Serena, Venus One Win From Another Wimbledon Final; Angelique Kerber, Elena Vesnina Try To Spoil It
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Serena Williams and Venus Williams stand just one win apiece from another Wimbledon showdown in the final. The sisters still have some work to do today, however.
Serena opens up Center Court against the surprising Elena Vesnina. The 29-year-old Russian doubles expert has reached her first career Grand Slam semifinal after impressive wins this week over her partner Elena Makarova and Eastbourne champ Dominika Cibulkova.
“I am very surprised,” Vesnina said. “It was like a dream came true. I’m always thinking, like, I can do well in the Grand Slams. I had some good wins. I was close to be in the quarterfinal couple times, but it was not good enough. I was just waiting and waiting for this happen.”
Serena is trying again for a fourth time to match Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Slams. The World No. 1 hasn’t won a Slam in a year and with a 50th-ranked opponent today who she has beaten handily in all four previous meetings.
“She has a really good grass court game,” Serena said of Vesnina. “She has a really good serve. I notice that she always works on things and she always improves her game. She’s also very aggressive. She comes to the net. I know her game really, really well. It’s good to play someone’s game that you know.”
With a victory, Serena also clinches the No. 1 ranking and returns to the final at her third straight Slam of the season.
In the second semifinal, Venus meets German Angelique Kerber. At 36, Venus is the oldest to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since 37-year-old Martina Navratilova did in 1994.
Kerber is ranked No. 4 and just won the Australian Open earlier this year, beating Serena. Kerber also holds a 3-2 edge on Venus in their head-to-head.
“I played against her a lot of tough matches,” Kerber said of Venus. “She’s always dangerous on grass, especially here in Wimbledon. She has a lot of confidence right now. She played great matches. So I’m looking forward to play against her. It’s the next challenge here. It’s the semis. I will just try to playing like the last matches, being aggressive, my game.”
Venus is playing her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2010 US Open. And with the clock ticking this could be her last chance to win an 8th Slam.
“Well, you have to understand that 21 year olds are foolish,” Venus said. “I didn’t think I was going to be here at 36. Now, if I’m here at 46, I will say that 46 year olds are foolish. I don’t think I’ll be here, but we’ll see.”
This is also the 11th time both sisters have made a Grand Slam semifinal and first since 2009 Wimbledon. In all previous 10 occasions, one of the two won the title.
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