Wimbledon 2015 Highlights: Ruthless Serena Causes Another Heartbreak for Sharapova, Storms Into Final
Serena Williams crushes Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 to reach women's singles Wimbledon final. Catch all highlights here.
Serena Williams took her head-to-head tally against Maria Sharapova to 18-2 as the World No. 1 eased past the fourth seed to storm into the final. Catch all highlights here.
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21.39: It's all over! Serena Williams has beaten Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the Wimbledon 2015 final!
21.19: Sharapova lives to die another day! She narrowly hangs on to her serve. Serena will serve with a 4-3 lead in the second set.
21.12: And it's another break! Serena is completely ruthless today. She goes up 3-2 against the struggling Russian.
21.05: Sharapova ups her game but Serena holds onto her serve to make it 2-2 in the second set.
20.58: After a shaky start, Sharapova is starting to find her feet. A finely-played drop shot gets the crowd cheering. She's expressing herself much better in the second set.
20.54: A much better start for Sharapova in the second set. She makes two very good serves and clinches the first game with a superb passing shot. She holds her set to go 1-0 up in the 2nd set.
20.52: FIRST SET STATS: Serena Williams hit 7 aces to Maria Sharapova's 1, made one double fault to Sharapova's 3 and hit 12 winners to Sharapova's 9.
20.49: Opening honours to Serena Williams! She takes the first set 6-2!
20.46: Sharapova holds on. It's 5-2 in favour of Serena who will serve for the set.
20.43: Serena is on a roll! Two more aces and she has gone up 5-1 in the first set.
20.38: Sharapova has been a bit erratic and Serena is right on the money. The US champion breaks again to go up 4-1 in the 1st set.
20.35: Serena Williams holds on to go up 3-1 in the first set with two superb aces.
20.34: On the other court, Garbine Muguruza has caused a major upset. Read all about it here.
20.33: After a bit of struggle and fight, Sharapova opens her account. Serena leads 2-1 in the first set.
20.30: It's only the third game and both Serena and Sharapova are making each other toil hard for each point.
20.29: Sensational return from Serena! Fantastic ace from Sharapova! The women's semifinal has come alive already! Can Sharapova hold on. It's deuce in the third game.
20.27: Serena Williams goes 2-0 up. It wasn't the best start for the five-time Wimbledon champion but she did enough to take the game after it went in for a deuce.
20.21: Oh dear! Serena has broken Sharapova in the opening game of the match. Nervy start for the Russian as she made three double faults.
20.19: Not the best start for Sharapova! Early pressure as the game goes to deuce. Can Serena break early?
20.12: Wimbledon 2015 so far: Serena Williams has lost just two sets out of the 12 she has played in the tournament so far. Sharapova has lost just 1 of the 11 she has played. Game on, then!
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Preview
Speaking to The Guardian in an interview, former tennis queen Chris Evert summed up the rivalry between Sharapova and Serena saying: "They've been the top two players consistently, the last 10 years and I think they call it a rivalry because they're polar opposites. I think rivalries are about two opposites, about where they came from in their lives, how they look, how they play, their temperaments, their style of play, they're so different in every way, shape and form. But at the same time, it's been one-sided. Maria's also known for getting out of holes and for mental toughness. I think people keep hoping there's going to be a rivalry."
Purely in terms of numbers, Sharapova versus Serena is hardly a rivalry. But throw in the spice of a strained personal relationship and Thursday's semi-final promises to be another enthralling spectacle. The 33-year-old American has a 17-2 lead in their head-to-head record, winning their last 16 meetings and depriving Sharapova of three major titles -- in the 2007 and 2015 Australian Open finals and the 2013 French Open final.
Serena has also won all four of her semifinal meetings with Sharapova, defeated the Russian in their previous Wimbledon clash in the last 16 in 2010 and routed her in the 2012 Olympic final at the All England Club. After battling back to defeat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the last eight -- extending her winning run at Grand Slams to 26 matches and her 2015 record to 37-1 -- Serena can't wait to take on Sharapova again.
"I love playing Maria. I think she brings out the best in me. I thought we had a wonderful final in Australia. It was very entertaining," said Serena, who remains on course to hold all four major titles at once and is in the hunt to clinch the first calendar Grand Slam since 1988.
Sharapova is in her fifth Wimbledon semifinal, and her first since 2011, thanks to a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 last eight victory over Coco Vandeweghe. Asked if her lack of success in the Serena match-up would be weighing on her mind, Sharapova gamely insisted she still relishes the challenge of playing the American.
"I think it's always a new match. I haven't had great success against her. I would love to change that around. That's how I look at it," the world number four said. The battlelines are clearly drawn on green grass.