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It will be a Wimbledon legend against the fan favorite when Venus Williams takes on Johanna Konta in one-half of the semifinals on Thursday.
Williams, a five-time winner at the All-England Club, is looking to take advantage of the absence of her sister and reach the final here for the first time since 2009, while the 26-year-old Konta will have the crowd on her side when she becomes the first British woman since 1978 to appear in the Wimbledon semis.
Here’s a look at when and where to watch:
Viewing Info
Date: Thursday, July 13, 2017
Start Time: TBD
TV Channel, UK: BBC One or BBC Two
TV Channel, United States: ESPN or ESPN 2. Live stream information can be found here
TV Channel, Worldwide: You can click here for a list of international broadcasters
Preview
Not only would a win for Venus send her to a Wimbledon final for the first time since 2009, but it would also mark the first time she’s advanced to two Grand Slam finals in a calendar year since 2003. She’s also quickly climbing the women’s rankings once again:
Welcome back to the Top 10, Venus Williams. She could move into the Top 5 with the title. Last time Venus was Top 5 was January 2011.
Venus has dropped just one set this tournament–which came back in the second round–and has been especially dominant with her serve. In her last three matches, she has won a whopping 81.9 percent of her first serve points (95 of 116) and been broken just twice in six sets.
Of course, it’s worth noting every one of those opponents–Naomi Osaka, Ana Konjuh, Jelena Ostapenko–was born in 1997, the same year Venus made her Wimbledon debut. While Konta has never advanced this far at Wimbledon, she does bring a bit more experience as the No. 7 ranked player in the world.
In five head-to-head matches, Konta leads the series, 3-2, with her wins coming at the 2016 Australian Open, 2016 Stanford final and 2017 Miami semifinals. Venus, however, did win in their last matchup at the Rome Masters earlier this year.