LONDON, England – Venus Williams moved one step closer to a sixth Wimbledon crown after a straight set win over Yaroslava Shvedova in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Playing her 12th quarterfinal at the All England Club, Williams’ experience came to the fore as she withstood some early difficulty to run out an ultimately comfortable, 7-6(5), 6-2 winner.
“What a tough day on court! The first set I had so many opportunities but she played so well,” Williams said. “When you walk to the net as the winner that’s the goal.
“To play so well when it’s your first quarterfinal is a credit to her. I love playing the game, always have. And when you’re winning matches it’s so much sweeter. Wins and losses lead to these moments. Everyone has to take the losses. Unless you’re Serena Williams!”
At 36, Williams is the oldest player to make it this far at a major since Martina Navratilova finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 1994.
“I love playing the game,” Williams said in her post-match interview with the BBC. “When you’re winning matches it makes it that much sweeter.”
Shvedova had her chances, most notably in the first set tie-break which she led 5-2, but found herself faced with an opponent who refused to wilt. Williams pinched the set when Shvedova fired long and tightened her grip of the contest thereafter, a run of four straight games plotting a path into the last four.
“What a tough day on the court,” Williams added. “The tie-breaker, it felt like she would win. I felt like my opponent was on fire. I felt like the crowd enjoyed all the great points. She got them involved in the last game. We gave them good tennis today.”
Remarkably, it is Williams’ first major semifinal since the 2010 US Open. There she will face No.4 Angelique Kerber, who saw off Simona Halep, 7-5, 7-6(2).
“The road was six years. They go by fast thankfully. But I’ve been blessed, been really blessed, to have an opportunity to be here, have had an opportunity in the past to do this. I don’t have any regrets about anything that’s taken place in between. It’s been a journey, but it’s made me stronger,” Williams said.
Williams’ evergreen showing also raises the tantalizing prospect of another showdown with sister Serena – who won her quarterfinal with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-4, over on Centre Court – in south-west London. The siblings have met six times at Wimbledon – more than at any other tournament – although Williams has no intention of looking beyond Kerber.
“We don’t really talk about [the final] because we are focused on the next match. Even though we both won today, our opponents played really well. We actually have to get out there and play well to win. So it’s very focused.
“We get out there and we’re focused on that moment because we have to be. So the talk about what could happen is not as important as what’s happening in that round.”
