Wimbledon 2018: Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber triumph to set up repeat of 2016 ladies' singles final

Serena Williams demonstrated that having a baby had not robbed her of any of her phenomenal tennis skills when she became the first mother in 38 years to reach the Wimbledon final, with a 6-2, 6-4 demolition of Germany's Julia Gorges on Thursday.

At 181st in the world, Williams is the lowest ranked player to reach the women's final but that number will fool no one, and especially not Angelique Kerber who was runner-up to the American in the 2016 final.

Kerber beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in Saturday’s final.

Relive all the live action below:

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Live Updates

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11:28

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's women's semi-finals. We've got two cracking games to look forward to as the experienced Angelique Kerber goes up against young-gun Jelena Ostapenko on Centre Court. 

 

After that, Serena Williams takes on Julia Georges as she continues to target a remarkable eighth Wimbledon title.

 

We'll be bringing you other updates and results from across the All England Club as the doubles and junior competitions continue.

 

 

11:34

Here's a reminder of what happened yesterday...

 

Roger Federer knocked out of Wimbledon in stunning five-set thriller

11:35

Novak Djokovic to renew rivalry with Rafael Nadal after fighting past Kei Nishikori

11:37

Meanwhile, legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri has had his say on today's semi-final clashes: 

 

Why Williams and Kerber will make it to the Wimbledon final

12:08

After downing Roger Federer in five sets Kevin Anderson could go all the way

12:50

Serena Williams will attempt to reach a Grand Slam final for the 12th straight season as she faces Julia Goerges later today.

 

When Williams took a leave of absence to have her first child soon after claiming her 23rd Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open, it appeared her streak might be under threat. 

 

However, the 36-year-old American has quickly found a level of form that has carried her to within two wins of an eighth Wimbledon title. 

 

Williams has every reason to be confident against 13th-seeded Goerges of Germany, who is playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal. Williams has won all three of their previous encounters, with the most recent coming at the French Open last month. 
 

13:00

Not long until we get underway here on Centre Court. These two have never played one another before so it should make for a fascinating watch. Ostapenko's power and energy vs Kerber's experience and athleticism - who will crack first?

 

 

 

13:03

It appears Rafa Nadal was as surprised by Roger Federer's quarter-final exit yesterday as anyone...

 

Rafael Nadal has said that he 'feels sorry' for Roger Federer

13:06

Ostapenko and Kerber are currently out on court knocking-up.

 

Only one minute until play begins in the first ladies' semi-final of the day!

13:07

Ostapenko wins the toss and elects to serve.

13:12

Ostapenko 1-0 Kerber* (*Denotes next server)

Not a great start from Ostapenko, who begins this semi-final with a double fault. 

 

But that's more like it! She wins the next point with one of those huge forehands down the line, wow. However a couple of wild shots later and Kerber finds herself with a very easy break point.

 

Ostapenko is able to rally, however. She saves break point and then wins the next point by pulling Kerber across the court before finishing with two big winners down the line, and holds with an ace.

13:13

 

13:15

Ostapenko* 1-1 Kerber

The rawness of Ostaenko summed up in one point. At 15-all, she pushes Kerber all the way to the back of the court with another booming forehand, approaching the net for a routine volley winner. But she makes a complete mess of it, angling her racquet and too readily pulling the trigger, with the ball sailing wide over a scrambling Kerber.

 

Kerber then takes control, holding to 30. 

13:20

Ostapenko 2-1 Kerber*

Brilliant from Ostapenko! A feather-light drop shot gets her off the mark, Kerber didn't even bother attempting to chase that one down. No matter: a big forehand return down the line gets her to 15-all.

 

Ostapenko is really mixing up her game here, winning the next two points with yet another drop shot and then a big forehand punched beyond Kerber, deep into the court. Two mistakes off her backhand moves the game to deuce, but Ostapenko holds her nerve and we remain on serve.

13:20

 

13:22

Ostapenko* 2-2 Kerber

 

Wow, Kerber rattles through that one. She holds to love.

13:26

Ostapenko 3-2 Kerber*

 

The pressure is back on Ostapenko then, after that exceptionally quick service game from Kerber. And she gets off to a nervy start, belting an attempted backhand passing winner well past the line. Then, at 30-all, Ostapenko clatters a backhand into the net to hand Kerber a break point. Fortunately for her however, Kerber makes a rather tame unforced error and we're at deuce. 

 

First point: Kerber hits long. Second: Ostapenko wins with a big backhand. She holds.

 

The Latvian keeps her nerve; she has now started down two early break points. 

13:27

 

13:31

Ostapenko* 3-3 Kerber

 

What a rally! Ostapenko and Kerber go tooth and nail on the first point of this game, which ends when - you guessed it - the youngster whistles a huge forehand wide. But not by much. She does the same a point later, although takes the game to deuce when she prevails in a battle of the forehand slice, drawing the error out of her rival.

 

And then a first break point for Ostapenko! Can she take it ... no! Kerber produces her first ace of the match to starve off break point. Ostapenko then nets two consecutive cross-court backhands as Kerber holds.

13:35

Ostapenko 3-4 Kerber*

 

A huge backhand winner down the line takes Ostapenko to 30-love. But Kerber has some power of her own! She goes after Ostapenko's second serve and wins the point with a rip-snorting forehand.

 

And, once again, Ostapenko hands Kerber a gift-wrapped break point with an unforced error off her backhand. Will it be third time lucky for Kerber ...? It will! Again Ostapenko gets too much on her backhand and Kerber breaks.

 

"You live by the sword, you die by the sword," McEnroe notes on commentary duty for the Beeb.

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Order of Play – Day 11:

CENTRE COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

1 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12] 17 vs Angelique Kerber (GER) [11] 49

2 Julia Goerges (GER) [13] 81 vs Serena Williams (USA) [25] 104

3 Jay Clarke (GBR) / Harriet Dart (GBR) 6 vs Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Abigail Spears (USA) [10] 9

No.1 COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

1 Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL) [13] 8 vs Frederik Nielsen (DEN) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) 28

2 Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Demi Schuurs (NED) [4] 17 vs Jamie Murray (GBR) / Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 30

3 Michael Venus (NZL) / Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) [9] 40 vs Ivan Dodig (CRO) / Latisha Chan (TPE) [3] 48

No.2 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

1 Jamie Delgado (GBR) / Jonathan Marray (GBR) vs Thomas Enqvist (SWE) / Thomas Johansson (SWE) (RR)

NOT BEFORE 12.30

2 Dominic Inglot (GBR) / Franko Skugor (CRO) [15] 41 vs Mike Bryan (USA) / Jack Sock (USA) [7] 49

3 Iga Swiatek (POL) 2 vs Emma Raducanu (GBR) 11 (GS)

No.3 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

1 Tracy Austin (USA) / Anne Keothavong (GBR) vs Iva Majoli (CRO) / Selima Sfar (TUN) (SL)

2 Wayne Ferreira (RSA) / Mark Woodforde (AUS) vs Patrick McEnroe (USA) / Jeff Tarango (USA) (OD)

3 Jeremy Bates (GBR) / Andrew Castle (GBR) vs Jacco Eltingh (NED) / Paul Haarhuis (NED) (OD)

4 Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) / Todd Woodbridge (AUS) vs Mansour Bahrami (IRI) / Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) (OD)

COURT 12 – SHOW COURT – 11:00 START

1 Anton Matusevich (GBR) 21 vs Tao Mu (CHN) 28 (BS)

2 Jack Draper (GBR) 36 vs Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 43 (BS)

3 Nicolas Mejia (COL) [5] 49 vs Gilbert Soares Klier Junior (BRA) 63 (BS)

4 Victoria Allen (GBR) / Destinee Martins (GBR) 13 vs Yuki Naito (JPN) / Naho Sato (JPN) [6] 16 (GD)

5 Tao Mu (CHN) / Leopold Zima (GER) 13 vs Nicolas Mejia (COL) / Ondrej Styler (CZE) [6] 16 (BD)

COURT 18 – SHOW COURT – 11:00 START

1 Xiyu Wang (CHN) [10] 40 vs Cori Gauff (USA) [3] 48 (GS)

2 Xinyu Wang (CHN) [4] 17 vs Viktoriia Dema (UKR) 29 (GS)

3 Maria Lourdes Carle (ARG) / Cori Gauff (USA) [4] 9 vs Sofya Lansere (RUS) / Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) 12 (GD)

4 Xinyu Wang (CHN) / Xiyu Wang (CHN) [1] 1 vs Leonie Kung (SUI) / Joanne Zuger (SUI) 3 (GD)

COURT 5 – 11:00 START

1 Leonie Kung (SUI) 50 vs Caty McNally (USA) [13] 57 (GS)

2 Chun Hsin Tseng (TPE) [1] 1 vs Trey Hilderbrand (USA) 15 (BS)

3 Clara Burel (FRA) / Diane Parry (FRA) [8] 17 vs Leylah Annie Fernandez (CAN) / Gabriella Price (USA) 20 (GD)

4 Ray Ho (TPE) / Chun Hsin Tseng (TPE) [1] 1 vs Rinky Hijikata (AUS) / Naoki Tajima (JPN) 4 (BD)

5 Yanki Erel (TUR) / Otto Virtanen (FIN) 18 vs Titouan Droguet (FRA) / Simon Anthony Ivanov (BUL) 20 (BD)

COURT 8 – 11:00 START

1 Jonas Forejtek (CZE) / Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) 10 vs Brandon Nakashima (USA) / Tyler Zink (USA) 11 (BD)

2 Dalayna Hewitt (USA) / Peyton Stearns (USA) 22 vs Thasaporn Naklo (THA) / Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) 23 (GD)

3 Jesper De Jong (NED) / Damien Wenger (SUI) 30 vs Aidan McHugh (GBR) / Timofei Skatov (KAZ) [2] 32 (BD)

4 Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) / Deney Wassermann (NED) 26 vs James Story (GBR) / Harry Wendelken (GBR) 27 (BD)

5 Francesca Curmi (MLT) / Viktoriia Dema (UKR) 30 vs Caty McNally (USA) / Whitney Osuigwe (USA) [2] 32 (GD)

COURT 11 – 11:00 START

1 Tristan Boyer (USA) / William Woodall (USA) 6 vs Matheus Pucinelli De Almeida (BRA) / Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva (BRA) 7 (BD)

2 Georgia Drummy (IRL) / Alexa Noel (USA) [7] 25 vs Amelia Bissett (GBR) / Morgan Cross (GBR) 28 (GD)

3 Sonay Kartal (GBR) / Erin Richardson (GBR) 5 vs Joanna Garland (TPE) / En Shuo Liang (TPE) [5] 8 (GD)

4 Savriyan Danilov (RUS) / Henry Von Der Schulenburg (SUI) 22 vs Hugo Gaston (FRA) / Clement Tabur (FRA) [3] 24 (BD)

COURT 14 – 11:00 START

1 Shingo Kunieda (JPN) [1] 1 vs Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) 2

2 Nicolas Peifer (FRA) 5 vs Stefan Olsson (SWE) 6

3 Katharina Kruger (GER) 3 vs Kgothatso Montjane (RSA) 4

4 Marjolein Buis (NED) 7 vs Yui Kamiji (JPN) [2] 8

COURT 17 – 11:00 START

1 Gordon Reid (GBR) 3 vs Joachim Gerard (BEL) 4

2 Stephane Houdet (FRA) 7 vs Alfie Hewett (GBR) [2] 8

3 Diede De Groot (NED) [1] 1 vs Sabine Ellerbrock (GER) 2

4 Lucy Shuker (GBR) 5 vs Aniek Van Koot (NED) 6

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED

NOT BEFORE 17.00

1 Tommy Haas (GER) / Mark Philippoussis (AUS) vs Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) / Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) (RR)

2 Justin Gimelstob (USA) / Ross Hutchins (GBR) vs Arnaud Clement (FRA) / Miles MacLagan (GBR) (RR)