Wimbledon 2016: Serena, Kerber to meet in final

London: Angelique Kerber booked a Wimbledon final showdown with defending champion Serena Williams as the German ended Venus Williams’ bid for a fairytale title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Thursday.

Serena’s 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Elena Vesnina in the day’s first semifinal had set up the prospect of a first all-Williams Wimbledon final since 2009. But Kerber had no intention of being a footnote in Wimbledon history and she saw off five-time champion Venus in 71 minutes on Centre Court to reach her first All England Club title match.

“Venus won so many times here and was playing really well. That’s why I’m so happy to reach my first Wimbledon final,” Kerber said. “It’s a really good feeling. I’m really enjoying my tennis life.”

Kerber stunned Serena to win her maiden Grand Slam crown in the Australian Open final in January and the 28-year-old again stands in the way of the world number one’s bid to win a record-equalling 22nd major.

Having beaten one Williams, the fourth seeded Kerber can set her sights on becoming the first player to defeat both of the American siblings in the same Grand Slam since Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open.

“It’s a completely new tournament and surface. I will just try to go out with a lot of confidence and play my best tennis,” Kerber added.

If she can cause another upset against six-time champion Serena, Kerber would become the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.

Kerber couldn’t be in better form heading into Saturday’s final. She had raced through her six matches at Wimbledon without dropping a set, now has WTA tour-best 34 match wins in 2016 and is guaranteed to rise to a career-high second in the world rankings next week.

Federer, Murray eye title clash:

Andy Murray and Roger Federer will look to reach the Wimbledon final on Friday and preserve the iron grip of the sport’s ‘Big Four’ which has endured since 2003.

After Lleyton Hewitt triumphed 14 years ago, the following 13 men’s titles have been shared between Federer, Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The four heavyweights have also filled eight of the last 10 runners-up spots.

Standing in the way of 2013 champion Murray and seven-time winner Federer getting to Sunday’s final are Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up, and sixth seed Milos Raonic.

Berdych trails Murray by 8-6 in career meetings while Federer has a 9-2 lead on Raonic, the youngest of the four semi-finalists at 24.

Second seed Murray needed a tough five-setter to get past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and reach his seventh Wimbledon semi-final and 20th at all the majors.