Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina will contest the 2022 Wimbledon women's singles final after respective semi-final wins over Tatjana Maria and Simona Halep in Thursday's semi-finals.
In the day's first match, a sliced backhand from Maria found its way into the net as Jabeur broke for a 2-1 lead in the opening set, and the third seed's aggressive approach was rewarded with a hold straight after to put her in cruise control.
A mishit forehand slice from the German handed Jabeur the opportunity to clinch a double break, and the Tunisian took it as her powerful forehand could only strike Maria's racquet before bouncing out of play. The world number two then took the first set with a love hold, firing two consecutive aces along the way.
Posting just a 39% win percentage at the net compared to 86% for Jabeur, history nearly repeated itself for Maria, who saved two break points in game three of the second set and impressively managed to hold.
Maria broke for the first time straight after, and the mother-of-two's unforced error count plummeted during the second set, which she won as Jabeur - who has 17 unforced errors - netted a weak backhand slice.
The German's joy was short-lived, though, as Jabeur quickly stormed into a 5-0 lead in the third set before Maria managed to hold to at least avoid the prospect of a bagel. However, Jabeur raced away in her final service game to clinch a deserved 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory before a warm display of sportsmanship between both players on the court.
After becoming the first-ever Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, the 27-year-old said: "I'm a proud Tunisian woman standing here today - I know in Tunisia they are going crazy right now.
"I don't know what to say. It's a dream come true from years of work and sacrifice. I'm happy that's paid off and I'll continue for one more match."
Some may have expected Jabeur to have been preparing to bat racquets with Halep in the showpiece event, but the former world number one was simply powerless against an inspired Rybakina, who won 6-3 6-3 on Centre Court in the other semi-final.
A rapid start from the 23-year-old saw her surge into a 3-0 lead over the 2019 champion in the first set, and a rocked Halep would immediately be on the back foot despite holding well for the remainder of the opening exchanges.
After the two semi-finalists brought the second set back on serve following a break apiece, Halep once again crucially double-faulted at the wrong time to lose her grip on the contest, and Rybakina moved one game away from the final with an ace.
One of the best down-the-line backhands of the day handed Rybakina a wonderful victory over Halep on the Romanian's serve, as the powerful 6ft world number 23 made a Grand Slam final for the first time in her career.
"It was a great match Simona [Halep] is a great champion and we had many tough matches before. I was really focussed today and I'm really happy with my performance because I think I played really solid today," Kazakhstan's Rybakina said in her on-court interview.
"I don't know how to describe it, it was really good, today I was mentally prepared and did everything I could and it was an amazing match.
"I think it's going to be a great match [against Ons Jabeur] she's a great player, very tricky player, it's not going to be easy to play against her drop shots and volleys. I think it will be a great match and I will enjoy it, I think I already did the work so it's time to enjoy it out on court."
Jabeur and Rybakina will take to Centre Court for the women's final on Saturday, as Cameron Norrie, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal prepare for the men's semi-finals on Friday. body check tags ::
