Once again a duo of American sisters is dominating headlines at the Wimbledon Championships. Serena and Venus Williams are both just one win away from playing each other in the final of the tournament for the fifth time in their careers. Standing in the way of the Williams sisters is Russian underdog Elena Vesnina and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.
(1) Serena Williams Vs Elena Vesnina
The first match that will get underway on centre court will feature world No.1 Serena against Vesnina. Closing in on Steffi Graf’s record of 22 grand slam titles, the defending champion will play Vesnina in a major tournament for the first time since the 2008 US Open.
Serena’s route to her 10th Wimbledon semifinal saw the top seed at both her best and worst. Dropping only one set in the tournament during the second round against Christina McHale, Serena has developed a trend of a sluggish start followed by a superb finish. Besides her tough test against McHale, the top seed has produced straight-sets wins over Amra Sadikovic, Annika Beck, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Vesnina’s surprise run to her maiden major semifinal has also followed a similar route to her nemesis. In the fourth round she required almost three hours to get past Ekaterina Makarova 5-7, 6-1, 9-7. Then in the last eight, she crushed a tired Dominika Cibulkova, who was suffering from the after-effects of her last-16 clash with Agnieszka Radwanska. Earlier in the tournament, the world No.50 cruised past Tamira Paszek, Andrea Petkovic and Julia Boserup.
Serena’s record against Vesnina is a dominating one. She has won all four of their previous matches without dropping a set. The world No.1 is confident that she knows the game of her upcoming rival, despite not playing her for almost three years.
“I think she has a really good grass court game. She has a really good serve. I notice that she always works on things and she is always improving her game.” Williams said of Vesnina.
“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.”
The power and the odds are firmly on Serena’s side. She has suffered shocks at this stage before, most noticeably against Roberta Vinci at the 2015 US Open, but a loss to Vesnina remains unlikely. Vesnina is a tough player, but her Wimbledon fairy-tale is destined to be ended by Williams if the world No.1 is at the top of her game.
(4) Angelique Kerber Vs (8) Venus Williams
Angelique Kerber’s clash against tour veteran Venus promises to be a mouth-watering encounter. On one end of the spectrum, there is current Australian Open champion Kerber, a player that is yet to drop a set in the tournament. Then on the other is seven-time grand slam champion Venus, who at the age of 36 has become the oldest player to reach the last four in the tournament since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
Kerber’s route to her second Wimbledon semifinal has only one consisted of one match against a seeded player (fourth seed Simona Halep in the previous round). Cruising into the second week of the tournament, the world No.4 has dashed the hopes of Laura Robson, Varvara Lepchenko, Carina Witthoeft and Misaki Doi. Facing Halep in her biggest test of the tournament, the German dropped her serve six times, but still managed to close the match out 7-5, 7-6(2).
Venus’ Wimbledon run almost ended almost a week ago when she faced a match point against Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the third round. During a two-hour-and-47-minute epic that was troubled by the British weather, the former world No.1 edged past the Russian 10-8 in the decider. Kasatkina wasn’t the only troublesome player in Venus’ 2016 Wimbledon journey. She was also taken to three sets in her second round match by Greece’s Maria Sakkari. It hasn’t always been marathon matches for the 36-year-old. In her two most recent matches, Venus defeated Carla Suarez Navarro and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets. The roller coaster Wimbledon experience has certainly been a test of Venus’ mental and physical fitness.
The two women have played each other on five previous occasions with Kerber leading the head-to-head 3-2. The German finds herself in the rare position of having a winning head-to-head record against Venus and a grand slam final win over Serena. Facing a Williams sister is a daunting prospect for many players, but it is one that Kerber is relishing.
“She’s always dangerous on grass, especially here in Wimbledon. She has a lot of confidence right now. She played great matches.” Kerber said about Venus.
“I’m looking forward to play against her. It’s the next challenge here. It’s the semis. I will just try to play like my last matches by being aggressive in my game.”
Kerber is the biggest threat to both William sisters’ journey to the title. She has already ruined Serena’s dream in Melbourne at the start of the year and she has the ability to cause more heartbreak against what must be a very tired Venus.
