Elena Rybakina defeated 2019 champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court to set up a Wimbledon final against Ons Jabeur on Thursday.

Both 17th-seeded Rybakina and the third-seeded Jabeur will be first-time Grand Slam finalists.

Rybakina is the first Kazakh player to reach a major final. Jabeur is the first Arab woman to reach a major final and the first African woman to do so in the Open era.

"It was always tricky matches against her. Different surface. Ons is playing really good. She played good last year. This year she had great results" Rybakina said on facing Jabeur in the final. "For sure, is going to be very tough match. But I'm going to try to do my best, focus on my game, and we see what's going to happen."

The 23-year-old Rybakina is the youngest Wimbledon finalist since 2015 when Garbine Muguruza lost to Serena Williams.

Halep, the 2018 French Open champion, had reached the semifinals without dropping a set but was broken early in both sets.

The 30-year-old Romanian wasn't able to defend her Wimbledon title last year – after the 2020 edition was canceled – because of a calf injury.

(With input from AP)