A short while later, Serena beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russian Federation 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court, finishing the match with a 123 miles per hour ace, to extend her record in Wimbledon quarterfinals to 10-2.
Advertisement
Cibulkova is planning to get married on Saturday in Bratislava, but said she would have to postpone the wedding if she kept winning at the All England Club.
From 5-2 down in the tiebreaker, she ran off five straight points to take the first set, then rolled through the second set on No. 1 Court.
Venus, who also won Wimbledon titles in 2001, ’05 and ’07, has been slowed in recent years by Sjogren’s syndrome, a condition that can cause joint pain and saps energy.
The Czech, whose sluggish start suggested he was feeling the effects of close to 11-1/2 hours on court in his four previous matches, threatened to fritter away a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak before a deep approach set him up for a clean forehand victor.
In her first Wimbledon semifinal match since 2012, Kerber will next play either Venus Williams or Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
Berdych, who was runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2010, beat Vesely 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6 on Court No 3 today.
Tomas Berdych has played only one Grand Slam final ever. He was stopped in the last eight at the Australian and French Opens.
There wasn’t much drama in the quartet of women’s matches Tuesday, although Venus was perilously close to dropping her opening set against the 96th-ranked Shvedova, now 0-3 in major quarterfinals.
Playing with her left thigh taped, Venus moved quite well, covering the court with speed and flawless timing, offering up enough defense and waiting for Shvedova’s miscues.
Meanwhile, in the resumption of a fourth-round men’s match, Tomas Berdych and Jiri Vesely are back on Court 3, tied at two sets apiece.
Serena leads 16-11 overall and 4-2 at Wimbledon against her sister.
Six-time champion Serena and five-time victor Venus will be playing on Tuesday for spots in the semifinals.
Advertisement
“I love playing the game, I always have”, the eighth-seeded Venus said.
