Serena Williams will play in her 11th Wimbledon women’s singles final on Saturday after she defeated Barbora Strycova in the semifinals 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. The 11th-seeded Williams will be trying to win her eighth Wimbledon singles title with a victory.
Even more important, Williams will be trying to tie Margaret Court for the most all-time singles titles in Grand Slam events with her 24th title, assuming she can beat No. 7 seed Simona Halep.
Halep advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Elina Svitolina on Thursday.
For the 37-year-old Williams, she is seeking to make history as well as win her first Grand Slam title since giving birth to her one-year-old daughter, Alexis, in September of 2017. She is now the oldest woman to appear in a Grand Slam final in the Open era.
Williams’ appearance in this year’s Wimbledon final ties her with Martina Navratilova for the second-most appearances in a Grand Slam final with 32. Chris Evert holds the record with 34 appearances.
Cruising To Victory
Against Strycova, Williams was at her best, converting four of five break points to easily win. Strycova seemed to be limited due to an injury to her right leg, but she tried to put up a good fight. At 33, she was the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist, but she had no answers against Williams.
Williams had 28 winners compared to just 10 errors and dropped just three points on her first serve. By contrast, Strycova managed just 10 winners in the match.
Halep, meanwhile, had no trouble with Svitolina, breaking her three times in the first set, then twice in the second set to become the first Romanian woman to reach the Wimbledon final.
The 2018 French Open champion, Halep has also played in the final two other times in Roland Garros, as well as one appearance in the Australian Open final. She is 1-9 all-time against Williams, including an 0-3 mark in Grand Slam events.
Finally Another Win?
It’s been a bit of a rough road for Williams over the past year or so, even though she’s reached the final of two Grand Slam events in that time. She fell in the Wimbledon final a year ago to Angelique Kerber, then controversially lost to Naomi Osaka in the US Open final. Williams was warned for using illegal coaching, then penalized a point for breaking her racket, and finally penalized a game for verbal abuse of the chair umpire.
Prior to this tournament, 2019 hasn’t been much better for Williams, who had played just 12 matches before the start of Wimbledon due to nagging injuries. She lost in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and in the third round at the French Open.
But, she now looks poised to take her place atop the tennis world again with a win on Saturday. Williams has lost just two sets in her first five matches in this tournament, and her performance in the semifinals has her looking almost unbeatable in the final.
