Veteran reaches 1st semis since 2009 after win over Yaroslava, sister Serena advances too.
Five-time champion and nostalgic favourite Venus Williams on Tuesday reached her first Wimbledon semi-final in seven years, setting up a clash with Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.
Venus, 36, is the oldest women’s semi-finalist since Martina Navrat-ilova in 1994 as she also moved a step closer to a final showdown with her sister and defending champion Serena Williams.
The American veteran, seeded eighth, enjoyed a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan’s world number 96 Yaroslava Shvedova.
German fourth seed Kerber, meanwhile, reached her second Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Simona Halep, the fifth seed from Romania.
Venus, who won the last of her seven Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2008, is back in the last-four of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2010 US Open.
Later, six-time champion Serena Williams reached her 10th semi-final with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russia 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchen-kova. Her win sets up the enticing prospect of a final showdown with sister Venus.
“Oh wow, what a tough day on the court. It seemed she was going to win the tie-break but somehow I walked out with the set,” said Venus after her quarter-final.
“You can’t always have these big moments. I guess if you are Serena Williams it happens a lot, but for Venus Williams this is an awesome day.”
The first set tiebreak was key for Venus on Tuesday as she over-turned a 2/5 deficit before Shvedova’s game fell apart in th second.
Kerber, meanwhile, is now in sight of becoming the new world number one — although she needs to win the title while seeing Serena fail to make the semi-finals.
“I think we are both really good returners. It’s always tough to play against Simona. I won the last point and that’s what counts,” said the German left-hander, who now has 33 match wins in 2016, joint-best with Cibulkova.
Sania, Dodig out of mixed doubles
Top seeded Indo-Croatian pair of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig crashed out of the mixed doubles event after losing to unseeded British duo of Neal Skupski and Anna Smith 6-4, 3-6, 5-7.
Mirza and Dodig paid for their profligacy as they bungled on multiple match points in the final set before the unheralded British came out trumps.
In the girls’ event, Karman Kaur Thandi lost to Mariam Bolkvadze of Georgia 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 in the second round of the junior Grand Slams .
