In control from start to finish in Thursday’s first semifinal, Serena needed all of 48 minutes to overwhelm Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in what felt like a training session.
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Fourth-seeded German Kerber, 28, prevented a fifth all-Williams final by beating Serena’s older sister Venus, who was badly out of sorts, 6-4 6-4.
Venus had won all eight of her previous Wimbledon semi-finals dating back 16 years to her maiden appearance in the last four when she defeated Serena. She was in a great mood, and her serve was working really well.
“I think for anyone else in this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment”, said Serena. “So that’s why I think I was a little bit nervous at the beginning”. I felt like she played great. I think confidence brews peace and calm in champions.
“I’m, of course, excited to be in the Wimbledon final right now”.
Williams a year ago issued a self-imposed ban on speaking about the calendar grand slam, which was eventually spoiled by Vinci, and she gave similarly short shrift to questions about her tying with Graf.
“It’s never easy out there”, the No. 1-seeded Williams said in an interview with the BBC after leaving Centre Court. “I don’t talk about that anymore”.
Kerber beat Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open in January, and Saturday’s re-match looks appealing. Williams surrendered no points on her serve in the second set, and will now face Angelique Kerber in the final.
“I know Venus is playing well at the moment. She made little to no unforced errors”, Williams said. “She was playing really good with the low balls”.
Kerber used her outstanding passing shots to keep Venus moving side to side all match, and was the more efficient player on Thursday.
The Williams sisters have already won five Wimbledon ladies’ doubles titles, the last of which came in 2012. She was fearless. That’s something I learned. It was inspiring afterwards to realise there’s a lot of things that I need to improve on.
“I ran into a better player, so next time”, she said. She is stalled on 21 majors, one shy of Steffi Graf’s Open Era record. She hit 11 aces.
And while there was room for improvement on that front, it was more potent than the Williams delivery. But that’s what it is, you know.
Women’s world tennis number one Serena Williams. The 34-year-old who toppled Maria Sharapova to be ranked as the highest paid female athlete, has also spoken about the pay disparity in the past.
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Watched from the Royal Box by guests including the Duchess of Cambridge, former Centre Court queen Williams showed flashes of the game that brought her five Wimbledon titles from 2000 to 2008. As a former player, you understand how hard it is.
