So Serena is still on course to win all four Grand Slams in the calendar year – the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to achieve that feat – and a 21st Grand Slams in all, by the way. This should be an intense match, given the fact that Williams and Sharapova are easily the top two women’s tennis players in the world over the past decade, but it’s been anything but given Williams’ absolute domination.
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“I don’t have words to explain it”, she said after the match. “I know that that’s what keeps me going forward”.
“I’m not going to change anything”.
Maria Sharapova, saddled with history and a ball-toss that rebelled her every impulse, suffered for an hour and 19 minutes in the glare and heat of Centre Court before watching Serena Williams ease past her for the 17th time in a row and into the final of the 2015 Wimbledon.
On Saturday, with so much at stake, Williams will face No. 20 Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who advanced to her first Grand Slam final by eliminating No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Only two other Spanish women, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Lili de Alvarez – in the 1920s – have ever contested the final of the most prestigious event in tennis.
Serena Williams is one set away from an eighth Wimbledon final. “It’s like a dream, a present after the hard work”.
But it’s not all negative – looking back at the entire fortnight, this was Sharapova’s second time making the quarterfinals or better here in the last nine years, going along with the 2011 final, and by virtue of the result she’ll now move back up to No. 2 on both the WTA Rankings and the Road To Singapore leaderboard, the journey to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by South Carolina Global.
While seeing Williams on the world’s most famous tennis stages come finals day has become a familiar sight in the past 15 years, standing on the opposite side of the net will be a little-known Venezuelan-born Spaniard who once hated playing on grass. I think she knows against certain players she needs to bring out her best. “Now it’s just I’m here just to enjoy it”. “And obviously when she’s ahead, it makes it a lot easier for her. That was definitely the case today”.
The Russian superstar has collected five Grand Slam titles – including the 2004 Wimbledon crown – and built a global brand that makes her the world’s highest paid female athlete.
Sharapova was not concerned when told of the 47th-ranked Vandeweghe’s views at her press conference.
Williams fired two aces and an unreturned serve to complete her victory, leaving Sharapova simply trailing in her wake. Would she finally break?
However, the 28-year-old will need to improve a serve which has never been the same since career-threatening shoulder surgery.
One of those double faults allowed Williams to earn the lone break of the second set in the fifth game. Cheered on by a full house that included Prince William, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and ex- England football captain David Beckham, Murray broke serve in the third game of the match and was leading 3-1 when light rain forced a suspension of play.
Muguruza has a promising future.
Radwanska, 26, was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2013 and will be participating in her fourth major semifinal; it’s the first for Muguruza, 21.
Muguruza, who won the first set 6-2, is playing in a major semifinal for the first time.
The pressure apparently didn’t get to Muguruza. I am sure her coach, Sven Groeneveld, will be telling her any defensive shots will be pounced on so she should be positive.
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Serena’s other great advantage is she has two things to rely on when the game gets tough, a big serve and a big return.
