Serena Williams & Simona Halep set to clash in Wimbledon Women’s tennis tournament final

Serena Williams and Simona Halep have each qualified to play in the Women’s Wimbledon final on Saturday after seeing off their respective opponents in the semifinal round.

In the first semifinal played this afternoon, Romanian’s Simona Halep eased into her first Wimbledon final with a straight-set victory over Ukrainian’s Elina Svitolinathe.

The seventh seed Halep wrapped up the game in 6-1 6-3 victory over the Ukrainian eighth seed Elina Svitolina in one hour 13 minutes to set up the clash with World Number 11 and seven-time winner of Wimbledon’s female single, Serena William.

“It is one of the best moments of my life,” says Halep, whose previous best finish at Wimbledon was reaching the 2014 semi-finals. “It was not as easy as the score shows,” she adds. “I fought really hard, [Svitolina] is an amazing player and it’s always tough to play against her.”

On what has changed since 2014, the Romanian tells the BBC: “I have more experience, I am positive on court and I am not giving up anymore. I have learnt many things in five years.”

In the just-concluded second semifinal, America living tennis legend and World number 11, Serena Williams, saw off a challenge from unseeded Czech’s Barbora Strycova to keep up her dream of winning her 24th Grand Slams.

Serena proved too powerful for the Czech in a 6-1 6-2 win that lasted only 59 minutes, according to reports.

The semifinal match is the unseeded Strycova’s first Glam Slam. Also, at 33 she is also the oldest first-time Grand Slam women’s semi-finalist. She saw off four seeded players to reach the semifinal.

Serena and Barbora Strycova had met three times before, with Williams winning every time including in the first round at Wimbledon in 2012.

If Serena wins the tournament, she would draw level with Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles title. A win will also be her first major title since becoming a mum in September 2017.

“It feels good to be back in the final especially after my year!,” says Serena, who was runner-up to Angelique Kerber last year and will be appearing in the grass-court showpiece for an 11th time on Saturday.