won. The only time she recorded more than 28 was in his three-set win against McNally, so I anticipate she will record fewer than 30.1 1st serve points today.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.