Croatia’s Mili Poljicak shrugged off an overnight sickness bug to stage a stunning fightback against Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland to reach his maiden Junior Grand Slam semi-final at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon.

Poljicak revealed after his 1-6 6-3 6-2 victory that he was awake for most of the night with an upset stomach and only really eased into gear during his last-eight showdown after a somewhat disappointing first set.

The 17-year-old will now face Spain’s Pedro Rodenas, who overcame Kalin Ivanovski of North Macedonia in three sets, for a place in the final, while the prospect of an all-Spanish final remains after Martin Landaluce surged into the semis.

Landaluce’s love affair with grass continued as he chalked up his 15th straight win on the surface against Learner Tien of the United States, with the 16-year-old going head-to-head with American Michael Zheng for a place in the final.

“Last evening, I had some stomach problems, and I didn’t sleep,” Poljicak told itftennis.com. “I only slept for about three or four hours and was throwing up, so when I finally got to sleep and woke up in the morning, I was not feeling good.

“I did some things to try and get ready but the first set was a result of not warming up properly because I was with the doctor until 10.15-10.30am. When I warmed up in the second set, I think it was a high level from me. I am feeling better now.”

Should Poljicak defeat Rodenas in tomorrow’s last-four tussle, he would be just the third Croatian, boy or girl, to reach the final of the Junior Championships and the first since Mario Ancic in 2000. No Croatian has ever topped the podium here.

“There are so many incentives to do well and get to the final,” said junior world No.5 Poljicak. “You just have to work hard and believe that you’re the one. Tennis is a special sport: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s how it is.

“It is a great feeling to be in the semi-finals. Now I’m here, I’m desperate to win the title. That would be some achievement.”

With Rodenas and Landaluce both negotiating their quarter-final ties, it is the first time that two Spaniards have reached the semi-finals at the Junior Championships since 1986 when Javier Sanchez and Tomas Carbonell made the last four.

Landaluce, who made his Grand Slam debut at the Roland Garros Junior Championships last month, will now do battle with Zheng for a place in the final after the American dispatched his doubles partner Coleman Wong.

Less than 20 hours after Wong and Zheng were jubilantly embracing following a nerve-jangling doubles victory over Great Britain’s Luca Pow and Henry Searle, they were at opposite ends of the court, competing with each other for a place in the last four.

Zheng prevailed 6-4 6-3 before once again teaming up with Wong, who is to feature in an ITF-produced behind-the-scenes video which contains unique and rarely seen footage of life on tour, for their doubles quarter-final against Jakub Mensik and Olaf Pieczkowski.