Venus Williams Reaches Her 10th Wimbledon S’final

*Djokovic beats Mannarino to reach Q’final

Five-time champion Venus Williams on Tuesday won in her 100th singles match at Wimbledon to knock out French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko and reach the semi-finals.
Yesterday’s clash with Ostapenko was Venus’ 20th appearance at the All England Club’s Championship while the qualification for the semis is her 10th.

Williams earned a 6-3 7-5 victory against the 20-year-old Latvian in one hour and 13 minutes on Centre Court.
She will play either Britain’s Johanna Konta or Simona Halep in the last four.
Similarly, Garbine Muguruza reached her second Wimbledon semi-final with a powerful 6-3 6-4 victory over seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

American Williams, 37, is the oldest player to reach the last four since Martina Navratilova in 1994, but says she doesn’t think about her age.
“I feel quite capable, to be honest, and powerful,” she said.
“So whatever age that is, as long as I feel like that, then I know that I can contend for titles every time.”
Williams, competing at her 20th Wimbledon, is just one victory away from her ninth final at SW19 – eight years after her last appearance.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic yesterday reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a straight-set victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino.
In a match delayed from Monday, the world number four beat Mannarino – who is ranked 51st in the world – 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes.
The Serb appeared unhappy with the condition of Centre Court and also received treatment on his right shoulder during the match.

The 30-year-old will face Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych in the last eight.
When asked about his shoulder, Djokovic told BBC Sport: “We’ll see. It has something which has been dragging back and forth for a while, but I am still managing to play.”
The match was due to be played on Monday on Court One but was postponed following Rafa Nadal and Gilles Muller’s four hour and 48 minute tie.

The decision to postpone the match until Tuesday, rather than play it on Centre Court after Roger Federer’s victory on Monday over Grigor Dmitrov, was questioned by some, including Djokovic’s wife Jelena.
There were early concerns over Mannarino’s fitness, as the Frenchman looked to be struggling from the effects of playing two five-set matches on his way to the last 16.

He clutched at his hip as Djokovic broke in his first service game, and although he grew sufficiently into the match to save two set points, he was unable to prevent Djokovic taking the first set in 37 minutes.
A double fault from Djokovic and some loose play allowed the Frenchman to break in the second set and eventually force a tie-break, but the 12-time Grand Slam champion came through the extra points with ease.

Related Articles