“I will get married 100 per cent, not thinking about tennis”.
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Kerber certainly hopes to prove that on Thursday as she goes in search of something of a semi-final double for her country.
Venus Williams, 36, beat Yaroslava Shvedova, advancing to her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009. It is Serena who has had the upper hand, winning three of the sisters’ finals as well as their most recent meeting in London, in the fourth round past year.
Then little sis came along, caught big sis and became the best woman’s player on the planet.
It has been a bumpy five years for Venus Williams since she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease causing chronic fatigue and muscle soreness. Her opponent, 96th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova, was playing her first. This year, that changed as she emerged back onto the scene winning numerous tournaments before joining her sister in London.
The Williams sisters could be headed for another meeting in a Grand Slam final.
“They go by fast, thankfully”, Williams said of the past six years. “I know I can win such tournaments”.
“I don’t have any regrets about anything that’s taken place in between. I would love to be walking toward the final, and progress made today”.
Her ideal last-four record at Wimbledon could come under pressure though from Kerber, 28, who is trying to replicate the focus and relaxation that brought her the title in Melbourne.
And she admits she was still exhausted from Monday’s three-hour epic victory over third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Men’s quarterfinals Wednesday: No. 2 Andy Murray vs.
“We’ve had a lot of great matches, she and I. We haven’t played in a while”, Williams said. “She was ahead 5-2 in the tie-break and then somehow I managed to win it”.
A recap of the women’s quarterfinals matches at Wimbledon 2016 on Tuesday, including results, tweets, hot shots, photos and more. As she waved to the Court 1 crowd, she wore a broad smile. If I was still here, I would just think about tennis hundred percent. “Hopefully I can play a few more matches here”, she said. “It is remarkable what she’s doing”.
Billie Jean King was 39 in 1983 when she managed it, and Martina Navratilova was 37 in 1994. “It feels really good”, said Serena. “No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to believe every time”.
German fourth seed Kerber, meanwhile, reached her second Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Simona Halep, the fifth seed from Romania.
Serena and Venus Williams are one win away from meeting in the Wimbledon final for an incredible fifth time.
Tuesday’s other quarter-finals saw six-time champion Serena Williams battering Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4.
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Unseeded Russian Vesnina thrashed Slovakian 19th seed Cibulkova 6-2 6-2 in the remaining quarter-final on court one.
