LONDON – Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk reached her second consecutive Grand Slam semi-final with a dominant last-eight victory over former finalist Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon on July 8.

The 12th seed raced to a 6-3, 6-2 win after just 69 minutes on Centre Court and will next face Czech ninth seed Linda Noskov for a place in her first major final.

“First time playing on this unbelievable court, it’s a dream come true,” said the 24-year-old.

“I was on this court as a spectator once nine years ago watching Roger (Federer) and to be back here as a player is amazing. I walked past the ‘wall of honour’, stood beside it and took a moment.”

Kostyuk has only lost one of her last 22 matches, her semi-final defeat by eventual champion Mirra Andreeva at the French Open in June.

She is set to climb into the world’s top 10 next week for the first time in her career, having been just 28th in the rankings as recently as April.

Paolini could not reproduce the form she showed in her fourth-round win over the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, losing in the last eight of a Slam for the first time.

The Italian, 30, was playing in her first major quarter-final since reaching the Wimbledon final in 2024, when she was also the French Open runner-up.

Both Kostyuk and Noskova will be playing in their maiden Wimbledon semi-final, with this being the Czech’s first appearance in the last four of a Grand Slam.

The 21-year-old defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 in only her second Grand Slam quarter-final, following her run to the last eight at the 2024 Australian Open.

In the lead up to Wimbledon, Noskova won the Berlin Open, her first grass-court title.

She has taken that impressive form into the All England Club, dispatching former Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the last 16 before brushing aside Mertens.