WIMBLEDON (CNN) — An all-Williams grand slam final is moving ever closer at Wimbledon after both Serena and Venus won their quarterfinals Tuesday.
First Venus defeated Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to achieve a first semifinal at a major in six years, then world No. 1 Serena topped Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4.
Venus — at 36 the oldest woman to make the last four at Wimbledon since a 37-year-old Martina Navratilova in 1994 — next faces Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, who was a 7-5 7-6 (7-2) winner over 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep.
Defending champion Serena confronts first-time grand slam semifinalist Elena Vesnina. The Russian and quarterfinal foe Dominika Cibulkova both won their singles matches 9-7 in the third set Monday but Vesnina clearly had more left in the tank as she brushed aside the normally resilient Slovak 6-2 6-2.
If Serena triumphs at Wimbledon for the seventh time, she would win a 22nd major to tie Steffi Graf’s Open Era record. Venus, meanwhile, is bidding for a sixth crown at SW19.
More to follow…
The-CNN-Wire
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