Thanks all for now. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check back later for a full match report!
Today’s win will propel Williams back into the top 10 in next week’s rankings (at No9). If she wins the title, the 37-year-old will climb back into the top five. Not bad for the oldest woman in the top 300.
Williams advances to face the winner of the Jo Konta-Simona Halep, which is next on Centre Court. Williams, who has defeated three consecutive opponents nearly half her age, is the oldest women to make it this far at a grand slam since Martina Navratilova’s runner-up finish at Wimbledon in 1994. She’s one of only two people remaining in the ladies’ draw, along with Muguruza, to have won a major title.
Williams wins second set and match!
Second set: Williams 6-3, 7-5 Ostapenko
Williams not letting up one bit with the serve, flummoxing Ostapenko with well-disguised offerings and even causing her to lose her footing on one occasion. She races out to a 40-love advantage to set up three match points. But she needs only one as Ostapenko can’t return her final serve into the court. They meet at the net for the handshake and Williams waves to the crowd beneath the closed roof on Centre Court.
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Williams breaks in 11th game of second set!
Second set: *Williams 6-3, 6-5 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
And Ostapenko blinks! She mixes in a few errors to fall behind 15-40, then nets a forehand from the baseline to surrender the break. Oh dear! Williams will now serve for a place in the semi-finals.
Second set: Williams 6-3, 5-5 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Another easy hold for Williams, who mixes in her eighth ace of the day. These two are playing with great efficency with only 67 minutes have passed so far.
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Second set: *Williams 6-3, 4-5 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko races ahead to a 40-15 advantage but mixes in a double fault to make it 40-30. Then she forces Williams into an error to secure the hold. Venus will now serve to stay in the second set. Ostapenko has won 75% of her first-serve points (21 of 28) compared to 76% for Williams (26 of 34).
Second set: Williams 6-3, 4-4 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Just what Williams needed: an easy hold. The American is really dialing up on the serve now and keeping Ostapenko on the back foot. A decisive advantage for Ostapenko on the longer points, but there have been so few of them. Only four points have gone longer than eight shots today. Ostapenko has won 11 of the 17 points have gone longer than four shots. Yet an incredible 76 rallies have been shorter than four shots.
Second set: *Williams 6-3, 3-4 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko double-faults to open the seventh game and the crowd murmurs in concern. But she responds with three straight winners and punctuates the easy hold with an ace. Wow! The young Latvian backs up the break with a purpose and all of a sudden it feels like Williams, who was just chugging along toward the finish line moments ago, could have a fight on her hands.
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Ostapenko breaks in sixth game of second set!
Second set: Williams 6-3, 3-3 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Williams nets a volley but responds with a booming ace, her seventh of the day (to Ostapenko’s zero). Now Ostapenko crushes a forehand winner and Williams contributes a backhand error and all of a sudden the 20-year-old has two break-point chances. She needs only one and doesn’t even need to step off her line: Williams double-faults to gift the break and they’re back on serve in the second.
Second set: *Williams 6-3, 3-2 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko tries for a backhand winner from the baseline but misses by inches, but wins the next three points for 40-15. She mixes in an error for 40-30, but Williams nets a return and Ostapenko keeps pace with the hold. Alas, the $64,000 question persists: Can Ostapenko make headway on Williams’ serve? She’s had but one look at a break point all afternoon and that feels like hours ago.
Second set: Williams 6-3, 3-1 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
A forehand volley winner by Williams, a backhand error by Ostapenko, a booming ace by Venus. Just like that the American is ahead 40-love. She mixes in a double fault then a backhand error, but Ostapenko is forced into a backhand error and Williams consolidates the break.
Williams breaks in third game of second set!
Second set: *Williams 6-3, 2-1 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Oh dear. A nightmarish service game for Ostapenko, who’s broken at love. Errors galore off the backhand side. Could that be the opening Williams needs?
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Second set: Williams 6-3, 1-1 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Another stress-free hold for Williams, who is getting 25 of 36 first serves in (69%) and has won 19 of 25 of her first-serve points (76%). On we go.
Second set: *Williams 6-3, 0-1 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko, unbowed, races to a 40-love advantage. Williams wins one back, but Ostapenko chases down a cross-court return to deposit a forehand winner on the run. Very nice!
(Elsewhere on the grounds, the first women’s quarter-final is in the books as Garbiñe Muguruza wins 6-3, 6-4 over two-times major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. She’ll face the Rybarikova-Vandeweghe winner in Thursday’s semis for a place in Saturday’s final.)
Williams wins first set!
First set: Williams 6-3 Ostapenko
Williams opens with an error off the backhand side but rattles off three straight points to set up double set point. Ostapenko saves the first with a forehand winner, but Williams closes the show with a service winner and she’s halfway home.
First set: *Williams 5-3 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Three quick points for Ostapenko, but Venus scratches back for deuce. It’s as close as Williams has been to a break since Ostapenko’s opening service game. But the Latvian fights off a big return and finishes a long rally with a backhand winner, then finishes off the hold by forcing Williams into an error. Now Williams will serve for the first set.
First set: Williams 5-2 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Williams drops the first point on a double fault but rattles off the next four for an easy hold. Her average serve speed is 104mph, compared to 85mph for Ostapenko. Now the French Open champ will serve to stay in the first set.
First set: *Williams 4-2 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko showing power off both wings in this game, cracking winners off the forehand and backhand sides for 30-love. Williams answers with a backhand winner, but mixes in a couple of errors to hand Ostapenko the stress-free hold.
First set: Williams 4-1 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Williams continuing to play terrific first-strike tennis, keeping Ostapenko on the back foot with her booming serve and shortening the points wherever possible. Three quick points to make it 40-love, then a double-fault from Williams, which is only the fourth point she’s lost on her serve today. Then an unforced error from Williams makes it 40-30, but she pounds an ace for the hold. Camera pans to the stands where thesps Ian McKellen and Ruth Wilson appear deep in conversation. They still haven’t apologized for that lousy Prisoner remake, but we’ll forgive them.
First set: *Williams 3-1 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Three quick points for Ostapenko, who appears undeterred by the early deficit. Williams wins a point with a forehand volley at the net and Ostapenko follows with a forced error on the forehand side for 40-30, but she locks down the hold with a forehand winner and Venus will serve at 3-1.
First set: Williams 3-0 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Williams dictating points with her big first serve, which is dialed in early today. She forces Ostapenko into errors on the first three points, zooming to a 40-love lead. Ostapenko fights back with a forehand winner, but Williams gets the best of a lengthy rally when Ostapenko overcooks a baseline forehand. A drama-free hold for the five-times Wimbledon champ.
Williams breaks in second game of first set!
First set: *Williams 2-0 Ostapenko (*denotes next server)
Ostapenko crushes a forehand winner but mixes in a pair of unforced errors to fall behind 30-40 and gives Williams her first look at a break point. Another error off the backhand side dooms the French Open champ and gifts the American the early break.
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First set: Williams 1-0 Ostapenko* (*denotes next server)
Venus opens with a 111mph ace, then forces Ostapenko into an error after a short rally for 30-love. Ostapenko wins the next two points, the second on a forehand winner. But Venus polishes off the easy hold with a pair of aces. Short, sweet points, just how the American wants it.
Venus is making her 20th Wimbledon appearance. Ostapenko turned 20 a month ago. They’ve just finished their warm-ups on court and we should be under way in the next few minutes.
Hello and welcome to today’s women’s quarter-final between Venus Williams and Jeļena Ostapenko. The opening match on Centre Court between Novak Djokovic and Adrian Mannarino has just ended with Djokovic winning in straight sets, which means we should be under way in less than a half hour.
What awaits is a delicious matchup between the five-times Wimbledon champion and the newly minted French Open title-holder: the oldest player to advance to the last eight of a grand slam since Martina Navratilova in 1994 against the youngest player remaining in the ladies’ singles draw. And age is only where the contrasts between these two begin.
Plenty more to come.
Bryan will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how Venus fared in the last 16:
The five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has returned to the quarter-finals at the All England Club with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 19-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia. She is joined in the last eight by her compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe, who beat the No5 seed Caroline Wozniacki. There was more success for the US in the men’s draw as Sam Querrey beat Kevin Anderson in five sets to set up a meeting with the reigning champion, Andy Murray. Querrey also reached the last eight last year after his upset victory over Novak Djokovic.
The 37-year-old Williams made her grand slam debut at the 1997 French Open, seven months before Konjuh was born.
Williams served impeccably, hitting seven aces and winning 31 of 36 first-serve points. Williams will next face the French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko, in the quarter-finals. The 20-year-old Latvian, who won her first tour-level title at Roland Garros last month, beat fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 on Court 12.
