Serena Williams crushes Strycova to reach Wimbledon final
Serena Williams has made her 11th Wimbledon final with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over unseeded Barbora Strycova.
Playing each other for the fourth time at a Grand Slam, the seven time champion Williams has never lost to the Czech, and seemingly had no intention of changing that today.
Looking to take sole ownership of second place on the all time Wimbledon women’s singles title list, a 2019 Wimbledon win would see her move above Steffi Graf and to just one behind Martina Navratilova’s nine titles.
Beating 4th seed Kiki Bertens and home favourite Johanna Konta so far in the tournament, Strycova began the first set comfortably as she held onto serve forcing errors from the 37 year old Williams’ racket. However despite defending well on her second service game, the formidable Williams earned herself an early break and went on to hold serve and take a 4-1 lead. Then a wild Strycova backhand drifted long and handed the 23 time Grand Slam champion a double break of serve.
The 54th ranked Strycova was appearing in her first ever Slam semi final. She showed some grit to earn the chance at three break points at 5-1 down, however Williams saved them all and closed the set 6-1.
Bidding to become the fourth woman to win a women’s singles Slam after becoming a mum, Williams has been playing with Andy Murray in the mixed doubles. However a third round defeat to number one seed Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar ended their run. Williams gained a break of serve early in the second set after a Czech double fault and backhand pickup into the net. This saw the woman from Michigan take a 3-2 lead.
Not having won a Grand Slam since January 2017, before the birth of her daughter, Williams earned a successive break of serve after Strycova missed a smash. This gave a chance to Williams to serve for a place in 32nd Grand Slam final. A forehand cross court winner saw the American through,
She will face 7th seed Simona Halep in the final, who came through in her semi against Elina Svitolina. Williams holds a 9-1 record against Halep.
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