Five-time champion Venus Williams is a win away from becoming the oldest women’s grand slam champion in professional tennis history after roaring into a ninth Wimbledon final.
The 37-year-old American crushed British hopes with a 6-4 6-2 defeat of seventh seed Johanna Konta to book a title showdown on Saturday with Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
Desperate to keep the trophy in the family with her pregnant sister Serena unable to defend her crown, Williams was merciless in taking out the sentimental favourite in one hour and 13 minutes.
Already the oldest grand slam finalist since 37-year-old Martina Navratilova lost the 1994 Wimbledon decider to Conchita Martinez, Williams is striving earn world sport’s most successful siblings a remarkable 13th singles crown at The All England Club since the turn of the century.
An eighth career major on Saturday would crown one of tennis’s greatest comebacks after the former world No.1 was diagnosed with the debilitating Sjogrens Syndrome in 2011 and plummeted down the rankings.
But after reaching the Australian Open decider in January, losing to Serena, Williams is now into tennis’s most famous final for a ninth time – eight years after her eighth appearance.
“I’ve played a lot of finals here. It’s been a blessing,” a jubilant Williams said.
“I couldn’t have asked for more, but I’ll ask for one more. One more win would be amazing. It’s not a given, but I’m going to give it my all.”
Sydney-born Konta had been hoping to become the first British women’s finalist since Virginia Wade in 1970.
The 26-year-old was level pegging with Williams for much of a tightly contested opening set until cracking in the 10th game.
Renowned for her new-found mental toughness, four uncustomary unforced errors from the Brit gifted Williams the set.
It was a similar tale in the second set as Konta double-faulted to hand the American three break points in the fourth game – but Williams only needed two as the home hope dumped a forehand into the bottom of the net.
Moving in for the kill, Williams fired a body serve straight through Konta in charging ahead 4-1 before putting Konta away on her second match point with a cool forehand pass.
“It’s a lot pressure and Jo handled it well. I think my experience helped a lot,” Williams said.
“I felt the crowd was really nice to me. They could have been a lot more boisterous.”
Muguruza earlier swept past unseeded Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 6-1 in 65 minutes in one of the most one-sided semi-finals in Wimbledon history.
The Spaniard lost to Serena in the 2015 final before turning the tables on the 23-times major winner to land her maiden grand slam title at last year’s French Open
