Serena Williams produced another staggering display of serving to reach her seventh Wimbledon singles final with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Victoria Azarenka on Thursday.
The 30-year-old American, contesting a 21st Grand Slam semifinal, fired down a tournament record 24 aces to snuff out the challenge of the second-seeded Belarussian who clung on bravely to force a second-set tiebreak.
AP
Azarenka saved one match point at 5-6 but Williams blasted down another ace to seal it 8-6, moving to the brink of her 14th grand slam singles title and first since overcoming career-threatening injuries and illness.
She crouched down and started roaring with delight before shaking hands with her opponent and jumping up and down on Centre Court in scenes of unbridled joy.
“I’ve been working so hard, I really wanted it,” the sixth-seeded Williams said in a courtside interview. “She was playing well and I got a little tight in the second set. I was looking too far in the future. I was just getting excited that I was so close, but I can’t do that. I was happy to get through that second set tiebreak.”
Williams dominated the first set in the sunshine, barely conceding a point on her own serve and regularly threatening to break Azarenka.
The second set was much tighter, however, as Azarenka clawed her way into the match, finding the range on her dipping groundstrokes and breaking the Williams serve for the first time in the sixth game.
The Australian Open winner pushed the four-times Wimbledon champion into a tiebreak and saved a match point when Williams lobbed long but the American took her next opportunity with yet another ace to seal victory in 96 minutes.
The American will play Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday’s final.
Reuters
