Venus Williams thrashes Johanna Konta in Wimbledon semi-finals

Johanna Konta’s Wimbledon dream went up in smoke as she was beaten in the semi-finals by an inspired Venus Williams.

Konta was hoping to become Britain’s first female Wimbledon singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 but the evergreen Williams proved a class above and sealed a 6-4 6-2 victory.

Williams beamed at the crowd on Centre Court, throwing her hands into the air after making it through to the final for the first time since 2009.

The 37-year-old will eclipse her sister Serena as the oldest women’s champion of modern times if she defeats Spain’s Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.

Muguruza, seeded 14th, steamrolled Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 6-1 to book her place in the final earlier today.

Konta’s defeat means there are no Brits left standing in the singles competition after Murray lost his quarter-final battle yesterday against 6ft 6in American Sam Querrey.

As well as Williams played, this was a big missed opportunity for Konta in her second Grand Slam final.

She squandered two break points at 4-4 in the first set, and Williams stormed back to win 6-4. The American never looked back and won the second set with consummate ease.

Speaking to the BBC after Konta’s defeat, 1977 champion Wade said: ‘It would have been so much fun to have a British player win on an anniversary year.

‘But I think we loaded Jo up with all the pressure and in fact the others have just gone under the radar and nobody’s really given Venus too much strife, too much pressure.’

She added: ‘I thought Jo played really well at the beginning.

‘But every time she had a little bit of an edge, Venus came up with something better.’

Williams will be seeking her sixth Wimbledon championship and eighth Grand Slam singles trophy overall on Saturday.

Her most recent came in 2008, when she defeated her younger sister, Serena, for the title. A year later, she lost to Serena.

At 37 she is 11 years older than Konta and three years older than her sister Serena, the oldest women’s champion of modern times when she won last year.

Ahead of her clash with Muguruza, the 2015 runner-up, she said: ‘Last time she played Serena so I’ll have to ask Serena for some pointers. Serena’s always in my corner and usually it’s her in these finals so I’m trying my best to represent Williams as best as I can.’

This year Serena is absent and on hiatus from the tour as she awaits the birth of her first child.

Venus admitted to missing her younger sister ‘terribly’.

‘I missed her so much before this match. I just wish she was here,’ she told the BBC.

‘I wish she could do this for me but I said, ‘No, this time you have to do it for yourself’. So here we are.’

She added: ‘I’ve played a lot of finals here at Wimbledon. One more win would amazing. It won’t be a given but I’m going to give it my all.’

There was praise for Konta from her 37-year-old conqueror.

‘I thought the crowd was very nice to me actually. They could have been more boisterous but I thought the crowd was so fair. I know they love Jo,’ Williams said on the BBC.

‘There’s a lot of pressure and I thought she handled it well. I think my experience just helped a lot. She played so well. No point was easy.

‘I just tried to climb on top each time to get another point, and then – wow – it was done so I was just so happy.’

Source: DailyMail (UK)