Serena Williams Powers Her Way To Wimbledon Final

Source: AP / MSNBC

WIMBLEDON, England – Serena Williams wins with so much more than serving, of course.

Her groundstrokes are as intimidating as they come. Superb speed and anticipation fuel her court-covering defense. Her returns are more than solid, too.

When that serve is on-target, though, it sure is something special, quite possibly the greatest in the history of women’s tennis. Lashing a tournament-record 24 aces at up to 120 mph, and doing plenty of other things well, too, four-time Wimbledon champion Williams overpowered No. 2-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-6 (6) Thursday to reach her seventh final at the All England Club.

Williams won 20 of 24 service point in the first set, including 17 in a row during one stretch. She didn’t double-fault once, a real accomplishment, given how often she went for corners and lines. She finished with a 45-14 edge in total winners. And this performance didn’t come against a slouch: Azarenka won the Australian Open in January as part of a 26-0 start to this season, was playing in her third semifinal in the past five major tournaments, and would have returned to No. 1 in the rankings if she’d managed to beat Williams.

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