Williams, the six-time champion at the All England Club, was outstanding in her terrible semi-final mismatch against first-timer Elena Vesnina, as an nearly embarrassing 6-2, 6-0 destruction of the world No.50 took just 49 minutes, the shortest on record.
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If any more incentive were needed there is family honour at stake after Kerber beat older sister Venus 6-4 6-4 in the second semi-final, denying the 36-year-old a first Wimbledon final since 2009 when Serena beat her.
Women’s semifinals: No. 1 Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0; No. 4 Angelique Kerber beat No. 8 Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4.
Ever since winning here past year Serena has been chasing the victory that would see her equal the Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles held by Steffi Graf, who was Kerber’s childhood idol. Kerber, winning her first Grand Slam title, denied Serena at the Australian Open, while Garbine Muguruza beat the American in Paris.
She is aiming to equal Steffi Graf’s open era record of 22 majors by lifting the trophy on Saturday, having been stuck on 21 since last year’s Wimbledon.
But Kerber, who beat Serena in the final of this year’s Australian Open and has cruised her way through the tournament so far, had other ideas. In January, Serena figured to cruise in the Australian Open final after rolling through her draw, then collapsed in a redux of the U.S. Open. I know she’s a great champion.
“A very shaky match from her”. “She made little to no unforced errors”. I was trying to go for it and it worked, just a really good feeling.
So this stay at the All England Club her 19th appearance is not quite over for Venus.
“The scoreline just reflected me doing what I know I can do”. A year later, Serena again triumphed.
“I knew she was playing really well”.
But against Kerber, Venus was broken the first four times she served.
Williams and Kerber struggled with their serve early in Thursday’s match.
There would be plenty more of that sort of body language from Vesnina, a two-time Wimbledon runner-up in doubles who was to face Serena and Venus in the quarterfinals of that event later in the day.
“It’s a completely new tournament, new surface and everything is completely new”, said the fourth-seeded challenger.
Ever stoic, Williams refused to blame fatigue – or any factor but Kerber’s proficiency – for the loss: “She played so well”. She recovered in time, however, finding better range in the rallies and holding serve when Venus appeared on the verge of a comeback. “I think that’s what changed”. Williams passed grueling three-set tests in the second and third rounds (her win in the latter took two hours and 24 minutes). Right now I have a lot of experience from my last few years on tour. “I’m zero and two for (grand slam finals) this year so I want to get at least one”.
“I think for anyone else in this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment (reaching three grand slam finals in a row)”, she said. I was trying to just go for everything, moving really well and the last point was a awesome.
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The defending champion earned herself £500,000 by progressing to the final, equating to £10,417 for every minute she played.
