9th of July, India There will be fewer slices from (Amanda Anisimova)," Aryna Sabalenka predicted with a chuckle.

The possibility of facing the hard-hitting baseliner in the Wimbledon semi-final was the subject of the post-match press conference. It was one of the few questions that didn't bring up the challenges the top seed had when she defeated the underdog world. Laura Siegemund at number 104 a few hours prior.

However, when mentioning the "slices," Sabalenka hinted at a truth that she had not attempted to conceal. That the 37-year-old German had driven her to the point of exhaustion.

The game on Tuesday featured two players with very different approaches. As a three-time Grand Slam winner, Sabalenka is among the hardest hitters in the sport. See the ball, strike the ball, and strike it extremely, extremely hard is her mantra.

And then there was Siegemund. The veteran's style of play now seems to come from a bygone era, as he competes on the revered grounds of the All England Club, where the Wimbledon Championships treasures its ancient traditions. There is no hard-hitting. There is, on the contrary, a great deal of heart in the pursuit and intent in the minutiae. Siegeumund, a former US Open doubles champion and two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion, enjoys charging up to the net in this era of baseline brawls. She also brings her opponent forward with looping dropshots that quickly die on grass.

To gain a few more seconds, Siegmund plays around with the 25-second shot clock in between points. She enjoys slicing off both wings, but she is able to strike hard when necessary. In the same way that she did when she had a break point in the third game of the first set. Siegeumund hit a powerful flat serve toward the center, but Sabalenka was forced to rush after it when Siegemund responded with a backhand inside-out return winner.

She was able to defeat Leyla Fernandez, the 29th seed, and the rest of the world thanks to the differences she brought. No. 8 Madison Keys, who at 37 years and 118 days, became the oldest first-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist during her career. The match against Sabalenka was made more enjoyable by the changeups. Nobody could have predicted what would happen next.

During a press conference earlier in the competition, the German had stated, "I'm fairly consistent with my weirdness. It does lead to confrontation at times." Well, I'm just the way I am, then.

She is a delightful enthusiast of vintage tennis. In contrast to today's physical, hard-hitting game, when variations, touch, feel, and craftsmanship were the norm.

Siegeumund demonstrated in several ways that the seemingly lost art still has a place in the modern game, to the extent that Sabalenka even started to slice with more intent toward the conclusion.

Sabalenka stated, "I think I made a mental error in assuming that if I go for slices I'll give her more time to work her magic and begin drop shotting, which will require me to run a lot."

Siegemund almost pulled off the biggest surprise and the best victory of her career, despite not being predicted to go this far in the competition. Every one of them plays tennis with a touch of old-world elegance.

Extremely strange.

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