After her comeback three-set victory over Camila Giorgi, Serena Williams advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals for the third time in the last four years and the first since 2016 after she took most of 2017 off due to her pregnancy.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion dropped her first set against Giorgi but stormed back to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 and will now play German Julia Goerges in the semifinals. Goerges defeated Dutch player Kiki Bertens in three sets in the quarterfinals (3-6, 7-5 and 6-1) to reach this semifinal match with Williams.
Williams, now ranked 181 of the world due to his hiatus, became the lowest-ranked player ever to reach a Wimbledon semifinal.
Goerges, the 13th seed, has played in 42 Grand Slam tournaments and is currently making her first semifinal appearance. In contrast, Williams has played in 68 Grand Slams and has reached 35 semifinals.
Serena leads the head-to-head matches 3-0 and Goerges has yet to win a set against the American. This match features the tournament’s two ace leaders as Serena has had 39 and Georges 44.
This will be the third time these two players square off in a Grand Slam. The last two were at the French Open in 2010 and this year. In fact, that’s the most recent match between these two players and Williams won 6-3 and 6-4.
Despite only returning to tennis in March after the birth of her daughter in September, Williams has made it clear that she hasn’t lost a step and quickly proved to be a force to be reckoned with in this year’s Wimbledon.
On the way to the semifinal Williams has benefitted from the early exits of the top-10 seeds thus she has yet to play an opponent ranked in the top 50. This, of course, will change against Goerges, but if she continues to play with the same determination and aggressiveness she’s displayed so far there’s no doubt she could move on to the final.
Williams is the favorite as the oddsmakers have her at -360, while the return for Goerges is at +270.
