Serena Williams cruises past Elena Vesnina into Wimbledon final
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Serena Williams's quest for her 22nd Grand Slam title will continue in the Wimbledon 2016 finals, as the World No. 1 defeated Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals in just 48 minutes on Centre Court on Thursday.
A six-time Wimbledon champion, Serena surged through the opening set, breaking Vesnina's serve twice to take an early 3-0 lead, then finishing off the set in just 28 minutes. She hit 28 winners to seven unforced errors and 11 aces on the match to advance to her ninth career Wimbledon final. Saturday's championship will also mark her 28th Grand Slam final, a mark behind only Steffi Graf (31), Martina Navratilova (32) and Chris Evert (34) for most in the Open Era.
Heading into the match, Serena led their head-to-head 4-0 and Vesnina had never never won more than four games in a single set their career matchups.
In the other women's semifinal, No. 8-seed Venus Williams will face No. 4-seed Angelique Kerber for a spot in the final. If Venus wins the match, Serena and Venus will face each other in the Wimbledon final for the fifth time. Serena beat her older sister in 2002 and 2003 in the finals, then Venus won the next one in 2008 before Serena won again a year later in 2009. Germany's Kerber defeated Serena in the 2016 Australian Open final to win her first major title.
After the match, both Serena and Vesnina will see each other again on court at Wimbledon 2016, as both women are still in the doubles tournament. Venus and Serena will play in the doubles on Thursday afternoon, facing Vesnina and EkaterinaMakarova in the quarterfinals.
