Serena Williams reaches her 10th Wimbledon final
Serena Williams has reached her 10th final at Wimbledon, 30th at all Grand Slam tournaments — and first since having a baby a little more than 10 months ago.
Williams dominated much of her semifinal Thursday, beating 13th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-2, 6-4 at Centre Court to close in on what would be an eighth championship at the All England Club and 24th major trophy overall.
Williams will face another German, 11th-seeded Angelique Kerber, on Saturday in a rematch of the 2016 final at Wimbledon. Williams won that one for a second consecutive title at the All England Club, before missing the grass-court tournament last year while pregnant.
Kerber used a seven-game run to seize control of her semifinal and collect a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the 12th-seeded Ostapenko
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kerber made just seven unforced errors as she saw off an early barrage of Ostapenko winners to break twice in the first set.
Angelique Kerber will be keen to meet Williams in the finals after losing the title in 2016
The pattern continued in the second set as 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko's unforced errors — which totaled 35 by the end of the match — gave Kerber two more breaks of serve for a 5-1 lead.
Playing her first Wimbledon semifinal, 21-year-old Ostapenko rallied to save a match point and break Kerber's serve for the first time, but the German saved a break point as she served out the match at the second attempt.
Kerber lost to Serena Williams in the 2016 final and could face a rematch with the seven-time champion, who is due next on Centre Court against 13th-seeded Julia Goerges.
