Ons Jabeur of Tunisia outclassed defending champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Wimbledon Championships women's singles semifinal round on Wednesday, setting up her next match with second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who downed Madison Keys of the U.S. 6-2, 6-4 on No. 1 Court.

Jabeur, who finished as runner-up last year, said she wasn't ready to contest Rybakina then. 

"I don't regret last year. It happened for a reason. I always say it. It was meant to be this year," she said after the match. 

Jabeur reached the set point of the opening set first at 6-5 after coming from 3-1 down, only to be broken by Rybakina who went on to win three points in a row at 3-3 in the tiebreak and took the set.

The match looked in Rybakina's favor early in the second set, as she had three break points in Jabeur's serve at 2-2. But the Tunisian held her nerve to save them all, staying alive in the set before breaking in the 10th game to level the match.

Jabeur continued her momentum in the decider, breaking for a love game in the second game to surge to a 3-0 lead. After Rybakina held from 30-0 down to get on the board, Jabeur broke another one in the sixth game before wrapping up the victory. 

Meanwhile, Sabalenka has entered the semifinal round in four consecutive Grand Slams.

Sabalenka, who is currently ranked world number two, is now one win away from ending Polish Iga Swiatek's 67-week domination of the top spot.

Sabalenka hit 17 winners and converted four out of her nine break points, with only 14 unforced errors throughout. 

"It feels amazing. I'm super happy to be back in the semifinals. Really looking forward for my semifinals match," Sabalenka said. "I want both (winning Wimbledon and being world No.1). But I'm trying to focus on myself because I know if I start thinking about all this stuff, I'm going to lose my focus on the court, my game," she added. 

"Actually we practiced here before Wimbledon. I felt like she's going to do well here because she played unbelievable tennis on practice court. I know it's different on practice than on match. She was able to bring this level on matches," Sabalenka said of Jabeur. 

The other semifinal will take place between Elina Svitolina of Ukraine against unseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

(With input from Xinhua)