WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams will be looking for a sixth career Wimbledon title after she dashed the hopes of British fans by beating sixth seed Johanna Konta of Britain 6-4, 6-2 in Thursday’s semifinal.
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| Venus Williams of the United States returns a serve to Britain's | Johanna Konta during their women's singles |
Williams won on a third match point on Konta’s serve in the final game of the 75-minute match. As soon as she hit a winning forehand down the line, WIlliams was smiling, then waved to the crowd and did her trademark twirl.
“I played a lot of finals here, so I couldn’t ask for more, but one more win would be amazing,” Williams said. “I thought the crowd was very nice to me. I thought they were so fair.”
The 10th-seeded Williams is the oldest player in the Wimbledon women’s draw this year. At 37 years, 29 days, Williams is the oldest player to advance to a Wimbledon final since Martina Navratilova, who was 37 years, 258 days old in 1994.
Williams is making her 20th appearance at Wimbledon. She previously won the title here in 2000, ’01, ’05, ’07, and ’08. She also won the U.S. Open titles in 2000 and ’01.
In January, Williams reached the Australian Open final where she lost to her sister, Serena. That was her first Grand Slam final appearance since she lost to Serena in the 2009 Wimbledon final.
Williams will play Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final. This is Muguruza’s second time in the final — she lost to Serena Williams in 2015. Serena Williams is not playing here this year as she awaits the birth of her first child.
“We both play really well on grass,” Venus Williams said of Muguruza. “The last time she played Serena in the finals. I’ll have to ask her. I miss Serena not being here. I said I wish she could do it for me, but I said this time I have to do it for myself.”
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