Former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova began finding grass-court form at precisely the right moment on Saturday as the Czech knocked world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka out in the semi-finals of the WTA Berlin event.

No. 164 Vondrousova, who triumphed at the All England club two years ago, has been on and off the Tour due to shoulder injuries over the past two seasons.

But she showed her potential in the 6-2, 6-4 defeat of the top seed, who also lost the Roland Garros final to Coco Gauff before stepping onto the grass.

The winner moved through to her first final since Wimbledon, 2023, in less than 90 minutes.

The Czech earned her first career defeat of a world No. 1 after losing her first three against the game’s elite. 

“I didn’t play for a long time,” Vondrousova said.”I’m just happy to be back healthy, and so grateful to play these matches.

“When I saw the field here, I was like, ‘OK, let’s just try to win the first round,’ and then, you know, now this is happening.”

Main photo:-Marketa Vondrousova was the first unseeded player to win Ladies Singles Title at Wimbledon, 2023 – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

Emma Raducanu needed three chances to come good for the biggest upset win of her career, with the 2021 US open winner leading two other Brits into the quarter-finals at Eastbourne on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old from outer London was joined in the last eight by compatriots Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart in a show of force on the grass of Devonshire Park.

It marks the first time in more than 40 years that three British women are into the quarters here, an event last won by a local in 1975.

Raducanu’s 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 defeat of world No. 5 and weekend Berlin champion Jessica Pegula was her first career win over a Top 5 opponent, with the Brit saving a match point in the second-set tiebreaker; she had lost her previous seven against the WTA elite. .

Boulter, the national No. 1, kicked off the day’s win streak with a 6-4, 7-5 result over former Roland Garros winner and 2021 Eastbourne titleholder Jelena Ostapenko.

The 105th-ranked Dart completed the triumphant trio, stopping former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-0.

Raducanu, who missed the grass season a year ago after undergoing three surgeries, failed twice to serve out victory leading 5-4 and 6-5.in the deciding set.

But once she got the job done after two and three-quarter hours, she put her head in her hands after the emotional win.

Pegula came to Eastbourne  after winning Berlin, where she saved five match points in the final.

“I’m pretty drained right now,” Raducanu, who saved  eight break points and recovered from 6-4, 3-1 down, said.

“It’s incredibly difficult when you’re playing someone who’s so in-form like Jessica,.

“(Jessica) came off the back of a great run in Berlin, and no doubt she’s feeling confident on the grass.

“I’m really pleased with how I managed to navigate some really tough situations, and to be honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to get myself out of it.”

Raducanu called the victory :”one of the more meaningful ones to me. … To come through, it’s been really nice.”

She was pleased to be joined by Boulter and Dart at the business end of the pre-Wimbledon tournament. 

“It’s really good, healthy competition. We all see each other progressing into the next round and we all just want to join them. 

“No one wants to be left behind – that’s the way that it should be: We should be pushing each other, and I think that’s definitely the case right now.

“We all come alive on this surface … it’s just a testament to how well we’ve been training and how hard we’ve been putting work in.”

Raducanu will bid for her second grass semi-final in as many weeks on Thursday, facing sixth seed Daria Kasatkina, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 winner over China’s Yuan Yue.

Aryna Sabalenka has barely a week to regain fitness before the start of Wimbledon after the world No. 3 had to retire on Saturday from a delayed Berlin quarter-final.

The double Australian Open champion quit her final-four match against Anna Kalinskaya with shoulder pain in a march postponed from Friday due to a day of rain in the capital.

 Second seed Sabalenka trailed 5-1 before quitting the grass-court contest. her  retirement in Berlin followed one from Ons Jabeur, with the Tunisian lasting one set 6-7 (9) against tournament top seed Coco Gauff.