Five-time major singles champion Iga Świątek has soundly defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-5 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal.

Świątek will face another first-time Wimbledon semifinalist, unseeded Belinda Bencic.

Bencic became the first Swiss to advance to the last four at the All-England club in 27 years.

After years of nightmare outings at the spiritual home of lawn tennis, eighth-seeded Świątek appears to have finally conquered her grass-court demons, saying the "ball has been really listening" to her at Wimbledon this year.

That was certainly in evidence against Samsonova, as from the moment Świątek served an ace to save break point in the opening game, the ball dutifully obeyed the Pole as winner after winner flew off her racquet.

"Honestly, it feels great," a thrilled Swiatek told the Court One crowd.

"I have goosebumps after this win. I am super happy and super proud of myself and I will keep going.

"I really enjoy playing [on grass] this year and hopefully it is going to last as long as possible.

"I worked really hard to progress here on this surface."

From 2-2 in the first set, former world number one Świątek dominated her Russian opponent, winning seven games in a row with some ferocious forehands from the baseline.

There was simply no place to hide for Samsonova, as Świątek won all of her first-serve points during the opening set.

"Right now it's tough to understand what happened exactly," Samsonova said after the match.

"It's incredible what I have achieved, but right now I cannot feel it.

"Today Iga was at top level. Everyone knows that she's the one who I would love to beat. In the future, maybe."

Bencic through to first Wimbledon semi

Bencic won two tiebreaks to beat teenage seventh seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2).

The only mother left in the singles draw had four match points after Andreeva double-faulted in the second tiebreak on Centre Court.

She needed only the one, sealing victory with a smash at the net.

Bencic is the first Swiss woman to make it to the last four since Martina Hingis in 1998.

Andreeva, 18, fired four aces in the opening set to none for Bencic, but there was next to nothing between the closely matched pair until the Russian netted a couple of forehands in the ensuing tiebreak.

Bencic then had two break points at 4-4 in the second set. Andreeva saved one before hitting long to go 5-4 down, leaving the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion to serve for the match.

Andreeva refused to follow the script, however, and broke straight back to 5-5 before going to 6-5.

Bencic, who had her daughter Bella in April last year, then served to take the match to another tiebreak.

The 28-year-old raced to a 6-2 lead and wasted no further time with the match already entering its third hour, despite hobbling slightly with what she said later was a cracked toenail.

"It's crazy. It's unbelievable. It's a dream come true," Bencic said.

"I tried not to think about it at the match point. I'm just speechless."

The winner of the Świątek-Bencic semi will face either world number one Aryna Sabalenka or 13th seed Amanda Anisimova in Saturday's final.

Reuters