Wimbledon 2024: Women's semifinals predictions

What a weird tournament Wimbledon has been. Lots of players have had to retire or withdraw from the tournament with injuries so it's a wonder no one has raised their arms in protest about the potential issues with the grass at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Sure, injuries happen every year, but this many? It all seems strange.

The ladies' draw was affected immediately. One of the favorites - if not the favorite, Aryna Sabalenka had to pull out of the tournament with a shoulder injury before her first match. Madison Keys was playing well and needed to hold serve in her fourth-round match to move into the quarterfinals but then she was injured.

Two other favorites, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek, simply got beat. Gauff was shockingly taken out in straight sets by Emma Navarro in the fourth round. Swiatek, who has never been great on grass courts, was defeated before the quarters as well. One heavy favorite remains, however. That is Elena Rybakina.

Predictions for the ladies' semifinal matches at Wimbledon 2024

The start of play for the semifinals begins at 13:00 London time and 8 am ET. One semi will follow the other so you won't miss any of the action (unless ESPN is late coming back from commercial which has happened quite a bit this tournament).

Jasmine Paolini versus Donna Vekic

What a great match this has become. One of the main reasons is that a year ago if someone would have said to you, "Who do you have in the Paolini and Vekic match?" You might have responded, "Who?"

Instead, we get two refreshing players who are just happy to be where they are. Jasmine Paolini is small and yet still hits with good pace. She always seemingly has a smile and clearly just enjoys playing. Vekic has had more success over her career than Paolini (who is really just a one-year success story so far), but the Croat has never made it this far at Wimbledon before.

The guess here is that Paolini somehow continues her magic and finds a way through in three sets. Vekic will lose the second set and then the Italian takes the third set 6-3.

Elena Rybakina versus Barbora Krejcikova

There has rarely been such a heavy favorite this late in Wimbledon on either the men's or women's side than Rybakina is heading into the semifinals. It helps that she won Wimbledon in 2022 so understanding how to win is not so much of a challenge to her.

She has dropped a set in the tournament but not since the second round. In every other set, she has lost no more than three games. Her game is perfect for grass and her serve overpowers most players.

Krejcikova will battle the entire way. She might even steal a set off Rybakina, though even that is unlikely. This could easily be a 6-2 6-2 match. No matter what, Rybakina wins.

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