From the moment the 34-year-old nonchalantly broke serve in the opening game the writing was on the wall for a leaden-footed Vesnina appearing in her first grand slam semifinal.
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But Kerber, who overcame Serena’s sister Venus 6-4 6-4 in Thursday’s semi, is hoping to follow in her compatriot’s footsteps by becoming the first German woman to win at the All England Club since 1996.
“I prefer “one of the greatest athletes of all time”, she said with not a trace of a smile. I feel great in other tournaments as well but I feel a little different. “For me it’s obviously holding the trophy and winning which would make it a better accomplishment for me”.
Wimbledon has awarded equal prize money to men and women since 2007 and Serena Williams insists that remains the correct decision. “I don’t think I would deserve to be paid less because of my sex, or anyone else for that matter, in any job”, Serena added further. She is stalled on 21 majors, one shy of Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.
Serena, playing in her 32nd Grand Slam semi-final, blasted last-four debutant Vesnina off the sun-kissed Centre Court in front of Prince William’s wife Kate watching from up in the Royal Box.
World no. 4 Angelique Kerber and defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams will meet in the final at Wimbledon this year.
Since winning last year’s Wimbledon title she has proved surprisingly fallible, losing in the semifinals of the US Open to Roberta Vinci when a calendar Grand Slam loomed. Kerber saw off five-time champion Venus in 71 minutes on Centre Court to reach her first All England Club title match.
Making history at Kerber’s expense would be especially sweet, even more so after the fourth seed defeated Serena’s sister Venus in the semi-finals, and Williams says she has learnt the lessons of Australia. “That’s the position I want to be in, is playing in the semifinals, playing for a space in the final”.
Since failing to complete a calender Grand Slam past year, Serena has repeatedly had her hunger for more success questioned.
“A very shaky match from her”.
She returned to the world’s top 10 past year following a frustrating run of results since she revealed in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease that leaves her short of energy.
In hindsight, Kerber’s coach Torben Beltz said, it wasn’t the worst outcome. The focus was up-and-down.
Perhaps the accumulated court time during this fortnight simply took a toll on Venus, who revealed in 2011 that she had Sjongren’s syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain. She made little to no unforced errors.
“I ran into a better player, so next time”, she said. “That was the plan”.
Commentator John McEnroe said after that “Serena’s practice session this morning was harder than that match”, and he wasn’t lying.
Quote of the day: “I felt like I had no chance today”.
Vesnina, who was due to face Serena again in the women’s doubles later Thursday, admitted she just wasn’t good enough.
“An nearly ideal match”, said Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. That’s when, after sprinting for a forehand that landed in the net, the Russian leaned over, sighed and slumped her shoulders.
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The Williams-Williams pairing beat Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2. But still, I mean, Wimbledon is always special.
