Venus Williams of the US returns against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko during their women's singles quarter-final match at he 2017 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, yesterday.
London: Venus Williams became the oldest Wimbledon semi-finalist for 23 years as the five-time champion brushed aside French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, while Garbine Muguruza powered past Svetlana Kuznetsova to make it back to the last four yesterday.
Williams' 73-minute masterclass on Centre Court clinched a 6-3, 7-5 victory that made her the most senior player to reach the semi-finals since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
The American star, who reached the last of her eight Wimbledon finals in 2009, faces Britain's Johanna Konta or Romania's Simona Halep in the last four on Thursday.
"I love this game. That's why I put in the effort and the time. It's a beautiful game. It's been so good to me," Venus said.
"The competition keeps you growing. You have to get better if you want to stay relevent.
"I love the challenge. It's not always easy dealing with the pressure. It's only you that can have the answer."
Twenty years after making her Wimbledon debut, Venus was playing in her 100th singles match at the All England Club, while Ostapenko was in only her eighth. That gulf in experience was immediately apparent when Venus broke in the second game and cruised through the first set in serene fashion. Williams was just too canny for the fresh-faced Ostapenko, manoeuvering her out of position time and again before delivering the kill shot.
After breaking in the third game of the second set, Williams moved into a 3-1 lead, then endured her only wobble as Ostapenko broke back.
Williams was unfazed and shattered Ostapenko's spirit with another break before serving out a commanding win.
Muguruza powered into her second Wimbledon semi-final in the last three years with an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 win over Russian seventh seed Kuznetsova.
Muguruza will take on Johanna Konta in the semis.
Konta sealed a semi-final spot in a feast of tension-filled tennis, powering past Simona Halep 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4 to become the first British woman to reach the last four in almost 40 years.
