Serena Williams booked a Wimbledon final rematch against Angelique Kerber as the seven-time champion marched into her 10th All England Club title match with a 6-2, 6-4 rout of Julia Goerges on Thursday.
On 20-match winning streak at Wimbledon, Serena is the third oldest female Grand Slam finalist in the Open era at 36 years and 291 days. She will face German world No 10 Kerber on Saturday in a repeat of the 2016 showpiece won by Williams.
Kerber raced into her second Wimbledon final and fourth Grand Slam showpiece as the German crushed former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3 in 67 minutes.
The 30-year-old hit only 10 winners but that was all it took to get the job done as Latvian 12th seed Ostapenko shot herself in the foot with 36 unforced errors.
The Big Stories
History beckons for Serena
Williams has often blasted her rivals off Centre Court with ferocious power-hitting, but German 13th seed Goerges was sent packing with a more subtle 70-minute display featuring just 16 winners and five aces.
In only her fourth tournament since the birth of her daughter Olympia in September, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is closing in on her first major title as a mother. The American star will have history in her sights against Kerber as she tries to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slams singles titles.
An eighth Wimbledon title would also move her past Steffi Graf into second place on the list of female Wimbledon champions, behind nine-time winner Martina Navratilova. Serena will go into her 30th Grand Slam final – her first since winning the 2017 Australian Open – holding a 6-2 lead in her head to head record against Kerber.
Ostapenko undone by 36 unforced errors
Kerber took the express route to her a fourth Grand Slam title match with a ‘blink and you miss it’ demolition of Ostapenko on Centre Court.
The 30-year-old hit only 10 winners but that was all it took to get the job done as Ostapenko shot herself in the foot with 36 unforced errors.
It will be Kerber’s first Grand Slam final since she won the second of her two major titles at the 2016 US Open. Kerber is bidding to become the first German woman to win Wimbledon was Steffi Graf in 1996.
After winning the Australian and US Open titles and reaching the Wimbledon final two years ago, Kerber endured a significant slump in 2017. But the former world No 1 has been reinvigorated over the last few months.
Shots of the day
Quotable quotes
“It’s crazy. I had a really tough delivery and multiple surgeries and almost didn’t make it to be honest. I couldn’t even walk to my mailbox, so it’s definitely not normal for me to be in a Wimbledon final.”
– Serena Williams on her long road back after giving birth to her daughter in September and the complications which followed.
“I didn’t know I would have such kind of traumatic thoughts, especially now that I have a daughter. I want to be around as long as I can to support her.”
– Williams on her health fears
“After each win throughout these 10 days, I’ve had a KitKat. I’m not going to change that now.”
– John Isner in his good luck charm in reaching a first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon
“I think the Centre Court is much slower than the other courts I played before. I think she had really many advantages because of that. My shots were not that effective on such a slow court.”
– Jelena Ostapenko after losing in straight sets in her semi-final to Angelique Kerber
With inputs from Scroll Staff
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