Wimbledon: Garbine Muguruza breezes into final

Rather it turned out to be a sign of things to come, with Wimbledon providing more success.

"I've played a lot of finals here, it's been a blessing", Williams said after the match. It is easy to be so depressed but I think as long as you've done everything in your power to win, and you don't, it's not a big deal.

"I feel much more calm, kind of controlling more my emotions than the last time". More often, she couldn't avoid letting Williams dictate pressure.

Venus committed just nine unforced errors throughout the match and saved the only two break points she faced.

"Serena's always in my corner and it's usually her in these finals".

The 37-year-old American has battled injuries and health problems, most notably the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome, and at times her game has suffered badly.

"I miss her so much", she said.

"She needs a little more experience because, unless you're young and so good and so have nothing in your head, it's very hard". I did think of that.

"Venus knew she had to come out and play attacking tennis and go for her serve".

That also saw her beat British player Heather Watson to win the Aegon Surbiton Trophy and she was a semi-finalist at Nottingham. "But I really tried to be inspired by it".

UNSEEDED Magdalena Rybarikova's march to the semi-finals is one of this year's great Wimbledon stories.

Last May, she made a decision to play an ITF 100K in Trnava, just half an hour from Bratislava, though she couldn't hit clean backhands.

Continuing her strong form in the Wimbledon, Garbine Muguruza reached the semi-finals of the women's singles of the Wimbledon here.

"You know what are you going to feel".

It was Serena who beat Muguruza in the 2015 finale at SW19. "It's a Grand Slam".

Williams and seventh-ranked Konta possess similar styles.

There was no shame in losing a Centre Court classic, with Williams edged out in the third round by Petra Kvitova, losing 5-7 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 in two and a half hours. This time, Konta was ousted by Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2.

Men's doubles quarter-finals: (1) Henri Kontinen (Fin) & John Peers (Aus) bt (10) Ryan Harrison (USA) & Michael Venus (Nzl) 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (9-7) 6-1, (4) Lukasz Kubot (Pol) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) bt Kenneth Skupski (Gbr) & Neal Skupski (Gbr) 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 6-4, Nikola Mektic (Cro) & Franko Skugor (Cro) bt Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (Chi) & Andrei Vasilevski (Blr) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.

There was little to separate them on the grass - a controversial issue this tournament - in the first set. In order for Rybarikova to stand a chance of winning the match, she must surely deny Muguruza rhythm, by varying the pace and spin she gives to Muguruza.

Deliberately taking her time between points and games, Venus was doing her best to throw Konta out of her rhythm. When she lost her serve at 1-2 in the second set on a forehand driven low into the net, the crowd let out another in its series of groans. I try to take the same courage on the court that she would have.

But it was Williams who left as the victor on the day. "Pain persecuted me, I felt extremely limited, which for any athlete extremely uncomfortable" Rybarikova said two weeks ago in an interview for the daily Pravda.