After the top-seeded Williams needed all of 48 minutes to overwhelm unseeded Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0, sister Venus, seeded eighth, lost to fourth-seeded Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday’s second semifinal. Should she win, it would be a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title and a measure of revenge over Kerber, who beat her for the Australian Open title earlier this year.
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She managed only 21 points in a semi-final that shaved three minutes off the previous Open era quickest women’s semi-final when Dinara Safina was obliterated by Venus Williams in 51 minutes in 2009.
The victory was the fastest ever in a Wimbledon semi-final but tomorrow’s tie against Kerber, who defeated Serena at the Australian Open final in January, should be more of a contest as Serena continues in her quest to match Steffi Graf’s 22 major tournament victories.
Serena Williams served up an ace of a response on Thursday when asked if she considered herself on of the greatest female athlete of all time.
“A very shaky match from her”.
In March, for example, Williams took on decorated men’s star Novak Djokovic, who argued men deserved more prize money in the sport than women.
Vesnina was equally adamant that she and her fellow women players deserve equal rewards.
Perhaps the accumulated court time during the past two weeks simply took a toll on Venus, who revealed in 2011 that she has Sjongren’s syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain. “For me, it’s about, obviously, holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me”.
The 28-year-old simply hasn’t been challenged much, even with quality competition in the most recent rounds in Venus Williams and world No. 5 Simona Halep. I was a little bit nervous when I go out there because I was trying to play my best tennis and of course she was also a tough opponent…
“She was always an idol for me, I have watched a lot of matches, on YouTube sometimes”, she said. “I would like to continue to play this way”.
Kerber was just eight years old when Graf lifted her seventh and last Wimbledon singles crown, and she said it would be a dream to emulate her by winning at the weekend.
“I’m just happy to be in my second grand slam final”.
Kerber isn’t known for her serve, but she is left-handed, and she said that the grass makes it a better weapon than usual.
Her run to this point hasn’t been anything special-just an example of what you can accomplish when you serve well and avoid beating yourself.
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“I think I played a lot of good points today”, said Angelique Kerber in her semifinal press conference. So far at Wimbledon, Williams has been solid at the net, and she’s getting extra practice by playing doubles with her sister. She was able to bounce back by breaking Venus Williams four times out of seven attempts.
