LONDON _ Venus Williams didn't just turn back her quarterfinal opponent Tuesday, she turned back the clocks.
In a nostalgia-stirring performance, the five-time Wimbledon winner secured a spot in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in six years by beating Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Williams, 36, also kept alive the prospect of playing her younger sister, Serena, in what would be a captivating final. Serena, 34, the defending champion and holder of six Wimbledon titles, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The four women's quarterfinals were Tuesday, and the four men's are Wednesday.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer plays Croatia's Marin Cilic, and tournament (and crowd) favorite Andy Murray of Scotland faces France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Californian Sam Querrey, who knocked out Novak Djokovic in a stunning upset, plays Canada's Milos Raonic. And Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic plays France's Lucas Pouille.
It has been a bumpy five years for Venus Williams since she was diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease causing chronic fatigue and muscle soreness. Part of her treatment involved adopting a vegan/raw food diet to help reduce inflammation and the energy-draining symptoms of the ailment.
"The good part is, I always felt like I had the game," she said. "This is always a plus, when you know you have the game. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place."
In winning Tuesday, Williams rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the tiebreaker, then cruised in the second set, paving the way for a semifinal against Germany's Angelique Kerber, who beat Romania's Simona Halep, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Tennis Channel analyst Lindsay Davenport said what Williams has lost physically with age, she's gained in wile and savvy.
"She's definitely a half-a-step to even a step slower than she was at the height of her career," said Davenport, who won Wimbledon in 1999 and has a 14-13 career record against Williams. "But she comes into matches with much more awareness now of her opponent and their game. She knows what she needs to do, and recognizes that better than she did the first part of her career when she really only worried about herself.
"She's smarter about managing herself, and she has to be at 36."
To this point, Williams' best finish in a major during the past five years was reaching the quarterfinals last year at the Australian and U.S. opens. Five times during that span she was knocked out in the opening round. Despite her struggles with the illness, she said she didn't consider retiring.
"Retiring is the easy way out," she said. "I don't have time for easy."
Serena Williams' path to this point in the tournament might not have been easy, but she has sure made it look that way. Four of her five victories have come in straight sets, and her only set loss was by tiebreaker to fellow American Christina McHale in the second round.
Next up for Serena Williams is Russia's Elena Vesnina, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Williams and Vesnina have played each other four times, with Williams winning all four, including a first-round victory at the 2008 U.S. Open.
