Tireless Williams into 10th semifinal
Playing at Wimbledon for the 20th time, Venus Williams is in the semifinals for the 10th time.
The five-time champion at the All England Club advanced to the last four for the second year in a row by beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 7-5 on Tuesday under a closed roof on Centre Court.
Williams, 37, made her Wimbledon debut in the same month that Ostapenko was born. She last won the title in 2008, but reached the semifinals last year and the Australian Open final this year. ‘‘I love it. I try really hard,’’ Williams said. ‘‘There’s no other explanation. You do your best while you can. That’s what I’m doing.’’
Williams revealed in 2011 that she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which can sap energy and cause joint pain. As time went on, there were questions about whether she might retire, especially after a half-dozen firstround losses at majors. But she kept going, and with her recent successes, a championship this week would return the American to the top five in the rankings for the first time in six years.
To get to what would be her ninth final at the All England Club, the 10th-seeded Williams will need to win Thursday against No 6 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 about Williams. ‘‘She’s just a tremendous champion, and I feel very, very humbled, and I’m very excited to share the court with her again.’’
With Wade, the 1977 champion, sitting in the Royal Box, Konta prevented Halep from rising to No 1 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.
On the other side of the draw, 2015 Wimbledon runner-up and 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza defeated twotime major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4. Muguruza saved all three break points she faced and did a good job of defending, focused more on keeping the ball in the court than going for winners.
‘‘If she plays like she played today,’’ Kuznetsova said, ‘‘she has all the chances to win the title.’’
Muguruza’s semifinal opponent will be 24th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe of the US or Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who is ranked 87th and had never even been past the third round in her 35 previous career majors. Their match was suspended by showers at 2-all in the second set, after Rybarikova took the opener 6-3, and was moved from Court No 1 to Centre Court so it could be finished indoors.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4. That match, the first to be played under the roof on Centre Court at this year’s tournament, was postponed from Monday.
The men traditionally have Tuesday off at Wimbledon, but Rafa Nadal’s five-set loss to Gilles Muller on Monday forced Djokovic’s match to be pushed back a day.
The men’s quarterfinals are Djokovic against Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer against Milos Raonic, defending champion Andy Murray against Sam Querrey, and Marin Cilic against Muller, who stunned Nadal in a marathon that ended 15-13 in the fifth set Monday.