USA’s Serena Williams shakes hands with Russia’s Elena Vesnina after winning their match at All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England, on Thursday, July 7, 2016.
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In the second singles semifinal Thursday, the eighth-seeded Venus was to face Kerber, a German who is seeded No. 4.
Serena also beat Vesnina in the singles tournament, advancing to the final at the All England Club for the ninth time.
The Williams sisters have combined for 11 singles titles at Wimbledon and five as a doubles team – the last coming in 2012. Angie won against her in Australia so she can go in there with her head high and try to play the same as Australia, play very intense and play long rallies with her.
She’s been stopped in three attempts: In New York at the 2015 U.S. Open, Roberta Vinci stunned Serena in the semifinals and this year, she was beaten by Kerber in the Australian Open final in January and by Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final last month.
Venus Williams played her first semi-final since 2010.
When asked about tomorrow’s tussle with Serena, left-hander Kerber said: “I will just try to go out there like in Australia, try to show her, okay, I’m here to win the match as well”.
Venus would not give up without a fight, however, and found some rhythm on her serve to keep the pressure on her opponent. “She’s a champion and she won so many times here”.
“I think for anyone else in this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment”, Serena explained in ESPN upon reaching her third major final.
Yet she was off her game and Kerber did enough, without needing to be at her best, to take a 6-4 6-4 victory in an hour and 13 minutes. We are playing on grass court.
Serena and Venus have met in four Wimbledon finals, with Serena winning three and Venus winning one.
World number 50 Vesnina briefly held up Williams in the first set, holding serve twice, but it was futile and she managed only five points in the second as the match raced away in a blur of winners from across the net. Perhaps the accumulated court time during this fortnight simply took a toll on Venus, who revealed in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjongren’s syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain. It was the quickest semifinal in Wimbledon history. But still, I mean, Wimbledon is always special. “She liked the Australian Open final, she likes to win, she likes to be the grand slam champion”.
After Lleyton Hewitt triumphed 14 years ago, the following 13 men’s titles have been shared between Federer, Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Serena and Venus Williams will be back on court, separately, to play for a spot in the Wimbledon final.
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“It has been the tournament of Elena Vesnina’s life but this was a tough day at the office for her”.
