TENNIS NEWS – THE WILLIAMS SISTERS ADVANCE TO WIMBLEDON DOUBLES FINAL, & SERENA TO MEET KERBER IN SINGLES

Written by: on 8th July 2016
Wimbledon Championships
TENNIS NEWS - THE WILLIAMS SISTERS ADVANCE TO WIMBLEDON DOUBLES FINAL, & SERENA TO MEET KERBER IN SINGLES

epa05412917 Angelique Kerber of Germany returns to Venus Williams of the US in their semi final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 07 July 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO COMMERCIAL SALES  |

By Ricky Dimon

 

There will be two Williams sisters playing on Centre Court during championship Saturday. But it will not be Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams for the singles title. After Serena faces Angelique Kerber, both Serena and Venus will battle in the doubles final against Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova.

 

The sisters punched their ticket to the title match by beating Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova 7-6(3), 6-4. Venus came within one victory of being on Saturday’s schedule twice, but she succumbed to Kerber in the semifinals.

 

“You know, I think a lot of it is my partner,” Venus said in an interview with the WTA, “and when you have a good partner it is easy to relax because if you miss a few shots then you’re partner has you, so…that’s been part of the equation. Yeah, it’s nice (to play on the final Saturday). I came close in the singles, so could have had double duty on Saturday, but with any luck I’ll be getting into that cycle a little more in the coming years.”

Serena and Venus Williams in action in the women’s doubles semi final against Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2016. EPA/GERRY PENNY

 

Serena will get into that cycle on Saturday, starting with a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final. The younger Williams is leading the head-to-head series 5-2, but Kerber upset her 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to lift the trophy in Melbourne. The 34-year-old had won their previous four encounters all in straight sets and all on hard courts, the surface on which they have staged each of their seven meetings.

 

Just as she is against anyone on tour in just about any situation, Williams is a considerable favorite on paper. The American sports a 30-4 record this season and is one more victory away from becoming a seven-time Wimbledon champion. Williams has dominated her way to the final with defeats of Amra Sadikovic, Christina McHale, Annika Beck, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Elena Vesnina, dropping only her first set against McHale in a tiebreaker.

 

Kerber has advanced by beating Laura Robson, Varvara Lepchenko, Carina Witthoeft, Misaki Doi, Simona Halep, and Venus without donating a single set. Only Witthoeft and Halep even extended the world No. 4 to a tiebreaker.

 

“A little bit of both,” Serena said when asked if she would look at Kerber as just another opponent or the one who stunned her in Melbourne. “Obviously it’s significant that she beat me in Australia because that’s the last time we did play. And also just as an opponent, she’s great. She does things well. She moves excellent. She’s fun to play.”

 

“For sure I will go out there with a lot of confidence,” Kerber commented. “It’s a completely new match. We are playing on grass court. She lost the (Australian Open) final against me, and I know she will go out and try everything to beat me right now. I will just try to going out there like in Australia, trying to show her, ‘okay, I’m here to win the match, as well.’ I know that I have to play my best tennis to beat her in the final here.”

 

Even her best tennis may not be enough for the German.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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