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The American earns a shot at record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles crown, to face Kerber in repeat of 2016 title clash
AFP
London
Serena Williams reached her first Grand Slam final as a mother just 10 months after giving birth as the seven-time champion marched into her 10th Wimbledon title match with a 6-2, 6-4 rout of Julia Goerges on Thursday.
On 20-match winning streak at Wimbledon, Williams will face German world number 10 Angelique Kerber on Saturday in a repeat of the 2016 showpiece won by Williams.
Goerges had come into her first Grand Slam semi-final having belted more winners (199), more aces (44) and more unreturned serves (113) than anyone else in the women's draw but those statistics counted for little when she came up against an opponent who is on a 20-match winning streak in the tournament and in hot pursuit of a record-equalling 24th major.
German 13th seed Goerges was sent packing in only 70 minutes on Centre Court.
Remarkably, the 36-year-old was back in a Grand Slam final just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia.
It was a cathartic moment for the 36-year-old, who endured severe labour complications that left her needing life-saving operations.
"It's crazy. I don't even know how to feel. I didn't expect to do this well in my fourth tournament back," Williams said.
"I had a really tough pregnancy delivery. I had to have multiple surgeries and almost didn't make it to be honest.
"I'm just enjoying every moment of this. This was not inevitable for me."
The American star will have history in her sights against Kerber as she tries to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slams singles titles.
An eighth Wimbledon title would also move her past Steffi Graf into second place on the list of female Wimbledon champions, behind nine-time winner Martina Navratilova.
Serena will go into her 30th Grand Slam final -- her first since winning the 2017 Australian Open -- holding a 6-2 lead in her head to head record against Kerber.
"She is clearly a really good grass-court player. But whatever happens it's a great moment for me and incredible motivation to keep going for the rest of my career," Serena added.
After all the controversy about the decision to seed Williams 25th at Wimbledon despite her position at 181 in the WTA rankings, she has proved the tournament's officials were actually too conversative.
Williams, who missed Wimbledon last year due to her pregnancy, won the grass-court Grand Slam on her previous two visits in 2015 and 2016.
In a testament to her remarkable longevity, the former world number one has now made at least one Grand Slam final for the last 12 years.
Serena had lost only one of her 10 previous Wimbledon semi-finals and the 11th followed a familiar script.
When a panicked Goerges error wrapped up the first set, Serena's dominance was so total that the American, whose emotions are usually on full display, barely acknowledged the moment.
Earlier, Kerber raced into her second Wimbledon final and fourth Grand Slam showpiece as the German crushed former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3 in 67 minutes.
The 30-year-old hit only 10 winners but that was all it took to get the job done as Latvian 12th seed Ostapenko shot herself in the foot with 36 unforced errors.
"I was just trying to move good and take my chances. I'm so excited," Kerber said.
"It's such a great feeling to be back in the final. Playing on Centre Court is always great."
Referencing her dismal form last year, Kerber added:"2017 is over and I'm really happy about that. We are in 2018!
"I'm really happy and proud to be in a Grand Slam final. These are the matches I was working for since I was a kid."
It will be Kerber's first Grand Slam final since she won the second of her two major titles at the 2016 US Open.
Kerber, who also won the Australian Open in 2016, is bidding to become the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Graf in 1996.
Nadal faces 'complex' Djokovic in ' semis
Rafael Nadal described long-time rival Novak Djokovic as"one of the more complex" players he's ever met as they prepare to clash for the 52nd time on Friday with a Wimbledon final spot at stake.
World number one Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion at the All England Club, trails Djokovic, the 2011, 2014 and 2015 winner, 26-25 in a rivalry which began at Roland Garros 12 years ago.
"It's always a big challenge to face Novak," said 32-year-old Nadal who is back in the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2011 when he finished runner-up to Djokovic.
"He is one of the more complex players that I ever saw in our sport. You know that you can't win against him if you don't play very well."
Nadal is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title which would put him just two behind Roger Federer after his For his part, Djokovic is eyeing a 13th major after making the semi-finals of a Slam for the first time since finishing runner-up at the 2016 US Open.
Djokovic's 2017 Wimbledon campaign ended in a quarter-final retirement with an elbow injury which led to surgery and precipitated a worrying dip in form and confidence.
But the 31-year-old has been rejuvenated at Wimbledon, sweeping into the semi-finals for the eighth time.
"My results were not up to the standard that I had before," said Djokovic after beating Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals.
"At the same time, I'm trying to use the experience and memories that I have of being in the final stages of Grand Slams, just take things very simple, day by day."
Nadal had not dropped a set at the tournament until the quarter-finals where he fought back to defeat Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
That four-hour and 48-minute epic put him into his sixth Wimbledon semi-final and 28th at the majors.
Friday's other semi-final pitches Anderson, the eighth seed who lost to Nadal in last year's US Open final, against ninth-seeded American John Isner.
Both men are in the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time.
Anderson is the first South African to make the last-four since Kevin Curren in 1983.
Isner had never got past the third round at Wimbledon before this year while a run to the last-eight at the 2011 US Open had been his previous best at the majors.
The surprise presence of Anderson and Isner means this year's Wimbledon semi-finals will feature players all over the age of 30 for the first time in the Open era.
Their clash, however, may not be easy on the eye.
Isner hasn't been broken in 95 service games and has fired 161 aces. Anderson has 123 aces to his name.
Results
Wimbledon results on Thursday (x denotes seeded player):
Women’s semi-finals
Angelique Kerber (GER x11) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x12) 6-3, 6-3
Serena Williams (USA x25) bt Julia Goerges (GER x13) 6-2, 6-4
Men’s quarter-finals (Wednesday)
John Isner (USA x9) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x13) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-3
Novak Djokovic (SRB x12) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x24) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Juan Mart?n Del Potro (ARG x5) 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of play
Friday’s order of play on Centre Court (play starts at 1200 GMT/8 AM ET, prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles (semi-finals)
8-Kevin Anderson (South Africa) vs 9-John Isner (US)
12-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) vs 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain)
