Briton Johanna Konta’s hopes of a first Wimbledon final ended with a straight-set semi-final defeat by five-time champion Venus Williams.
The 37-year-old American 10th seed played superbly to win 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court and set up a final against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.
Sixth seed Konta, 26, had hoped to become the first British woman in a Wimbledon singles final since 1977. Konta will at least break into the world’s top five for the first time in the next rankings.
Williams is the oldest Grand Slam singles finalist since Martina Navratilova finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 1994. The American, through to her ninth final, won her first Wimbledon title in 2000 and the most recent of her seven major victories came on Centre Court in 2008.
She will next face Muguruza, the 14th seed, who thrashed unseeded Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 6-1 in just 64 minutes to advance to her second Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard finished runner-up to Serena Williams in 2015, before beating the American to win the French Open in 2016.
This post was published on July 14, 2017 6:35 pm