Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur, the highest surviving seed in the women’s draw, recovered from losing her first set at this year’s Wimbledon to beat Czech Marie Bouzkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday and reach her maiden grand slam semi-final.

Since going down in the opening round at this year’s Roland Garros in a shock defeat, Jabeur has won 10 straight matches on grass, having arrived at the All England Club with a title in Berlin in the lead-up.

Currently playing at her highest career ranking of second, Jabeur will meet the 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria, who earlier beat fellow German Jule Niemeier, for a place in Saturday’s final.

Playing in her second straight Wimbledon quarter-final, Jabeur in the first set failed to find a way past the stoic defence of the 66th-ranked Bouzkova, who never made it past the second round of a grand slam before this year’s Championships.

The 23-year-old Bouzkova broke twice to take the opening set but Jabeur, bidding to become the first African woman to win a major, came roaring back to level the match with three breaks in the second.

Riding on the momentum, Jabeur again broke twice to rack up a 4-0 lead and win eight straight games before the Czech halted the juggernaut by getting a break back.

It proved to be only a minor hiccup for Jabeur who picked up another break in the next game and then held serve to love to seal the contest on her first match point.

Experience prevails

Experience overcame youth when the 34-year-old Maria beat Niemeier, 22, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in an entertaining battle of German outsiders.

Maria, who returned from maternity leave only last summer after giving birth to her second daughter, is ranked 103 in the world and Niemeier 97.

“I have goosebumps everywhere,” Maria said in a courtside interview. “It was such a tough match against Jule ... I think today (Tuesday) we made Germany really proud.”

Both women started nervously, spraying errors on either side of Court 1, but Niemeier, playing at her first Wimbledon, took the early initiative, breaking in the first game and grabbing the set when Maria put a forehand wide.

Maria, upped her game in the second set, producing some telling returns, heavy slice and deft drop shots. She took the set with a volleyed winner on Niemeier’s serve.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, big-hitting Niemeier could not find her rhythm on her greatest weapon — the serve — producing 11 double faults.

Among the unforced errors, the duo shared rallies of high quality and commitment, including a memorable 13-shot battle late in the third set when Niemeier threw herself on the turf in a vain attempt to reach a drop shot.

Neither woman had reached a grand slam quarter final before but Maria held her nerve in the final set, breaking back after dropping her serve in the fifth game, then taking the match when Niemeier, on serve, netted on match point.

Watched by beaming husband and coach Charles Maria, she praised the crowd for their support and said she could not believe she had reached a grand slam semi-final.

“It’s a dream to live this with my family, to live this with my two girls. Almost one year ago I gave birth, it’s crazy,” Maria said.