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Venus Williams is attempting to secure a 15th grand slam final spot at Wimbledon, but standing in her way is sixth seed homecrowd favourite Johanna Konta. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from around 11:30pm (AEST).
Williams has already been in one grand slam final this year and is gunning to make it a second after a strong run through Wimbledon.
The final in question, of course was the loss to sister Serena at the Australian Open in January.
She didn’t play a game between the end of the French Open and the beginning of Wimbledon, but it hasn’t affected her form whatsoever.
In fact, she has probably been better off for the rest. The only set she has dropped came in the second round against Qiang Wang, and she ran over French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in a dominant quarter-final win.
Williams will need to be at her best against Konta though. She must find ways to work around her around the court and minimise energy expenditure early in the match if she is to go the distance.
The Sydney-born Konta, on the other hand has made a name for herself that revolves all around power and having a dominant serve.
It’s a serve she has become consistent with though. She landed almost 70 per cent in a three-set win over world No.2 Simona Halep at the quarter-finals, and with the exception of a second round match against Donna Vekic, where she was taken to 10-8 in the final set, she hasn’t been placed under a great deal of pressure.
Konta has backed up at Wimbledon after strong showings at Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne, and shown no signs of fatigue or injury after withdrawing at the later of those tournaments.
The pair have played five previous matches, with Konta winning three of them in total. That includes their only grand slam match, in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open, with Konta winning in three sets. However, they have never met on grass.
The winner will face either Garbine Muguruza or Magdalena Rybarikova in the final on Saturday.
Prediction
Williams is a veteran of the sport, but Konta will have the crowd behind her. It’s the Briton’s turn to rise to the top and make her first grand slam final.
Konta in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this women’s semi-final from around 11:30pm (AEST) or at the completion of Magdalena Rybarikova versus Garbine Muguruza and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.