Swansea-born Xu, 17, now faces American sixth seed Julieta Pareja at lunchtime today, looking to take one step closer to becoming Britain’s first girls’ Wimbledon champion in 17 years.
Xu’s stellar run so far has seen her triumph in all four encounters at SW19 against Thea Frodin, Elana Kovakova, Talina Kokkinis, and now Tagger since making her senior debut in the first-round defeat to British number one Emma Radacanu last week.
The loss on court one Xu feels has made her stronger as a player and helped her get over the line against recent girls French Open champion Tagger. Feeling calm Xu now feels she believes she can now go all the way.
“I haven’t even looked at the draw. In all honesty, I am ready to just go out and play tennis,” said Xu.
“This year it feels like I am here to develop my game. I’d love to win but it’s not making me nervous, I am just embracing every moment and enjoying it, playing on such great courts in such a nice place.
“I played Lilli in Australia and lost in the third round, so I knew it was going to be a tough match.
“I have so much respect for Lilli on and off the court. She is so special and has an amazing game style and mentality. I think she’ll go on to do great things.
“I put in a really professional performance believing in my game, shots, serve, forehand, backhand and everything.
“I was able to go after it in key moments, be aggressive, and really just keep applying the pressure.”
Mimi will now be in action in her semi-final against Julieta Pareja on court 12, scheduled for 12.30 on Friday. A match that will be available to watch on the BBC via iPlayer.
The winner will go on to face either Slovakian Mia Pohankova or Czech Vendula Valdmannova on Saturday. The unseeded duo face off at the same time on court 18.
