Venus Williams of the United States breezed past hometown favorite Johanna Konta to advance to the Wimbledon Tennis Championship Finals. Williams will face Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who defeated Magdalena Ryabarikova of Slovakia.
ESPN reports that the 37-year-old Venus Williams remains in the hunt for her sixth Wimbledon title after defeating the Australia-born British Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2. With the victory, Williams reaches the Finals of Wimbledon for the ninth time in her 20-year career. In 2009, Williams also made it to the Wimbledon Finals but failed to defend the title she won in 2008. Incidentally, it was her little sister Serena Williams who knocked Venus out in the Wimbledon 2009 Finals. Ironically, Serena Williams won the Wimbledon title in 2015 and 2016 but is unable to defend her crown this year due to pregnancy. That being said, a Williams is still vying for the Wimbledon championship, so the Americans still have a chance to keep the Wimbledon trophy within the family.
On the other side, a visibly disappointed Konta, 26, ignored the Wimbledon tradition of waiting for her opponent before exiting the court, reports the Guardian. Johanna Konta was Britain’s remaining hope to advance to the Finals of the All England Club following the shock exit of world No. 1 and tournament top seed Andy Murray in the Gentlemen’s Quarterfinal actions. Konta saved two match points before finally giving up the match on Williams’ beautiful forehand down-the-line shot.
It would be a career-defining moment for the world No. 7 Konta as her appearance in the Semifinal of Wimbledon marks only the first time that she got past the Quarterfinal round of a Grand Slam event. Konta will barge into the Women’s top 5 after her Semifinal exit at Wimbledon.
The current world No. 11, Venus Williams, will face Garbine Muguruza, ranked 15th in the world, in the Finals of Wimbledon. Muguruza essayed a masterful Semifinal performance to earn her second Wimbledon Finals appearance, defeating Magdalena Ryabarikova in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.
Muguruza, seeded No. 14 at Wimbledon 2017, overwhelmed the unseeded Ryabarikova in nearly all categories, mixing baseline play and net play brilliantly. The world No. 87, Ryabarikova, earned her first Semifinal appearance at a Grand Slam event by defeating American Coco Vandeweghe in the Wimbledon Quarterfinals.
Twenty-three-year-old Muguruza trails Venus Williams in their career head-to-head matches 1-3, but the Spaniard won their last meeting in the Quarterfinals of the Rome Masters earlier this year. The Wimbledon Tennis Championship Finals between Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza is scheduled on July 15, Saturday.
[Featured Image by Tim Ireland/AP Images]