Venus, Kerber, Serena progress to Wimbledon semis

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber reached her second Wimbledon semifinal on Tuesday to edge closer to the world number one spot, and will face Venus Williams for a place in Saturday's final.

Venus Williams is the oldest women's semifinalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994.

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber reached her second Wimbledon semifinal on Tuesday to edge closer to the world number one spot, and will face Venus Williams for a place in Saturday's final.

Serena Williams defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4 in her quarterfinal match. The world number one reached her 10th Wimbledon semifinals and will face Elena Vesnina for a place in Saturday's title match.

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Kerber, who was also a semifinalist in 2012, is now in sight of becoming the new world number one although she needs to win the title while seeing Serena Williams fail to make the semifinals.

"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. Kerber now has 33 match wins in 2016, joint-best with Cibulkova.

"I have had a great year so far. I think I am playing my best tennis. Hopefully I can play a few more matches here," she said

The fourth-seeded left-hander emerged victorious over Simona Halep, the fifth seed from Romania, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2). Venus Williams, on the other hand, defeated Yaroslava Shedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

Williams and Kerber have faced each other five times before, with Kerber leading 3-2. The last time the two faced each other in a Grand Slam was US Open in 2012, where Kerber defeated Venus in the second round.

The last time Venus won a Wimbledon title was in 2008. Interestingly, 2009 Wimbledon final was the last time Venus made it to the final of a Grand Slam. Last year, she exited in the fourth round.

First Slam semis after five years

This will also be Venus's first Grand Slam semis after five years. The last time Venus played in a Grand Slam semis was in 2010 US Open, where she was defeated by Kim Clijsters, who went on to win the title that year.

"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," Venus said. "She was on fire, but when you can walk to the net as the winner, that's the dream. I love playing the game. When you are winning matches it makes it that much sweeter.

"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."

Aged 36, Venus is the oldest women's semifinalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994 as she moved a step closer to a nostalgic final showdown with her sister and defending champion Serena Williams.

Williams, an eight-time Wimbledon finalist, has endured a difficult struggle with Sjogren's syndrome, an illness that causes fatigue and joint pain, in recent years.

World number 96 Shvedova, the fifth lowest ranked woman ever to reach the quarterfinals, had shown her grass-court potential when she recorded the only 'golden set' at Wimbledon, winning every point against Sara Errani in 2012.