Serena Williams crushed Elena Vesnina on Thursday to reach a Wimbledon final and another shot at a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title. Her opponent: Australian Open conqueror Angelique Kerber, who defeated Venus Williams. The women's championship match will be played on Saturday.
Serena showed no mercy in winning 6-2, 6-0 in 48 minutes. Vesnina is No. 50 in world rankings, unseeded in this tournament and out of her depth in the semifinals.
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Still, Williams said after the match that she was wary of her opponent.
I'm very happy. I was really focused because I knew we've had some tough matches before," Williams said. "I knew she could bring it to me.
"It's never easy, every point you have to fight for."
Serena Williams (Getty Images)
"I felt like I had no chance today," Vesnina told media members. "She was in a great mood, and her serve was working really well for her. She had a really high percentage of first serves. She was placing it amazingly."
Kerber had a more difficult semifinal against Venus Williams, winning 6-4, 6-4.
Men's semifinals matches are scheduled Friday. First up: Canada's Milos Raonic bids for his first Grand Slam final against Roger Federer beginning at 8 a.m. ET. Former champion and British hope Andy Murray faces Tomas Berdych at 11 a.m. ET.
Williams made few mistakes — only seven unforced errors — in her best match in recent memory. And at 48 minutes, Thursday was the shorted semifinal in Wimbledon women's competition.
Serena's flawless performance in numbers... #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/iN1Cm81g0Y
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2016
Vesnina, of Russia, was playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal. It showed as Williams — a six-time and defending champion — raced to a 4-0 lead.
Vesnina dominated Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets in the quarterfinals, but was it her turn to be brushed aside. The first set took 28 minutes. Williams then broke serve three times in the second.
"Just an exhibition performance" @serenawilliams celebrates one of her most impressive results at #Wimbledon https://t.co/Ulpm3UCSWA
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2016
Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova pushed the Williams sisters in Thursday afternoon's doubles quarterfinal but lost in three sets. The score: 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2. Next up for Venus and Serena: a semifinal match against Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Thursday's quarterfinal stunner? Top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza lost 6-2, 6-4 to the fifth-seeded duo of Babos Timea of Hungary and Shvedova Yaroslava of Kazakhstan.