By Chris Oddo | Monday July 10, 2017
Venus Williams raced past Croatia's Ana Konjuh to book her spot in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Photo Source: Camera Sport
The oldest player remaining in the Wimbledon draw knocked out the youngest on Day 7 as Venus Williams defeated 19-year-old Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-2 to book her spot in the quarterfinals alongside the new youngest player left in the draw, Jelena Ostapenko.
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Williams became the oldest woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinal since 1994 with a rock-solid performance on Centre Court. She saved both break points she faced and connected on 24 winners against just 13 unforced errors.
“She hits the ball hard,” Williams said. “All of my opponents have served amazing, hit really hard. So I think it was great preparation for me to be able to, you know, kind of get used to that sort of pace.”
Williams has now reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009-2010.
Williams says she doesn’t know a lot about red-hot Ostapenko, other than the fact that she is playing torrid tennis.
“Haven't seen her play a lot,” she said. “I didn't watch any of the French when I was finished with it. I know she had an amazing moment there. She's riding on that momentum. Confidence I'm sure.”
With her victory Williams moves one match from her sister on the all-time Wimbledon active player win list with 85 wins. She will player her 100th career match at Wimbledon in Tuesday’s quarterfinal.
When asked to talk about the milestone, Williams demurred. “I don't know yet. Have to ask me when I'm retired, what it feels like. But for now, it's all about focusing on the best performance possible tomorrow.”
The five-time Wimbledon champion will bid for her sixth Wimbledon semifinal against Ostapenko. She is one of four remaining Grand Slam champions in the field, and the only remaining player in the draw that has won Wimbledon before.