The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3. Venus Williams continues run
Five-time champion vs. player aiming to end British drought.
In her 100th match at Wimbledon in a career that began in 1997, Venus Williams advanced to her 10th semifinal by defeating for a third straight time a player born in 1997 — and all in a total of six sets.
LONDON — Venus Williams’ mother could not stop smiling and laughing. She had just watched her 37-year-old daughter reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the 10th time, and the whole thing was a bit hard to believe.
“She says, ‘I love my job!’ and she means it. I guess she’s kind of like a boxer: People think it’s time for her to quit because she’s too old,” Oracene Price said after leaving Centre Court, where the roof was shut because of rain Tuesday. “But she keeps getting back in the ring — and she seems to be doing pretty well. This is really amazing.”
Williams rode eight aces, imposing returns and her court coverage of old to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, edging closer to a sixth singles title at the All England Club.
“The competition keeps you growing,” said Williams, who is playing her 20th Wimbledon. “You have to get better if you want to stay relevant.”
Williams is the only woman to have made the fourth round at each of the past six majors, and now she’s into her third semifinal in the past five. The only thing missing is a championship. If the No. 11-ranked Williams manages that, she would return to the top five for the first time in six years.
Williams plays Thursday against Johanna Konta, the first British woman in the Wimbledon semifinals since Virginia Wade was the runner-up in 1978.
“I definitely feel that age is not a factor with her,” Konta said of Williams. “I’m very excited to share the court with her again.”
With Wade, the 1977 champion, sitting in the Royal Box, Konta prevented Simona Halep from rising to No. 1 in the world by beating her 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4. The result means that Karolina Pliskova, who lost in the second round, will replace Angelique Kerber, who departed in the fourth, atop the rankings next week.
CoCo Vandeweghe, the other American woman in the quarterfinals, lost to 87th-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-3. Rybarikova is lowest-ranked Wimbledon semifinalist since 2008. She'll play 2015 runner-up Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4.
Rybarikova, 28, had never been past the third round in 35 previous career majors, including seven first-round exits in a row at Wimbledon from 2008-14. She missed the second half of last season after wrist and knee operations, and her ranking fell out of the top 400.
“I think she’s playing the best tennis of her career right now,” Vandeweghe said.
In the last men’s fourthround match, Novak Djokovic took a medical timeout to have his right shoulder massaged but eliminated 51st-ranked Adrian Mannarino of France 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
“It’s been something that I’ve been dragging back and forth for a while now,” Djokovic said about his shoulder. “But I’m still managing to play, which is the most important thing.”