SERENA WILLIAMS, in pursuit of her 24th Grand Slam title, is through to the semifinals at Wimbledon after coming back to beat Camila Giorgi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday in the quarterfinal round.

Williams is now 8-1 in the Grand Slam matches since her return from giving birth to her daughter.

Williams’ scare in the first set against Giorgi was short-lived. Giorgi played a very good match, but Williams’ dominant serve proved to be the difference. She won on 81 percent of her first serves and 75 percent of her second. Giorgi finished with one break point on the match, while Williams finished with two, which was all she needed. She is now just one match away from challenging Margaret Court’s record 24 Grand Slams.

That match will come against Julia Gorges, who also came back from a set down to defeat Kiki Bertens 3-6, 5-7, 6-1. It’s Gorges’ first career appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 11 Angelique Kerber and No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko are all set for a semifinal matchup after straight-set victories Tuesday. Ostapenko defeated the impressive Dominika Cibulkova, while Kerber beat a stubborn 14-seeded Daria Kasatkina to advance.

Kerber and Kasatkina turned in what may well have been the best match of the tournament, and it all boiled down to the last game. Kerber found herself on match point six times before she finally broke through. On one particularly crazy 40-all volley, the two volleyed 25 times before Kerber got it to match point -- which Kasatkina quickly reset to 40-all.

(SD-Agencies)