Serena Williams, the world No 1, has turned down the efforts of Maria Sharapova, once again in the Wimbledon semifinals, to advance to her next “Serena Slam.”
The five-time Wimbledon champion has beaten the 28-year-old Russian, in two straight sets to a thorough 6-2, 6-4 win. This marks the seventeenth time Sharapova lost to Williams in the last 11 years, since her victory against Williams in the final of the 2004 Tour Championships.
Sharapova, who double faulted three times, created not even a single break point and took only 13 points of the Williams delivery. She pushed the world No 1 to deuce only once. After 75 minutes, Williams closed the show with three aces and a service winner, bringing up the overall tally to 18-2 against Sharapova.
“She does always come up with great tennis. Against her, you have to be able not to just produce your best tennis, but more,” Sharapova said about her loss to Williams, Wall Street Journal reported.
With this, Williams will enter the Saturday’s final against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the No. 20 seed. The upcoming final will be Muguruza’s first-ever Grand Slam final. She is the first Spanish woman in nearly 15 years, since Conchita Martinez to advance to a Grand Slam final.
“If you want to win a Grand Slam, when you dream, you say, ‘I want Serena in the final.’ She’s like one of the best players in all these years,” Muguruza said about facing Williams in the final.
However, this is not the first time Williams meets Muguruza, as they have been in three head-to-head competitions before. William has lost to the first-time finalist at the 2014 French Open in the second round.
“She made me improve, so she has me on my toes,” Williams said about Muguruza, Fox Sports reported.
A Wimbledon final win, along with a victory at the U.S Open later this summer, will make Williams the first woman to win a single-season Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988.