Wimbledon tennis: Kiwi-Brit Cameron Norrie into Wimbledon semifinals

Britain's Cameron Norrie celebrates winning the men's singles quarterfinal match against Belgium's David Goffin at Wimbledon. Photo / AP

Home favourite Cameron Norrie reached his first Grand Slam semifinal — where he'll face Novak Djokovic — with a 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over David Goffin at Wimbledon.

The ninth-ranked Norrie is the last British player remaining in singles and advanced with Prince William and his wife Kate among the spectators on No. 1 Court.

Norrie switched his allegiance from New Zealand to Great Britain at age 17.

At 5-5 in the fifth set, the 26-year-old Norrie broke his Belgian opponent and then served it out, winning on his second match point when Goffin sent a backhand into the net.

Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge sit on No. 1 Court during the men's singles quarterfinal match between Britain's Cameron Norrie and Belgium's David Goffin. Photo / AP

The 31-year-old Goffin fell to 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinal matches.

A new national hero has emerged 👏#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/M6Q6GbeS59

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2022

Djokovic gets out of a hole

It says a lot about Djokovic that a two-sets-to-none hole at Wimbledon on a day he was hardly at his best likely left no one thinking the ultimate outcome was a forgone conclusion.

A lot about his pre-eminence at the All England Club in recent years. A lot about his history of overcoming that sort of deficit. A lot about his ability to adjust, to adapt, to right himself quickly. A lot about what might happen if — or, rather, when — he got back into the match and it eventually went to a fifth set.

And so it was that Djokovic spotted Sinner that huge lead overnight, then worked his way all the way back to pull away and win 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at Centre Court, earning an 11th semifinal berth at Wimbledon with his 26th consecutive victory at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Among men, only Roger Federer, with 13, has made more semifinal appearances at the place. Among men, only Federer, with eight, has won more championships than the seven that Djokovic would reach by lifting the trophy Sunday for what would be a fourth year in a row.

Djokovic collected his seventh career comeback in a match he trailed by two sets — he last did it in the French Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas last year — and improved to 37-10 in five-setters. That includes a 10-1 mark in matches that go the distance at Wimbledon, including nine straight victories; the lone loss came way back in 2006.

The men's quarterfinals tonight: No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain vs. No. 11 Taylor Fritz of the U.S., and Nick Kyrgios of Australia vs. Cristian Garin of Cile.

The first player into the women's semifinals was 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria, who defeated Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in an all-German matchup. Maria is 34, making her only the sixth woman at least that old to get this far at Wimbledon in the professional era, which began in 1968.

The others? It's quite a list: Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

This is Maria's 35th Grand Slam tournament; she only once previously had even made it as far as the third round.

She'll take on No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia for a spot in Sunday's final. The other women's quarterfinals: 2019 champion Simona Halep of Romania vs. No. 20 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S., and No. 17 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan vs. Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia.

Of the women's quarterfinalists, only Halep owns a major title (she has two).