Venus Williams put up an amazing display of tennis in order to reach her first semifinal at a Wimbledon in seven years. The five-time Wimbledon champion won her quarterfinal match against Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6, 6-2 in 73 minutes. In the first set, Shvedova seemed to have won that battle in the tiebreak as she was 5-2 up, but the American didn’t give up and ended up winning that key first set. In the second set, Venus Williams played a very dominant set of tennis that sealed her quarterfinal victory.
Shvedova wastes her chances as Williams takes the first set tiebreak
Shvedova quickly went up 15-40 while Williams served her first double fault to give break point to her opponent, but the eighth seed turned things around and erased those break points to lead 1-0. The Kazakh had a less complicated opening service game as she leveled things up after a hold to love. Once again it was the American who struggled to keep her serve as she had to face another break point, but just like in her previous service game Williams was able to bounce back and hold. Shvedova who has a 30-0 lead on her serve hit a double fault to grant Williams her first point on her opponent’s serve and two more points it was now the former Wimbledon champion who had a break point, however, the Kazakh took her opportunities and ended up holding.
The first break of the match had been forming in the last few games and it was finally consolidated while the American was serving as she handed the first break after hitting a backhand unforced error. However, Shvedova was not able to confirm the break and lost her serve in the next game after having saved two break points. In a very erratic game from Shvedova, Williams took the lead after recovering the break to be 4-3. The Kazakh once again leveled things up when she held. Finally, the Williams serve showed up as she hit two aces on her way to 5-4. It was now the Kazakh who found herself in trouble after the American hit a forehand winner to get a set point, but two winners by Shvedova and a mistake from Williams tied things at 5-5. There were no more break points and both players held their serve to force a tiebreak.
The tiebreak started with both players not giving up a point on their serve to be 2-2, however, Shvedova was the first to get a mini break after a missed volley by her opponent sent her up 3-2. Two more unforced errors by the eighth seed gave an extended lead to the Kazakh 5-2, but then she would waste that lead as she hit two unforced errors to shorten her lead to 5-4. After playing the start of the tiebreak in a great way, Shvedova had three more mistakes in a row to give the first set to Venus Williams, winning the tiebreak 7-5.
Venus Williams wins the second set to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal in seven years
The second set started out with an exchange of breaks, but it was a double fault which gave Williams another chance to take the lead, and she took it when Shvedova hit a backhand unforced error. The American then consolidated the break with a huge hold to love to go up 3-1. The Kazakh was not able to find her game again as she hit a wide backhand to give a double break point to Williams, but she was quick to save them after hitting an ace and then a volley winner. Shvedova had game point and hit a profound forehand that even caused Williams to slip, although there was a late call that the Kazakh challenged and ended it up winning, but the umpire ordered to replay the point a decision that Shvedova tried to fight but was unsuccessful and the point was replayed.
The Kazakh eventually lost the point, and two points later the American scored a second break to lead 4-1. After losing that controversial point, Shvedova couldn’t focus anymore, helping Williams to hold to lead 5-1. The Kazakh managed to hold her next game after some unforced errors by the American but she was still two breaks behind. Leading 5-2, Williams now had the duty to serve out the match, and soon she got herself her first match point but missed it after a forehand unforced error. However, it didn’t take long for Williams to get another chance, and this time with the help of Shvedova's mistakes, Venus Williams was able to book a spot in the semifinals.
Next for Venus Williams
In the semifinals, Venus Williams will have a tough contender as she will face the reigning Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber. This will be the sixth meeting between them and it’s the German who leads the series 3-2. Their last encounter happened in 2014 at Montreal where the American prevailed in three tough sets. This will mark their second match on grass, the first one was in 2012 at the Olympic Games where the German won in two tiebreaks.