The 21-time grand slam victor nabbed the final three games of the first set against former junior No. 1 Pavlyuchenkova – they trained together in the off-season in 2012 – won 90% of her first-serve points and didn’t face a break point.
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Dominika Cibulkova’s wedding is on.
“Retiring is the easy way out”, the former No.1 responded after Tuesday’s straight sets defeat of Yaroslava Shvedova guaranteed a semi-final against Angelique Kerber.
Instead, it will be Vesnina playing defending champion Serena Williams on Thursday in the Wimbledon semifinals.
After barely surviving the challenge of countrywoman Christina McHale on Friday, Serena Williams had no time whatsoever for her trademark cutesy celebratory twirl.
An all-williams final is looking likely, after top seed Serena, beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4. In its place, Williams stomped into the centre of Centre Court, face ablaze, and angrily thumped her fist five times into the sky.
American fans, however, and the Williams sisters, will hold on to the hope, however: An all-Williams Grand Slam final, the first since Wimbledon in 2009.
Whatever words of wisdom Mouratoglou imparted, the six-times Wimbledon champion was too hot to handle after the break, reeling off the last eight games in a 7-5 6-0 win.
“I can tell sometimes throughout the year when she wakes up and comes to practice, maybe she feels a little lethargic and exhausted and it’s just one of those days that she fights through”, Witt, in Venus’ corner for 10 years, first mainly as a hitting partner, added.
Mirza and Dodig paid for their profligacy as they bungled on multiple match points in the final set before the unheralded British came out trumps. Serena said. “I’m just trying to win my match, as well as my semifinal”.
If chasing that record has appeared to weigh heavily on her at times since she won at Wimbledon past year, it was not the case here as she confidently dismantled Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4.
Their fourth-round match was suspended overnight, at two sets apiece, because of darkness on Monday. Berdych will face France’s Lucas Pouille in today’s quarterfinals.
In the girls’ event, Karman Kaur Thandi lost to Mariam Bolkvadze of Georgia 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 in the second round of the junior Grand Slams. She is the oldest woman in the semifinals at Wimbledon since Martin Navratilova did it at age 37.
Kerber, however, stunned Serena earlier this year to claim her first major title in Melbourne and she is in good form again, after beating Romania’s Simona Halep 7-5 7-6 (7/2).
Venus survived the first-set slugfest and then stepped on the pedal to get home 7-6 (5), 6-2 in an hour and 42 minutes. Of Venus the tennis prodigy, bred – like her little sister, Serena – to be a champion, escaping the crime-ridden Los Angeles suburb of Compton to move to Florida, devastated by a murder in the family, eventually winning seven grand slam singles titles including five at the All England Club.
Usually Anna Wintour plants herself firmly in Roger Federer’s corner, but yesterday the editor of Vogue chose to savour the more bludgeoning aesthetic of a Serena Williams masterclass.
“Oh wow, what a tough day on the court”.
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.
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Venus, though, needs to upset Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber – a 7-5 7-6 (7-2) victor over 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep – on Thursday to fulfill her part of the deal.
