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Four times the Wimbledon ladies’ singles final has been the cherished preserve of the Williams family.
Ambitions of a fifth episode of that distinguished saga were wrecked, however, by the hard-hitting German left-hander Angelique Kerber, who out-hit and out-ran the 36-year-old Venus, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour 12 minutes to reach a Saturday showdown with Serena.
So the No.4 seed has marched into her second Grand Slam final in the space of seven months, and has done so without dropping a set. Any qualms about tackling Serena - at 34, the younger Williams - again will surely be settled by the fact that it was Serena she defeated to win the Australian Open in January, and deservedly so to claim her first major crown.
A muted and error-prone Venus never looked capable of halting, or even slowing, the German victory procession from the moment she lost her opening serve with a forehand which flew wide.
The forehand was what let Venus down, finishing in the net or beyond the baseline almost as many times as it landed in court.
In all, she chalked up 21 unforced errors, 12 of them in a first set in which she managed to hold serve just once.
Kerber did not fare much better on serve, in what looked like becoming a carbon copy of her quarter-final against Simona Halep, in which the first eight games went against serve. This time there were five straight breaks before Kerber steadied herself to hold and move 4-2 ahead.
It is just amazing to beat Venus because she has won here so many times
For the only time in the match Venus, the sentimental favourite among the Centre Court spectators, fought back to cut the German's lead to 5-4 but the set ended, inevitably it seemed, when Venus gifted it to Kerber with a brace of forehands which struck the lower half of the net.
Another break of serve at the start of the second set got Kerber up and running and, though Williams survived three break points and an umpiring overrule which would have put her 4-1 down, Kerber had the scent of victory, running the older woman around and serving well when it was needed.
Her last three service games cost her just five points, and when she served for that place in the final it was a Venus error on return which took her to match point, which she clinched without any assistance from the opposition with a stunning forehand cross-court pass.
There is certain to be a livelier response from the younger Williams on Saturday, particularly on serve, but Kerber promised to tackle the task “with a lot of confidence”, something which she has shown all through this memorable Wimbledon.
Of her semi-final win, she said: “It is just amazing to beat Venus because she has won here so many times. I am really happy about my game, I was really trying to go for every shot.”
Her match-winning shot, she agreed, was “amazing” and she paid tribute to her “great team”, among them her coach Torben Beltz, who faces another couple of days without recourse to a razor, having vowed not to shave until Angelique lost a match at The Championships.
Her last three service games cost her just five points, and when she served for that place in the final it was a Venus error on return which took her to match point, which she clinched without any assistance from the opposition with a stunning forehand cross-court pass.
There is certain to be a livelier response from the younger Williams on Saturday, particularly on serve, but Kerber promised to tackle the task “with a lot of confidence”, something which she has shown all through this memorable Wimbledon.
Of her semi-final win, she said: “It is just amazing to beat Venus because she has won here so many times. I am really happy about my game, I was really trying to go for every shot.”
Her match-winning shot, she agreed, was “amazing” and she paid tribute to her “great team”, among them her coach Torben Beltz, who faces another couple of days without recourse to a razor, having vowed not to shave until Angelique lost a match at The Championships.
