By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 7, 2016
Serena Williams won 23 of 24 first-serve points obliterating Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-0, to roar into her ninth Wimbledon final.
Photo credit: Stephen White/CameraSport
Serena Williams transformed the Wimbledon semifinal into a shattering display of imposing shotmaking.
Nine minutes into the match, Williams vaporized a forehand return with such force that ball burst past Elena Vesnina just as she was completing her service motion.
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The force of that blast left the 50th-ranked Russian shaking her head at the futility of this assignment. Grand Slam semifinals are serious business, but Williams turned Vesnina's best shots into punch lines for her audacious drives.
In a flawless performance, the ruthless reigning Wimbledon champion obliterated Vesnina, 6-2, 6-0 to roar into her ninth Wimbledon final.
The 48-minute demolition was the shortest women's match of the tournament and the fastest Wimbledon women's semifinal.
"I'm very happy," said Williams, who raised her record to 5-0 against Vesnina. "We've had a lot of tough matches before, especially on this surface I knew that she could really bring it to me. So I was ready."
The 21-time Grand Slam champion rolled into her third straight major final of the season and 28th Grand Slam final of her career.
"I can't believe I'm in the finals again," Williams said. "Obviously, I'm 0 for 2 so I'm determined to get the next one."
Continuing her quest to equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, Williams will face Angelique Kerber in Saturday's final.
The fourth-ranked German ended five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams' inspired run with a 6-4, 6-4 conquest to advance to her first Wimbledon final.
Kerber surprised Serena Williams in the Australian Open final, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to collect her first career Grand Slam title.
Untouchable on serve and unrelenting on return, Williams reeled off seven consecutive games to close a commanding performance.
"I felt like I had no chance today and Serena was playing really good," Vesnina said.
In the most dominating semifinal performance of her Wimbledon career, Williams serve 77 percent, slashed 11 aces without a single double fault and won 28 of 31 points played on her serve.
Thumping her serve with menacing intent, Williams won 23 of 24 points played on her first serve. She pitched a shutout in the second set, winning all 12 points played on her serve.
"It's never easy out there," Williams said. "Every point you have to fight for so it's never easy."
It was an elegant demolition as Williams broke in Vesnina's first two service games then swept through a convincing hold to extend her lead to 4-0. By then, Williams had ripped 10 winners against just two unforced errors.
Sliding a 108 mph ace down the middle, Williams closed a commanding 28-minute opening set. The top seed slammed seven aces and won 16 of 19 points played on her serve powering through a set that looked like target practice at times.
The bad news for Vesnina: She served 62 percent in the set yet looked powerless to stall the onslaught.
The worse news for the Russian: After seeing Williams ravage her serve he's set to partner Ekaterina Makarova against the Williams sisters in the doubles quarterfinals later today.
Collateral damage from Williams' vicious returns rattled Vesnina into a double fault as she broke to open the second set. Storming through a two-ace game to consolidate, Williams had won 13 of the last 14 points.
A shell-shocked Vesnina coughed up another break with a double fault—Williams' fourth break in six service games—and at that point the only real unanswered questions were could the Russian push the match to an hour and would Williams drop another point on serve?
Desperate to stall her free-fall, Vesnina tried to serve-and-volley only to see Williams dash to her right and scoop a running forehand pass down the line breaking for 5-0.
Williams wrapped up a demolition with a final forehand swing volley and a smile.
The top seed has not faced a left-hander in singles since losing to Kerber in January though she faced left-handed Ekaterina Makarova in today's doubles quarterfinal. Williams said she aims to play the final with the fearlessness Kerber showed in the Australian Open championship match.
"I made a lot of errors. She made little to no unforced errors," Williams said of their last meeting. "It was still a three set match. I felt like I could have played better. I felt like she played great.
"She came out swinging, ready to win. She was fearless. That's something I learned. When I go into a final, I, too, need to be fearless like she was. It was inspiring afterwards to realize there's a lot of things that I need to improve on."