Women's Semi-Finals, Part 1 Wimbledon

There is an overwhelming force which accompanies the Williams sisters. I

should know. TRACY AUSTIN: This must be so

difficult for Lindsay Davenport. First, there is the power. Brutal

serving, vicious groundstrokes. You hit it hard - they hit it back

harder. Next, there is the speed. They are athletes, not quite as fast

as years gone by. But if you think they are past it, get real! And

that's the point - to them, experience is no enemy. It's their

best friend. They have been there, done it and won it all. You know it

- and they know you know it. You might think you've got the best of

them. Maybe. Maybe not. Sure, they are beatable - everyone is. But

trust me, it's more than a game when you're up against Venus or Serena.

They are an amazing family and they have set new standards for everyone

to follow. Here are the scenes at 10.30 this morning when the gates

opened. What an orderly queue heading down to Centre Court! It is

ladies semifinals day, and for the first time since 2009, we have the

two Williams sisters in the last four. Both of them still have a bit

of work to do, and will have to be at their best if we are to see a

repeat of 2016. Playing Venus is the German fourth seed Angelique Kerber,

which has already won the Australian Open this year and has not dropped a

set in this year's tournament. Russia's Elena Vesnina is the other

semifinalist. She produced some of the performances of her career to

reach the last four. Venus has five Wimbledon singles titles to her

name. Can she add an improbable sixth at the age of 36? Serena is

chasing her seventh singles title, and Steffi Graf's total of 22 Grand

Slam victories. We know that all the action will unfold on Centre Court

as far as the ladies semifinals are concerned. In the first match,

Serena, playing her 32nd Grand Slam semifinal. It is a first for her

opponent, Elena Vesnina so. And then Kerber takes on Venus Williams.

Kerber has the head-to-head advantage, but this is a whole new

Venus. So, this is the scene on Centre Court at the moment with half

an hour to go until the players walk out. Tracy and Lindsay are with me.

It feels special on these big days. We heard you there. Anyone who has

played for the last 16 years, has had to face one of the Williams

sisters. They have really transformed the game, haven't they?

They have, and more so on this than any other surface. The Williams

sisters came along, with their powerful groundstrokes, taking balls

early, they shifted women's tennis away from having to be a

serve-volleyer, like Martina Navratilova did. It is still grass

tennis but it is different. They have done it perfectly over the last

16, 17 years. Especially Serena, she can turn defence into attack

immediately. Absolutely. She has only lost serve six times in the

tournament. It puts a lot of pressure on the opponent. Her serve

is the best in the game. As we have seen many times in Majors, Serena

has got better and better. The number of aces is starting to mount.

She is hitting the ball so cleanly. She has so much confidence. When she

gets to this stage of a Major, she grows in confidence. And she hasn't

seemed a bit more calm here than she has seemed at the French or at the

Australian. Somehow when she gets here, she just believes. I mention

that it was her 32nd Grand Slam semifinal. What a difference for her

opponent today. Saving herself for the Majors? Yes, and that is really

smart for Serena. It is all about trying to get more Grand Slam

titles. Sadly for the other parts of the world, they probably will not

see her quite so much playing some of those tournaments. Her age, and

with the injuries she has had, she needs to tailor her schedule. It is

all about days like today, Grand Slam semifinals. Hopefully getting

up towards 25 or so Grand Slam singles titles. Are you enjoying our

summer? This is absolutely phenomenal, a little hot! The first

week it was wet. And the second week, sonny. Perfect. This is your

summer. You know who to blame, don't you? Carol?! Absolutely! Carol is

waiting for us. I was listening to you this morning, and you were

talking about rain. Is it going to spoil the singles matches to date?

There is likely to be some interruption later on. I just wanted

to say, I have always liked Tracy, she is such a star. Although we are

basking in lovely sunshine at the moment and it is lovely and warm,

more cloud will be building throughout the afternoon. Late

afternoon into the evening, we are looking at the risk of shower. But

it will go through quite quickly. Tomorrow, we will start off cloudy

and wet. However, it is an improving picture. By about two o'clock, we

will find that the sun will come out and it will be pleasant, with gentle

breezes and temperatures up to 21. The weekend is looking a little bit

more interesting. We have got a weather front on Saturday heading

south. At the moment we think that ring bearing weather front will be

just to the north of London. But it might come further south. -- rain

bearing. If you stay out of that rain, it will be bright. It will be

leaving us on Sunday, with a blustery day, some sunshine and also

some showers. Sue, I learned from you yesterday, blustery is not good.

No, it makes it more difficult for the players as well, with the ball

moving around. We have had awkward bounces - that's enough. We have a

royal visitor here today, the Duchess of Cambridge, arriving to

take her place in the Royal Box. She has always been a big tennis fan.

She has played tennis, along with her sister Pippa. Meeting

representatives of the armed services. We have spoken about how

they have been on duty all around the world and they volunteer to come

here as stewards. It is different from other Grand Slam Scott Tracy?

Absolutely, and that the history. I remember that lady who had flown

Hurricaness. It is really quite special to honour them. The Duchess

of Cambridge meeting one of the wheelchair athletes.

And that is the Williams sisters' mother as well. She never seems to

get nervous. She always keeps a smile. She really has been amazing.

She has been through everything with them. My favourite quote of hers.

She was asked, what are you going do tomorrow? She said, I think I might

go shopping! It really is lovely. Sam Stosur is there as well.

That is the Duchess of Cambridge, who will be enjoying the tennis here

on Centre Court. We're going to start our preview of the Brive

semifinals, starting with Venus Williams. I say it is a bit of a

Hollywood movie story, because it is incredible how she has come back

into the world top ten. She suffered illness with an autoimmune disorder.

And here she is in the semifinal, at the age of 36.

Been here around the block, a couple or 20 times! To be here this long,

you have to want it. Every point is tough.

COMMENTATOR: Venus Williams is the champion for the fifth time here at

Wimbledon! I still feel 26. You have this thing inside you which feels

like you can go for ever. It is the most incredible story, isn't it? It

really is. To come out of cotton, coach by their father, who did not

even play tennis, just learnt it from videos. To become world number

one, have this great career, and then in 2011, letting us know that

she had this illness, and still coming back and fighting. Now back

in the Wimbledon semifinals after five or six years. She is always

going to be a threat on this surface. It is just fantastic. She

has really had to struggle in some of her matches. Three sets in some

of them, and rain delays. And she has been playing doubles as well.

They have not played doubles in three or four years. But they will

be in Rio. And also today, in the quarterfinals, against Vesnina, of

all things! The illness, it is fatigue and joint pain - everything

you need to be a tennis player. It shows her passion and love of the

game. It is, and she is not as demonstrative with her emotions as

Serena is. We probably did not realise how much Venus actually

loved it. And here she is, 36, it is already tough on an athlete's body.

The wear and tear gets athletes a bit sore, not able to train as much,

and then having to deal with this syndrome which makes it even harder.

It is really remarkable. And for a great champion like Venus, and it

has now been seven years since a Grand Slam semi, and a lot of times

the media is so quick to write these players of. And she has refused to

buy into any of that. She will not believe it, she is on her terms. And

this is why. She believed she could get back to this moment when I give

her so much respect for that. She was not listening to the negative

comments about her. And she is back with another chance at a Grand Slam

final. I think I was one, because I just felt we would not see her back

here at this stage of the tournament again. Often we have seen champions,

when they start to have a bit of a slight, they do not enjoy it, losing

to players they have never lost to before. Even this year, she has not

had a fantastic year. She won tournament in Taiwan but did not

beat anybody higher ranked than 60. She look good last week. She did.

This was a good match for Venus because she is a problem solver. We

were a bit worried about fatigue, because she was in the doubles as

well. Venus actually was down 5-2 in that first set tie-break. And she

did not lose another point to! Today, she will take on Angelique

Kerber of Germany. It is a big day for German sport. Do you know who

they play in the Euros? Of course we knew that! France! I know who you

guys lost to! Iceland! They are known for their foot or! They are

now! Germany take on France, and Germany as a representative here. We

really need to hear from a German icon. So, cue The Hoff!

That might be the biggest surprise of the day! And his singing prowess!

Memorable songs from The Hoff. This is Angelique Kerber, ActiveSync out

on court today. I mentioned it is Germany against France, live on BBC

One this evening. The Australian Open champion, Angelique, is feeling

confident, as she told Rishi Persad. You are through to your second

semifinal here at Wimbledon - how well do you think you played in the

quarters? It was a tough match against Simone. We are both playing

really good tennis and I think it was a really high class match. But I

am really happy about my performance. I am playing really

tough and trying to move in good and be aggressive. It was actually not

so bad. It is better than that - you are the only player still left in

the women's straw who has not dropped a set. Of course, I mean, it

is always good to win matches in rev sets. But I think every single match

I played here was different, and I was trying to play better from match

to match, and of course it is good to be in the semis without dropping

a set. You won the Australian Open earlier in the year, but you say

you're playing your best tennis right now. Why is that? Actually I

think I have a lot of confidence. I know how to play on grass, I know

how to win against Willie good players. Semifinal against Venus

Williams - you have had some exciting matches against her? That's

right. And it was always tough and really close. I played against her

here in the Olympics for years ago and she's always a dangerous

opponent, especially here at Wimbledon on grass. But I am looking

forward to playing against her again. I think it will be a good

match. And I will give everything to beat her. She has the experience,

doesn't shethe Australian Open champion, Lindsay, she has done it

before? Yes, and that is huge. Also a Grand Slam champion, as you said.

That makes a difference in the belief of a player. This is probably

the worst surface for curb to play Venus on. I think it helps Venus's

shots more and gives her more confidence. But winning a Major, not

having dropped a set, and physically she is in such great shape, she

moves so well, Kerber. If she can get enough balls back, keeping it

really low, either with her slice or her flat ground strokes, that will

be lower for Venus which will be really important today. She could

not get a bigger contrast from whom she beat in the quarterfinal, Simona

Halep. There were so many rallies in that match, and 13 breaks of serve!

Yes, that match was all about receiving and returning. Kerber was

broken sick times -- six times in that match. I think today she will

need to get a lot of first serves in, because her second serve can be

attacked. I think being a left-hander could help her on this

surface as well, because of her slice. Kerber is so great. Look at

her positioning. When she stays close to the baseline, she will not

knock you off the court with power, but she can absorb pace and she

retrieves so many balls. You feel she could last for five hours, if

need be. We'll fatigue be a problem for Venus? The other thing is, at

28, she is a lot more experienced. She is a late Bloomer. She was

probably a bit overwhelmed when she got to the semifinals here before. I

think she will be having a lot more belief in herself as a tennis player

now, especially after winning the Australian. I think she will try and

make Venus move as much as possible, using the angles. A globals, slices,

angles. She cannot afford to get broken so many times as she did in

the previous match, however. -- low balls. Yesterday was one of the

greatest days in the history of the Championships. First of always on

Roger Federer with his amazing comeback against Marin Cilic. And

then Andy Murray survive the brutal test against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In

the fifth set, it was Murray at his finest.

ANDREW CASTLE: Just getting his engine running here. He has got the

ball on a string. He has not lost a set at the Championships - yet. He

is not out of this match it. We are going the distance is caught.

JOHN MCENROE: Beautifully done by Murray. What a return! That is it, a

victory for willpower. When the match is going on, Ivan Lendl does

not show much expression. But how much are you enjoying having him

back in your corner? I am happy to have him back in my team. When it

was first announced, as I said, I think he makes my team stronger. The

work I have done with Jamie Delgado to get me to the place that I mean

just now has been excellent. And hopefully, having Ivan around, and

his input over the next few days, it will be able to help. Tomas Berdych

has got a pretty good record here at Wimbledon, but it has been awhile

since he has beaten you? Yes, we have never played on grass before,

but he has made the final here before, he has beaten Djokovic and

Federer on the grass. He is obviously playing some good tennis

this week. I have only seen a little bit of his match from the fourth

round, which he came through in five sets. Is a big guy, hits it hard. I

will need to be on my game, for sure. Well, it will be Murray

against Berdych tomorrow. And we will look forward to both of those

semifinals. They could be quite special. Tracy, Lindsay, what a day

yesterday. The tennis was outstanding, but the drama was

second to none? Absolutely, what a great ticket to have. Roger going

down two sets to love against Cilic. You're thinking, is this going to be

a repeat of Cilic beating him wanting and does what a have that

extra gear? He has had knee surgery, back injuries as well. And the

crowd, wow! They fed him that extra energy which he needed. Cilic had

three match points, and what a fantastic story. It gives a chance

to possibly win the title. You can never count him out, absolutely.

Andy Murray, he got so tends towards the start of the fifth set and

really had to dig deep? Yes, and how big was that first game? I think

that's when he yelled up to his box, I'm not going to lose this match.

That seems to get him going as well. He started so well, did not play as

well in the third and fourth sets, but how he got it together?! He has

late great tennis. His level drops just a little bit, mostly due to how

well Tsonga was playing. You have to love the fire he had in the fifth

set. That was the difference in this match. Those first couple of games

in that fifth set, that was the key. Look at the standard - Tsonga was

white back to his best as well! He really was. He has a monstrous

serve, which came together in the third and fourth. Variety as well,

cracking that forehand. And Murray just scoop it up a notch. He used

the crowd. I just always felt in that fifth set that Murray had that

extra gear to go to, physically. Whereas Tsonga have a doctorate

issue at Roland Garros,, and I did not know if he could sustain his

level. I loved the quote from Roger Federer, he said, I thought, I

tried, I believed. I think we could all say, Roger Federer did not play

his best tennis, but he managed to get through. That will give him so

much confidence that he still got through this match. He just has too

hope that he will pull up physically OK. Raonic has looked ouzo fresh. I

just hope Roger tomorrow is feeling good, energetic, and most

importantly, healthy. At the press conference, he said, I'm going for a

very long Sarge full stop anyway, we are almost ready for the first of

our semifinals. -- very long Sarge. She's chasing her 22nd Grand Slam

win, it is of course, the world number one.

She is just in a league of her own. I was speaking to Milos Raonic. John

McEnroe saying he wants him to have more presence, more all right, make

himself felt on the other side of the net. No-one does that better

than Serena! Absolutely, especially when she is down. You do not even

feel your winning because she is so powerful, she has that well-deserved

presence because of how consistent she has been, particularly in the

last four years. She has just always been consistent, whereas some of the

others have had that trouble of doing well, winning a major and then

having a fluctuation in their results. It is really great to see

Serena at 34 still playing at such a high level. In so many matches, you

just feel, and she really needs it, there is an extra level. She was

struggling in that first set, they closed the roof, she came out and

did not lose another game. That extra level. She knows how to get

better and better as she plays her way through events. More than 30

Grand Slam semifinals, 32, and Vesnina, only one. It is a huge

difference. Just an incredible career she has had? It has been, for

Serena, the longevity, the focus, still at 34 years of age. I'm not

sure yesterday was Vesnina's day of, she had doubles and mixed doubles.

Now, sometimes, she has really had no time to think about the singles

match until today. That can be better for a player, because they

can get too nervous. But this is the biggest match of her whole career

today. This is what she has practised for her whole life.

Yesterday, Serena would have been all business. Everything would have

been tailed towards that. Vesnina was playing doubles, back in the

locker room, mixed doubles... She has been frantic, but it's great to

see. She has been around for one of the most well liked players.

Absolutely, I saw her in the locker room yesterday's. Bruno Soares, who

she plays doubles with, he had that long match with Jamie Murray. So I

think he pulled out of that. Everybody in the locker room was

teasing her. Gosh, shame there is not more events you can enter! But

she seemed extremely relaxed. I said, you need to save some edgy for

tomorrow. But she has had an incredible and down. She said

winning the mixed doubles with Soares at the Australian this year

was the kick-start she needed. Vesnina was ranked 122 just this

last February. She was having to qualify for so many tournaments.

Finally in Doha, she beat Simona Halep and got to the quarterfinals.

She went to Charleston, started in the qualifying and got all the way

to the final, losing to Sloane Stephens. So she started to get some

belief. But it is quite a run. We never would have fixed Vesnina, at

50 in the world, to be in the semifinals. Certainly not. And we

can hear from her now. How would you sum up your emotions

as you head into the semifinals? I am happy and excited, I even had

tears in my eyes after this match, quite the final against Dominika.

Now here I am in the semifinal against Serena, and it is amazing. I

have been around for a long time, and it has changed for me now. I am

playing different, a more mature player, I understand the game much

better than I was understanding it seven or eight years ago. You have

to be more serious and more focused. Right now I am more serious and

focused, I know how to warm up, how to recover, and that gives you a lot

of pluses, little plusses, and your match game preparation as well. When

you see people like Kerber and Muguruza coming through, that must

give you hope that you can beat the domination of Serena. She has

dominated for a long time, she is a legend, but she is still a human

being. And that is a great attitude. She

says she is more serious and focused, which she will certainly be

at the moment. She is on her way from the locker room, and you know

that walk, it is nerve wracking. It is a long walk, you pass pictures of

former champions, the trophies. But I love that quote, she is only

human, she just has to look to last year's semifinal. She knows that

there is a chance. Here they come. Such a wonderful moment for Vesnina,

but Serena certainly looking focused and ready, got her game face on

again. This 22nd Grand Slam title has been so close since she left

here last year. Absolutely, and I think most of us were feeling the

way she was playing last year that by the time she came around back to

2016 that she would already have 22 in hand. And I think Lindsay you

made a terrific point, Serena last year losing in the semifinals to

Berta Vinci, and she was 4-0 against her, and it is the same thing here,

with Vesnina. And also known as a doubles player, as Roberta Vinci

was, too. How about that, Serena is just turning her phone off! Maybe

they were calling from the box. One more tip from Patrick! She has just

been in awesome form at these championships, the server

particularly has been good, hasn't it? 50 aces for a Serena, the most

of anyone out there. She is putting sunscreen on now. She didn't do that

before. She has needed to throughout these championships. But the first

serve, 90% against Pavlyuchenkova. She wins so many free points, it

gets the right of trouble in situations, but the second serve has

been more problematic for Serena this tournament, that potentially

could he a weak part of her game, but it is not necessarily the

strength of Vesnina to attack the week serve. She will have to do

something special today, because when Serena's first serve goes in,

the chances of winning the point are just so slim. It is very important

for Vesnina to have a quick start, because this could be a situation

where Serena starts quickly. She has been here so many times, she can be

like a freight train, she just takes over and it is so tough to get into

the match. We know she was a finalist last year in doubles and

two-time Grand Slam champion with Makarova, so we know she has played

an big stages, but it is different to play in the singles semifinals

against Serena, so it is important for her to get a quick start and

maybe bring some of those nerves. We have seen Serena bring some nerves

sometimes, we expected her to win the Australian Open, not Kerber, and

Muguruza beat her at the French Open, but she served extremely well

against Cibulkova, she hit to the corners beautifully with hard, flat

ground strokes, she moves well, she really just has to stay in the

moment, point by point, and not get overwhelmed with who was on the

other side of the net. Years ago, so much was expected of her, she was

expected to go way up to the top and didn't deliver. We see that

sometimes in women's tennis, the expectations. Pavlyuchenkova said

she wished she had never been the number one junior in the world,

because people are so quick to look for the next star, we don't

appreciate who the current stars. Vesnina got married last off-season,

she says that has helped tremendously this year. And Tracy

said it, she has made some great starts. She is amazing, and handled

this success, this tournament beautifully. It sounds like she has

the right attitude. Attitude and experience. The average age of a

first semifinalist is 31 years and nine months. Most of the time, back

a decade ago, and 30 19 months, they would be our when you will retire.

Or they were already retiring! Venus and Serena have done such a great

job of 36 and 34 of setting another standard, that you can play at this

level, at such a high level into your 30s if you want to. Sports

medicine has come so far, girls are fitter, they have the recovery

process, the ice baths, all of that, and therefore we are seeing

champions, and some people that are blooming at later stages in their

careers. And Serena, we talk so much about the serve, the return of

service strong. She has to get a high percentage of first serves in,

Vesnina. She does. I was looking at the service statistics, Vesnina has

a more powerful, by about three miles per hour, second serve. The

first serve hits the location is very well, and again, it is a

question of how she starts and how she plays, and whether she can

handle the nerves of the moment, and whether the moment overtakes her,

because for Serena, this is an everyday occurrence for her. And we

were talking a little bit about Patrick, he has been working with

Serena, and she gives him so much credit in the fact that he has

motivated her to get back and play the Grand Slams and be ready for the

big occasions. What an important move it turns out that was for

Serena back in 2012 to add someone new. They always kept a really

close, tight camp, and Serena Willie went out of the box and hired

Patrick, and he has made a world of difference to her. He got her to see

what she could still do and what she was laying for, to go down as the

greatest female player of all-time, and she wants that more than

anything. Sometimes she doesn't look that impressed, but you can telling

how she approaches these matches how much it means to her, and that is

Patrick's doing. When you get older, winning a Grand Slam is about

chasing a record, and she is desperate for this 22nd slam. And

she was asked, do you think about 22? And she said, and just thinking

about winning titles, the Australian, the French, Wimbledon. I

am not thinking about 22, and she wouldn't be thinking about that

today, because she knows Vesnina could be dangerous, and you don't

want to overlook any opponent. We thought we were already giving her

the final at the Australian last year when she took on Roberta Vinci,

and that gave her the shock. Thank you to Tracy and Lindsay, and

Lindsey is on her way to the commentary box to join John McEnroe

and John Inverdale. JOHN INVERDALE: Welcome, the sun is

shining down on Centre Court. This is a lifetime opportunity for

Serena, and is Vesnina clutching at straws to challenger today? But she

lost to Roberta Vinci last year. Good afternoon, Mr McEnroe.

JOHN McENROE: I would say that the victory.

And Lindsay, how are you? LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Very well, thank

you. Two Johns! You are the rows between two thorns. How anyone head

you rationalise your chances of playing in a match like this? I

first of all take a very good look at the match of the -- tape of the

match you just mentioned, Roberta Vinci. She hits a flatter ball,

Vesnina, Identix pecked to be to do the things that Vinci did at the US

Open, -- I don't expect her. But she has appeared to be extremely wound

up in those matches she has lost, battling herself, trying to tie

Steffi Graf at 22, so I would be continuously telling myself, she has

never been here, so it is going to be hard not to be overwhelmed, but

she is on the best role of her life, and she certainly has got nothing to

lose. How do you play a match as though you were playing anyone in

the first round, when you look up and see the person that she

described as a legend, this persona, this aura? Viz being who has

achieved so much? How'd you take that out of the equation? It is

almost impossible, which is why it is rare to see these monumental

upsets from a player with not much experience.

APPLAUSE She needs to focus on the ball,

continue to breathe and try to remember all the excellent tennis

that you have played in this tournament to get you to this point.

And get off to a good start. So important to get the nerves out of

the system early. She is an accomplished doubles player, she has

been aggressive, trying to take it to Serena is hard to do.

APPLAUSE Huge applause for Serena Williams,

her 32nd Grand Slam semifinal. UMPIRE: This Nina to serve. Ready,

play. Serena will have perfected those

first two shots, in a way that no other female player has.

That is the first good solid blow that the Russian has landed.

One of Vesnina's problems if she doesn't win too many of those major

serves, and she hits the flat ball, that will be really nice for Serena.

That is what she wants. But if your natural game is to hit a

flat ball, you can't suddenly for one occasion invented new game.

And sometimes it is just a game of match-up to Mac. A pretty emphatic

start from Serena. Jimmy Connors had a flat all, and you could get a

groove on it, you felt like you are hitting great, he almost dead you to

trade ground strokes, and he was so good at it, the level here, the

experience here is so vast. It is almost something that she should

contemplate to try to do something different, because like Lindsay

said, it is a good matchup. She has won 80% on her first serve in this

championship. What is her career? It must be close

to that. In that last game, Vesnina hit her

second serve that 98 mph, much faster than the average, but she

still wasn't winning those points. One game put away.

Is good to be able to hold the serve until you need it. That is probably

the best second serve that she has hit so far. If she can put ten mph

more on the first serve, it will come at some point. If Vesnina knew

she was facing an uphill task five bits ago, it just got a little

steeper. Her legs are twice as heavy as they

normally are, she is so tight. Frozen, almost. She is unable to

really move around the court yet. And sometimes it doesn't matter how

well you play, if you are playing Serena, and she is locked and

dialled in like she is early in this match, she has the ability to just

completely takes a play out of her opponent's hands.

Well, that will make us feel a bit better.

APPLAUSE And that is what Vesnina has to do

right now, just go for big, high risk shot, just to win a point.

It is worth saying that Vinci did lose the first set against Serena

last year, which made what happened subsequently all the more

extraordinary. This is the situation that Vesnina

must have dreaded at the start. Roger Federer, who you will be seen

tomorrow, at this stage of their career, him and Serena, they have

been around a long time, still move well, but to me, neither one as well

as they did in their prime. You could make an argument that

Serena is going for the slam, she did pretty well there! Vesnina, 29

aces for the tournament, she could use a bunch right now.

UMPIRE: Let, first serve. After the extraordinary goings-on on

Centre Court yesterday, as well. I'm sure the crowd here would love

Vesnina to make this a contest, but goodness me. This second serve not

going wide enough, right into the strike zone of Serena's forehand,

she didn't have to move a step there.

Was that one of the greatest days ever on Centre Court yesterday? I

think so. Roger found a way, and then Jo

really stepped up. I have never seen Andy Murray as excited as he was,

positive emotions. And the first chance we have had to say this,

congratulations on masterminding your man into the semifinals against

Roger! Doubtless you will be telling Milos but Roger isn't moving as well

as he used to, and that is the thing to do. Doubtless. When you play

against a player that good, you want to attempt, a lot easier said than

done, but Cilic was doing an outstanding job, taking the racket

out of his hands. But your guy has the potential to do that.

Definitely. So did Cilic. He had three match points, it looked like

the makings of straight sets. He played great, regrouped after

tightening up, on some of those shots, played a tremendous fourth

set, Roger hung around. A truly remarkable great, great effort. But

the other thing I would tell him, maybe this is a blessing in

disguise, the upside is tremendous when you play Roger, Fahey as well

-- for him as well, he is about 1035, maybe his body won't bounce

back as quickly as it did in the past. Here is your chance. You can't

tell Vesnina the same thing, though. I wouldn't be able to look in the

eye and tell her that. If you are telling Milos to accentuate the

upside, what is the upside here for Vesnina? She is on Centre Court at

Wimbledon! She is actually thinking of a way

not to be embarrassed in this match. There is a school where it comes

about not competing a 20 win, it comes about, getting a game soon. --

there is a score. That is a very focused Serena that

you were talking about. So often you can see just by looking in her eyes.

Bad news for Vesnina, she has come out, started this match like a woman

Every club tennis player watching and listening to us at home will

emphasise with that. 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, you stop thinking about the ball and

keep looking at the scoreboard. Please can I just have one? She

doesn't appear to be in a very giving mood, Serena.

Unfortunately for Vesnina, Serena is the opposite. She will want to see

two bagels on that scoreboard. That might be the key couple of words,

0-40 down. It won't matter a lot in this game, but hopefully down the

road, give her some confidence. She can feel the crowd is obviously

going to start pulling for her, especially early in the second set.

They played four times before, eight sets, all won by Serena, and

cumulatively, Vesnina has won 19 games across those four matches.

Statistics don't like, and at the moment, things are looking gloomy

for the Russian. Her normally smiling and brilliant face is deep

in concentration. APPLAUSE

That's more like it! We could discuss this ad nauseam if

it comes to pass, but how much does Serena want to play Venus in the

final on Saturday? That is a great question. Or not want to?

Most importantly, she is concentrating on getting to the

final. That was a huge punch from Serena Wright at the end. Actually

great defence from Serena. She doesn't need to do that so often. At

least Vesnina is starting to find her legs and move, she was frozen

the first few games. I only ask that question because if

Venus was to win the next match, and Serena lost this, how much would she

say, I would have given anything for that opportunity? She missed that. I

think for Serena, it is probably easier for her to focus if it wasn't

against her sister, but for her sister's sake, she once Venus to get

to the final. I don't know how they do it. You played your brother. We

played three times. I thought you would say how hard it

was emotionally. Venus handles it unbelievably well,

she seems to be Morra get -- more worried about Serena then Serena is.

Serena gets the job done and then she worries about Venus. I thought

you meant beating your brother, you would let him have a game. Nope!

APPLAUSE Got her on the board.

Three aces, as well. Vesnina hasn't played poorly. Serena is sharp.

There will be a huge cheer if she wins this point.

CHEERING A couple of nice doubles shots

there. It is that shout that this Nina

does, I guess it can be annoying to opponents if she is beating them.

Not bothering Serena a lot right now. When this -- Vesnina played

Cibulkova, that was quite a noisy match. You are thinking of

Radwanska. I meant Radwanska. In terms of Serena's longevity,

everybody was talking about, your average tennis career, think about

if you think about what is so amazing about Roger, but the fact

that he still desperately wants to be so brilliant, not just that he

is. And you could say the same about Serena. That is a great point. I

have never seen a guy love playing as much as Roger, and it plays off.

UMPIRE: Time. And in Serena I have never seen a better competitor,

someone who has come from match point down, match game down, sets

down, the Will she to win, the perfect example is when she his hard

to play her sister, she has been able to more easily overcome the

fact that they are siblings and just put that aside and get the job done.

I find that amazing. Incomplete control at the moment.

That serve, she starts to pop it... LINDSAY DAVENPORT: The big

difference for me with Roger and Serena, I feel like Roger is trying

so hard to win one more. I feel like Serena is trying so hard to win four

or five more and breaking the all-time record of Grand Slam

singles titles. JOHN MCENROE: I think the

best-of-five scenario makes it a lot harder for Roger to even think about

winning more than one. JOHN INVERDALE: For the motivation

is the same. With the push lately of players developing later, and

looking to win Majors at 21, 22, 20 three. When Serena started winning

Majors, she was still a teenager. Certainly it has helped her

accumulator a few more by being so good, so early.

Gueye Miss Williams. JOHN INVERDALE: Just the six aces so

far for Serena. Let's look at this positively. Hold

my serve here, and I will serve at the start of the second set.

Oh, yes! We are starting to see at least some inklings of how and why

she was able to get to this position, which is good news. At

least we might have a competitive match here in the second set.

She has never been known for her speed around the court. You throw in

the nerves, and it's making it awfully tough for her to track down

Serena Williams' pace off the ground.

It is an awful feeling playing any sport - why won't my body move, like

I know it can and it should and it normally does? Well, my last match

that I played on this Centre Court, that's how I felt a! I sort of felt

like Vesnina feels right now. I was playing a guy by the name of Andre

Agassi. It felt like no matter how good a serve I was hitting, my neck

started hurting so much, and it would go by me. My legs did not feel

like... Vesnina is 29 or 30, so she is probably... I don't think she

thinks this is the start of something. Oh, yes, now I'm going to

start getting to Grand Slam semis. This is her shot, in a way. It is

very hard not to allow the nerves to get into the mix as well. She is not

used to playing in an event like this. Lindsay, you were discussing

beforehand about is how you were from a generation which played

doubles as well. She pulled out of the mixed doubles last night. Would

she have been utter off have a clear day yesterday's yesterday to get her

head into this? We will never know. It is so easy to second-guess. She

has got a great chance here possibly to win the doubles. Unfortunately

she has to play Serena again later today. I would predict a better

chance in doubles! Here she is, Serena, after 26 minutes, serving

for this first set. Vesnina is hitting some high-quality

shots, but Serena is onto it. We were talking about her movement.

Even in Australia this year, I don't think she looked 100%. And she has

moved better at this year's Wimbledon then I think she was 6-8

months ago, because of her knee. UMPIRE: Game and first set, Miss

Williams. Those groundstrokes, it's really

just what the doctor ordered for Serena. She is hitting every ball

around the waist. She knows what she's getting. She is not being

thrown off at all. Ironically, people would criticise her early in

her career for not playing enough and taking time off, not having

enough events to be ranked number one in the world, like everybody

expected she should be. But that's actually... Stompie now, and the

others have fallen by the wayside. Exactly. I suppose also, what you

have to say to people who might be here for the first time, on Centre

Court, especially after what happened yesterday's, you would have

to say, what you are seeing is arguably the greatest woman tennis

player of all time, perhaps one of the greatest women sportspeople of

all time. And you will be able to say, I saw Serena Williams. In

addition to her sister as well. The two of them, what a story. In 100

years, has that ever happened? And the second semifinal we predict to

be the more competitive of the two. But you're seeing the most powerful

athlete certainly that has ever played tennis. As you said, possibly

one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

The net is on her side. She HAS to win this game, doesn't she, to make

it any kind of contest? She has to feel that she has a lead.

Every single shot seems to be perfectly in the strike zone of

Serena. When you hear the crispness of a shot like that, you can tell

what a good shot it has been. A combination of nerves, weariness,

heavy legs, is really causing some problems for Vesnina. Serena sensing

it, going behind her. She has got that ruthless look about her today,

Serena. UMPIRE: Game, Miss Williams.

JOHN INVERDALE: You can't afford to do that. You can see Elena Vesnina's

dad in the front row, in the white. And her coach. He travels on tour

with her. When you're a parent, coach, friend, whatever, and your

person is in this kind of situation, it is not easy.

Hawk-Eye, actually redundant so far in this match, because Serena is

playing that well. 123 - fastest serve of the tournament. No-one else

on the tour can consistently get that kind of powerful serve in. And

then you combine that with the feel and placement that she has with some

of the slower service. Look at that! That was ridiculous! -- the slower

serves. And already, I am throwing Vesnina's life forward 20 years, and

she's saying, I had one Grand Slam semifinal, and it just went by in

the blink of an eye. That will be the saddest thing. With talking

about games on the scoreboard. Next, it goes to time on court. Right now,

we are on just 35 minutes. Will she make it to an hour? If that happens,

something good will have happened for her.

But right now that is going to be extremely difficult to do.

It's the sun, it's the heat, it's the emotion, it's life. More than

anything else, it's her opponent. And error from the Williams racket.

In two hours' time, we could say that was the turning point in the

match! You are so optimistic! 20 years from now! A she will be

saying, that forehand from Serena changed my life. You never know!

JOHN INVERDALE: The scoreboard as one other interesting statistic -

just 38 minutes played. All Serena. Amey Miss Williams.

UMPIRE: Mrs Vesnina is challenging the call.

JOHN INVERDALE: Hawk-Eye has been awoken from its slumber. No, it is

well wide. UMPIRE: Game, Miss Williams.

And the end gets ever nearer. Venus and Angelique... Better get warming

up! It is difficult to know what to say, when the gulf in class is so

huge. But there was always a risk that this might happen. The bigger

the match, the bigger the occasion, the more likely this is to happen.

Vesnina would have had a bigger chance in the second round or third

round. But at this point, Serena's game has got better as the

tournament has gone on, more than any other player.

SUE BARKER: Certainly one way traffic on Centre Court at the

moment. We're going to leave this match here on BBC Two. You can

continue watching it live on BBC One. We're going to bring you some

ladies doubles, a quarterfinal, and this is Martina Hingis and her

partner Sagna Mirza. They have lost the first set, the defending

champions. They are also a break down to the normal five seeds. Let's

join this one with Andrew Castle and Louise plumbing.

ANDREW CASTLE: Thank you very much. Bright sunshine, probably 80% in

here, a little bit more than that. Martina Hingis and Sagna Mirza, as

you say, have not had it their own way at all.

Hingis especially has been struggling to hold serve.

But she does this time, in what was a must-win aim.

I think most people, Louise, would have been looking forward to seeing

this power. Martina Hingis, one of the finest, what is the word,

craftspeople, on a court, I have ever seen. 43 singles titles, the

last of those back in 2007. But doubles Grand Slam, or for Major

Championships, as long as goers 1998, three of them with Jana

Novotna. And the Australian Open, as a 15-year-old, with Helena Sukova.

Yes, an incredible story. I was lucky enough to just watch her play

in the finals of the mixed doubles, at the French Open, where she played

with Leander Paes. Clearly she is the best doubles player in the

world, along with Sagna Mirza. They were playing against each other in

that particular match. And Leander Paes and Martina have won or four

Majors together in the next as welcome of course. Meanwhile, that

was a big hold. She had a lot of matches ahead of

her this week. She said, I have only played three matches, and I'm still

in singles, doubles and mixed. She is such a fantastic athlete, she's a

machine. Nice problem to have. And that is where this match is going to

be won for this pair. They have to start to take control of the net.

They have allowed Babos and Shvedova to really control that area. That is

where their strength is, moving forwards, closing down the net.

Just a fraction too early there, Andrew. On the ball toss?! 69mph on

that second serve. A bit pushy, set and a break up against the top

seeds. That's a ridiculous angle. How did

she hit that? Must have been a slight mis-hit. That's not very

generous of you, but I know what you mean! She absolutely clocks it on

the forehand side! That's unusual. She's getting a

little tight out here. For every reason. Babos and Shvedova have just

started like machine guns. They've been just so solid.

You think it's just lucky positioning. But they really do

practice that. Just watching their opponent, getting their racket out

in front. He will be very happy with his charge at the moment.

They haven't both played well at the same time - yet. You get the feeling

that if they do, they could turn this around quite quickly.

Critical moment right here for Hingis and Sonia Mears, to get back

in this. They have to break here. They are winning every exchange they

possibly could, just when you think they are out of position, they pick

it up. That one was well selected. And that was a game to win to

maintain the break under enormous pressure. Look at the reaction. Love

it. Just such great chemistry, body language.

Near future there. Again, good presence of the net from Shvedova.

She really does make it look like you don't have a lot of space to hit

into. Mirza has been exposed more than

Hingis in this match, more errors than we are used to seeing. She is

the top seed in the mixed bubble with Ivan Dodig. -- the mixed ovals.

Oh, she tried to get involved, trying a little too hard there,

Martina Hingis, trying to help her partner.

Well, great hands and great understanding, sort of intuitive

belief in each other. As we have a look at this wonderful rally from

Shvedova, how do partners select each other? There are many different

ways, but I think you want to look at game styles, and try to get two

game styles that really fit well together. If you look at Hingis and

Mirza, Mirza has the big forehand that hit through the court, and that

sets up Hingis very well. I love the way these pair moved together, they

are almost like a wall at the net. De you just make a phone call and

say, do you fancy it? Yes, you go and you watch and you think, I like

how she plays, you will have a chat, perhaps your coach might go, you can

Facebook someone. There are many variations. If you are stuck, most

of these girls do know each other, and if your partner is not going to

the next tournament, you just say, have you got somebody? Let's go. But

for a long-term partner, you really want to look at the assets, trying

to get game styles that are complementary. I think I would play

great with you, Andrew. It would be an honour! We would complement each

other, that's for sure. , we would have a laugh.

I will take care of the net, and you can take care of the rest. You

haven't seen my forehand! The continental grip works on a wet

grass court, that is about it. I think I would rather enjoy a Punic

Lada and watch the television. Jordanne Whiley on court 16 at the

moment. She is a fantastic sportsperson.

It is a great choice again. Martina really trying to inject herself into

this match because time is running about, there is no doubt that she

has to try to make an impression. But Babos, big hitting.

It has been a long time since I have seen this pair just not find that

momentum, that path that they normally just so

just a little long. I think there are two pairs in the draw I would

not want to see, the un-seeded Williams sisters, and Babos and

Shvedova, they are in to refix form. -- terrific form.

You can probably hear from the crowd that this is a bit of a surprise.

They appeared to be strengthening, but they are on the receiving end

here, serving to stay in the match. Serena Williams, Venus Williams,

they haven't lost a set yet either, saw them playing on court 18 earlier

this week, you couldn't move for the people everywhere trying to get a

glimpse of these two champions. Something exceptional has to happen

right now the Hingis and Mirza. First ace of the match should for

the top seeds. And now they must serve it out, and

this is going to be interesting, because if nerves do get a hold,

Hingis and Mirza could break a couple of times. I hate to pre-empt

something like that, we have seen its only times, a bit of

inspiration, the winning line approaches and it is difficult to

get over it, and it would be a big win for Shvedova and Babos. I think

that will be the hope that the back of their mind, that that will be the

situation here. Sania Mirza not getting the ball back as much as

Martina. And if you are letting your partner down a little bit, you feel

it. She has just been the player that hasn't quite got into this

match at the moment, Mirza, just playing a little flat, and worried

how they are going to get into this match, and how they are going to

save this situation. Time is just almost locked out for them.

Just a reminder to Shvedova that she is serving for this match. That will

get the butterflies tingling! I remember one year at the

Australian Open I was playing against Stobbs and Raymond, I work

play my partner's name, but she served four double faults. It was

painful. So, we have seen one. Don't! It

would happen. -- won't happen. A little swing

there from Martina. Just needed to move forwards.

UMPIRE: This Hingis and Mirza are challenging the call. It is good.

Now, I would have had that at 15-30. Replay the point. I would have

fought like I should win that point. Yes.

UMPIRE: Miss Hingis, Mrs Mirza, challenging the call. We are right

online with that. It felt like it might be out. That has to be two

again! There is no way that the call affected the shot. That is exactly

the point from Martina. We have to win 1.3 times. This rule has to be

looked at. -- we have to win one point com three times.

With respect to Babos and Shvedova, that is fair enough.

Andrew, I think we have a match on here. She has got to try to get her

serve to the backhand side of Mirza. She has been going to that forehand

side, that goes back into her weakness.

UMPIRE: New balls, please. Is it the 5-2 number, Andrew? Whatever it is,

it is going to be tight. When Babos comes to serve for it, if they could

just hold on, the 5-4 game will be an interesting one. They feel like

they have a chance here. They relaxed a little after Martina's

very easy service game to love finished with that ace. Now they

have the return game. That is normally a gift for Hingis.

Wimbledon singles champion in 1997 as a 16-year-old. She took on Yana

Novotna. -- Jana. You hit it at me like that, that is

what you will get back! I thought she handled that pretty well. A lot

of players would have got a bit upset at that.

One-way traffic in the last ten minutes or so, it was 5-1 just a

moment ago, and don't think for a minute that Babos and Shvedova are

not thinking about it, as Mirza and Hingis have a reputation of being a

team who don't go away easily. The first couple of points will be huge,

12-3 the last 15 points. And most of those come off the racket of Martina

Hingis, you just notice the change, the positivity, the way she has

wanted to put herself in every situation, every point, she is

trying to draw the ball to her racket, and she is going a terrific

job. She was overextending herself in the first set, but now she is

making the right move at the right time. It is beautiful to watch. One

of my favourite matches of all time here was in 1996, she won the

doubles here is a 15-year-old. Is there more magic left in this match,

or is this the final game? Serving for a second time, Shvedova and

Babos. Kazakhstan and Hungary partnership, the fifth seeds.

Nice to his shot like that, get some nerves out, feeling a little anxiety

right now, no doubt. Oh, that was an absolute gift.

Hingis went in. Mirza stayed back. And of course, the attack went to

the player at the back of the court, and that wasn't ever in with a

chance. Two big first serves to begin this game.

This is a demonstration in how to serve out.

What a wonderful game she is playing, the youngest on this court,

just 23. What a game!

UMPIRE: Game, set and match. We said goodbye to the number one seeds, the

number one is advanced to the semifinal,. An intriguing match.

What an intriguing finish. Four Street massive first serves. So nice

to see women's doubles played, unlike the men, which has become

really rather clinical and so explosive, women's doubles there is

much more craft, guile, spin, lobs. Thoroughly enjoyable. A

disappointing moment for Mirza and Hingis, they just couldn't find

their style, just too many errors and it was rather odd to witness

that. And then as we saw, the last three games, they did start to

control, but what a brave and terrific finish their from Timea

Babos, she just took on her own ability to close out matches. That

was a phenomenal way to close out the match, they are a massive threat

in the drawer. I suppose Venus and Serena Williams, they are still in

as well, but nice to see someone in's doubles. The number one seeds

are out on a day when there is so much interesting tennis all around

the grounds, not just the women's semifinals, but also some

wheelchairs singles, some junior singles and mixed as well, as the

draw continues to recover from a wet first week.

Just taking a moment here on Court Number One to sign a few autographs

and take a little bit of time. It really doesn't take much effort, but

it was memorable. Who was the first autograph you ever got? You can't

remember! I can't. It is quite interesting. Mine was a blue coated

pontoons holiday camp, to wasn't really a sports star. But then Ilie

Nastase gave me his autograph after I watched him on court to, I think I

still have it. I can't throw it away! Still in love with him. Shore.

Who is your favourite to win this? It is hard to go past the Williams

sisters, isn't it? Three times gold medallists, the Williams sisters,

incredible. What a match here for a boss and Shvedova, they really owned

it. 65% first serve there, returns in play, that is high-quality, but

really just the power at which they were able to maintain today, they

were solid from the net, high percentage of first serves, I really

felt they came out here and it was there a day. Four out of four on

break points, 100%. You have to take your chances when they present

themselves, and that is what they did.

And this is the way they closed it out, it is the fourth first serve in

a row from Timea Babos, who had seen her partner, Shvedova, struggle when

she served for it at 5-2. But if you are going to knock in first serves

at well over 100 mph four times in a row, you are playing percentages,

and she should be proud of herself for that. Still in the Mixed Doubles

as well, Shvedova, at the top of the draw. They beat Anna Smith and Neal

Skupski who had beaten Ivan Dodig. Day ten of Wimbledon, it is actually

day 11 because of people's Sunday that the poor weather in the first

week forced upon us, some junior doubles taking place, and some

seniors as well. Mansour Bahrami is playing, and the women's semifinals

are on Centre Court. As you walk up those stairs past the Centre Court

changing rooms on the right-hand side, the members area there, and

heading out to some of the courts where the wheelchair singles is

taking place for the first time. There is something for everybody,

including those on Henman Hill and around, great to see some sunshine,

get away from Australia, come here and get yourself a nice tan. That is

exactly right. I never doubted that the weather would arrive. It might

be a little late. It is just so nice that these poor people sitting on

the grass that they have got a nice, dry spot to sit on for the first

time. Men's Singles semifinals tomorrow, many people expecting a

Federer versus Murray final on Sunday. That would certainly be a

ratings winner, but it was certainly rock'n'roll last night, and we look

forward to the Men's Singles semifinal. You can go over into that

capability Brown designed lake over there, the whole thing used to be

the garden to one of the big houses up in Wimbledon Village, get

yourself one of those boats. You probably already know how to do

that? I am class! I do live on the water in Sydney. Get yourself to a

big European city like this. Let's head up north and east, up into the

City of London there. Fantastic. I was there earlier this morning, so

busy, so nice to come down and get a little bit of tranquillity here, and

watch some great tennis. There is plenty more of it to come. Men's

Doubles semifinals on the way on Court Number One. Julien Benneteau

and Roger-Vasselin are in action, so good players around. Plenty more

tennis to come, enjoy it. Louise, thank you very much indeed. Shvedova

and Babos in merging into the semifinals of the women's doubles.

SUE BARKER: The defending champions going out on Court Number One in the

women's doubles. We can take you to another Ladies' Doubles which is

taking place on Court Number Two. Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova

up against Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Let's join our

commentators, Liz Smiley and Barry Davies.

LIZ SMILIE: break point goes begging there, not quite getting to the

ball, but they have done a good job in this match so far, Goerges and

Pliskova. Excellent second serve there, just

catching Pliskova a little by surprise. And landed right on the

line. One more chance. And so the double break comes. And

the number two seeds in deep, deep trouble. Solid point from Goerges

there on the back of the court. Well, they got one of the breaks

back. Can they find their way back into

this match? Obviously, you would have thought that having been broken

twice, and it was not so much that they broke one back, it was the

opponents making mistakes. Compare for me the ladies and the men's.

There are men's doubles players who turn to that from their singles game

and play it seriously, that's their career. For it does not seem to

happen in the women's? It does, actually. It is just that it has

been happening for longer in men's tennis, that you can have a career

and just play doubles. If you're good enough, you can make a very

good living just out of playing doubles, either men's or women's. We

have got men here, 37, 38 years of age. Yes, and very entertaining. We

saw match a couple of days ago, with the Bryan brothers. That was on

Centre Court. It is a good serve by Mladenovic, right at the body.

Come on, hand it back! They'd do a great job here, the ball kids. And

they are very quick. Very efficient. Well, the second serve speed was

just 70mph from Mladenovic, putting her under pressure immediately,

Goerges just hammering the crosscourt. She's struggled in her

last service game, Mladenovic, it went on for a long time and she

eventually lost it. Nine deuces. Just a bit too much court for

Goerges to cover. This next one here from Goerges, that's the one which

created the difficulty for her Cheryshev just couldn't cover the

next one that came. Well, Pliskova, she shipped for it.

And then she realised that she could not quite get to it. Garcia was

equal to the task. Excuse me, Goerges was equal to the task. She

followed up behind her. Good cover there from Goerges. Puts it back in

the melting pot. So, after starting well in this

service game, Mladenovic and her partner now face match point.

Goerges, poised to find the return she's looking for.

Oh, but she didn't find it! Wow! That second serve was very, very

slow. As a matter-of-fact, it was so slow that it didn't even register on

the serve speed gun. You can see it over her shoulder there. Goerges

just not able to take advantage of it. That's a better one.

That's a good interception by Garcia.

That is a good way to start the game for Julia Goodison. -- for Julia

Goerges. That's the serve that has been so

effective for her, Goerges, that one up the middle to Garcia's forehand.

It drew the error again. They got all caught up Tom Pliskova

and Goerges. They ended up right near each other. They very nearly

collided! Mladenovic had the presence of mind not to pay any

attention to that and hit the shot up the line. Hanging in there, the

number two seeds. Oh, that's a great pick-up from

Goerges! Garcia was onto that return. She crushed a forehand. Just

centimetres from the line, and Goerges did really well. Second

match point. Oh! How simply won! So they have

done it again. They beat them in the Australian Open in the last 16. And

now they have beaten the highest seeded partnership remaining here at

Wimbledon, in the quarterfinals. Performance Goerges and Pliskova.

Remember, they were just the number eight seed playing against the

number two seeds. SUE BARKER: Another surprise in the

ladies doubles championship. They go through to the semifinals to await

the winner of the game between the Williams sisters and their

opponents. I wonder if the will have recovered from what happened to her

on Centre Court earlier today. -- if Vesnina. It was Serena who took just

49 minutes to dispatch Vesnina. It was a wonderful serving display from

Serena. But Vesnina was totally overawed by her opponent and the

occasion, and never played her best. Hopefully she will be better in the

doubles match today. These two, good friends, a warm handshake at the

end. It is Serena who goes through to the final once again. So, Serena,

safely through. What about her sister Venus? She is encore at the

moment and is down a break of serve. Angelique Kerber, from Germany, the

Australian Open champion, has just opened Venus's serve. That is live

on BBC One. Here on BBC Two, we're going to go over to Court No. 1 for

a semifinal in the men's doubles. It is Julien Benneteau and Eduard

Roger, but. They put out Jamie Murray and his partner yesterday's.

Let's enjoy this match with John Lloyd and Mark Petchey.

MARK PETCHEY: Welcome to Court No. 1, and what promises to be a

attractive men's semifinal in the doubles. Julien

Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin am a winners of the French Open in 2014.

They have had an epic route through to get here to the semifinals.

The other pairing have got through to hear without dropping a set so

far. They will be the much fresher pair. The American and the South

African. The American, the only man on the court who has singles titles

to his name. Julien Benneteau, the unlucky tag of making ten ATP

singles finals and yet to win one. They have made a habit of winning

here in spectacular fashion. Third round here this year, the

French team were down a couple of match points before winning in the

fifth set. The Argentinian umpire. And then the French team breaking

British hearts, as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares valiantly went down

10-8 in the fifth, having trailed by a couple of sets. They then won

third 13-11, and the fourth, but could not quite get themselves

through to the last four. Do you think, John, that the five

setters that this French team have had will have any bearing on this

match? JOHN LLOYD: Well, they are used to

playing a lot of tennis, but there have been a couple of very tight

matches mentally. On the physical side it might have an effective the

match goes on a decent amount of time. Certainly the American-South

African pairing have had a relatively easy route through to the

semifinals. More than a touch of the Pete

Sampras. I was going to say, he has modelled his game on Pete Sampras.

You can see that with the service motion, and the forehand as well.

Not quite as good as Pete Sampras, and exactly the same! -- but exactly

the same! One of the hardest working players out on tour.

Had a look down the court just to see if Roger-Vasselin was making

inroads to the net. Surprised he did not come in, actually.

He is the playmaker, Julien Benneteau. He blows a bit hot and

cold on returns. . But when he gets hot, he is almost unplayable. He got

a couple of on the sending singles court against Roger Federer as well

- a tribute to his class. The 6ft 4 American Rajiv Ram just

getting settled, holding onto his serve, in these early stages. He

will be off to Newport to try to defend his title there. For Julien

Benneteau, it has been nice to have a season back on the court. He spent

eight months last year recovering from surgery from a groin injury.

Currently ranked on the singles court at 547. Back inside the

world's top 50 in doubles, after this run to the semifinals. He has

been as high as number five in the world. Roger-Vasselin, who will be

serving here, has been June six in the world, and according to live

rankings, which you can go and look up, Klaasen will be breaking into

the top ten next week as well. It looked like Raven Klaasen did not

really play that serve. Was going to appeal, but decided not to.

Would serving from the 6ft to Frenchman, now 32 years of age. His

father played as well, got through to the semifinals of the French

Open, losing to Yannick Noah back in 1983. Wow! That was no holding back

on that return! Yes, Roger-Vasselin, his father beat Jimmy Connors there

in the quarterfinals. Ireland are that much, it was very heavy

conditions, and Roger-Vasselin hit a lot of sliced balls to the forehand

of Jimmy Connors and eventually wore him down. The French crowd went

absolutely nuts - I remember that much.

-- that match. Short backswing for Raven Klaasen, he was able to leave

it late enough to see what Benneteau was going to do.

He is a quick thinking and quick moving player, Raven Klaasen.

No messing around with that volley. He does not really want the ball to

go there. He can just swing at it, no problem.

The tallest man on the court, Rajiv Ram, taking that one comfortably out

of the air. The smallest man on the court, at 5ft 11ins, Klaasen.

JOHN LLOYD: They have settled pretty well, Klaasen and Rajiv Ram. It is

only early days, but coming out here in a Grand Slam after that big win

against the Bryan brothers. But still, this is certainly the biggest

match of their career. Klaasen in particular, he made inroads on the

circuit in doubles rankings pretty late in his career. He has moved up

the list not at a fast pace, but every year moving up, and this has

been his big breakthrough year. They seem to like the atmosphere. I think

that win against the Bryan brothers - admittedly not the force they once

were, but still the name pair - when you beat them in the draw, you feel

like you have got a chance to win the event. And they have not dropped

a set yet in the Championships. That's impressive.

MARK PETCHEY: Of course, Klaasen, runner-up in Australia back in 2014

with his partner, ended up becoming Leander Paes' 99th partner in 2015,

just before Wimbledon. Rajiv Ram, semifinalist at the US Open in

doubles with Scotland's ski, who he played with for a number of years.

-- with Scott Lipski. And of course, these two have won Halle on the

doubles court as well. In just their second tournament together last

year, they won Halle. Wimbledon is the special one for

them. It's the one where they still play five sets, it's the one where I

think the players feel like they are treated like a player. The other

events, they are sort of shot on the back courts, best-of-three sets, no

ads. The US Open, I think the finals is at 11 o'clock morning -- in the

morning on a Friday and there is no-one in the stands.

That is a good return. He is finding that forehand sweetly out of the

middle of the racket so far here, Rajiv Ram. That win over the Bryan

brothers was the third of the year against the great American pairing.

They beat them in Australia in the round of 16 before losing to Mars

and Bruno Soares. They also beat them in error on the way to the

title there. It underlines the quality from the South

African-American pairing. He is in your world tennis team,

isn't he, the South African? Yes, he is. Now he's jumped up, he will

probably be wanting a bonus payment. Working with you IS a bonus, John!

Roger-Vasselin Mahut is also back in the world's top ten in doubles,

courtesy of his run here. He will be happy with the way that he has just

mopped up that service game for his partner. You were talking about

Klaasen in particular coming late to it. Was only 2012 when he finally

finished inside the world's top hundred in doubles. He finished 2013

at 44. Equal 20th in 2014. And on his own at the same ranking in 2015.

He moved to sue there, Klaasen. It is all about the timing and when you

cross. You have got to time it exactly right. Just as the ball is

coming off the strings, you move. A fraction too soon, and he can direct

it to where you are not any more. That's what he is so good at,

Benneteau, when he gets his range, firing it alone, almost flat, back

to the incoming server. It is so difficult to control, because you

have got to focus so hard on that all coming over the net, so that you

cannot really see out of your peripheral vision what his partner

is doing. IM told you get more nervous as you

get older, even at this standard players who played into their mid

30s spoke about that. APPLAUSE

She really dealt with that. Her signature shot. Opening up the point

with that shot. APPLAUSE

A classy way to get out of that situation.

It is nice to see the sun out in all its glory. A nice and warm day. Not

speaking to each other... Silence, across the country. But as you can

see the hats are out and it is pretty humid as well. So much more

enjoyable for the fans to sit there and relax and soak up, not just the

sun but the wonderful fast-paced doubles. Again probably 75% of his

audience here only play doubles. They are very keen to see angles,

neck played, how the top players played, how they move, and I am sure

with those sorts of stances, the Australians... I wouldn't like to be

doing that either. That is a great second serve. You

can see the amount of moving the do in doubles these days. The first

game when they return, why not hit every ball straight down the line?

Just get them out of that rhythm. You will probably make two winners

because they cross almost every ball.

That is not easy, trying to hit a drop volley-mac with a PC forehand

like that. -- dropped volley with a pacy forehand. That is twice,

ricocheted off the net. APPLAUSE

That was behind him when he hit that! On this forehand, Ram is

really returning well and it looked like it was going to be Ram's point

air. Excellent hands. He was a little unlucky there, Klaasen, was

in the? But because he was behind Roger-Vasselin he had no option but

to flick it down the line. Ram is the one who settled the best in the

return of serve department and Klaasen is just finding his way at

the moment. If you get out of this game without getting hit, it is a

miracle. LAUGHTER

. APPLAUSE

That would have been good even if it had been a first serve, into the

strength of Ram and it beat him I think the fact they are going to

that formation again is just another indicator that they recognise Ram's

start in this match. The bigger of the shots, more consistent.

Klaasen is not the biggest server, but he is extremely quick into the

net behind his delivery. A lot of his volleys you will see are three

or four Max the inside the service box. So quick. The service action

propelled him into the court and he has a good couple of steps

afterwards -- four steps and save the service box.

has a good couple of steps afterwards -- four steps inside

It is not dissimilar to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's, but that left him, with

the back of the ball from that situation, and -- situation that

Benneteau found himself in. APPLAUSE

Doing extremely well there are just to cover Ram, just couldn't quite

get the first one. It was a late call as well. As the ball has

already passed him. LAUGHTER

But you try. Beautiful return. He had no chance to get that one back,

off the backhand, inside the line, too good.

He has a lively arm, 124. A couple of returns that were world-class on

the doubles court from the French team here, look at this angle he

creates. You can't do a lot there if you are the partner as well, from

Ram's point of view. A lot of court he could potentially go to, using

the angles. He snapped off a very cute one. -- acute. Advantage,

Klaasen. You certainly could say that Ram, he has a lot of authority,

when he says" you" or" yours goes -- "yours".

LAUGHTER Maybe he should really say, "How

about you?" . Three stretched volleys, tired out your!

Three stretched volleys, tired out here!

Roger-Vasselin, just a little look out to sea. The obviously didn't

hear too much from his end -- to see. Two double faults. Starting to

put a bit of pressure on the second serve and that is forcing

Roger-Vasselin to go for a bigger serve than he is used to. Good

returning from the French team. I am not sure if he meant that to be

that short, Ram, on that volley. It ended up to be a good drop shot, a

good drop volley. Again, good returning, though. Tunisia is really

getting hold of these returns no. -- now. What a serve. From where he was

standing it looked almost impossible to get that angle. And also, how did

he get it past Ram's head? He just missed. Looking at where he was

standing, I thought he couldn't possibly go for a wide one, and it

whistled past his ear. If you were serving to me, I would have been

looking the other way! New balls, please. A lot of different looks

there with the movement at the net for the French team. Moving the

serve around exceptionally well. They will be a little buoyed up, the

fact they got close, getting their teeth into the returns. They could

almost be unplayable for Kabul. But one of the great service of the

match so far -- unplayable for a couple. Yes, it's just whistled past

his ear. After a couple of double faults. And you can see he has a

nice motion, just how he or she is. He reaches up, gets around the

outside, and it just whistled past, and look at that angle he hit there.

Gorgeous serve. Lovely rotation, look at the back almost parallel to

the baseline there. That is Federer -esque from him. He needed that one

there. Confidence can go after a couple of double faults. Got through

that game, weathered the storm a little bit, and now there can be

some confidence from that service game. His server seems to be at the

moment the most vulnerable of the four. He backs it up well with such

a good first volley. He liked that one. He makes the

early move, knows where it is coming. Great footwork. It is quite

the flat, slicy second serve, Tunisia, with pace. Boy, he was

quick there, Klaasen. Superb anticipation. -- slicy, with pace.

How quick things can turn around in Men's Doubles. Such a low return.

Didn't anticipate the drop volley was coming.

-- Benneteau exceptionally well there.

One of Ram's slate Nick Ealey skew is his speed around the court, not

the quickest player there. -- one of his slight Achilles heels.

APPLAUSE Just couldn't quite get it deep

enough, Klaasen. That was a much tougher one. Ram really tried to do

the best he could, but it was rock solid overhead. Conservative, but

they knew they were on top of the rally.

Solid again, good return. It looks like he's trying to go quite a bit

to the volley of Klaasen on the right-hand side. Klaasen is making

some nice little moves to give himself room the return.

He has landed it. It had to be on the line because Roger-Vasselin had

made the move and pretty much had the rest of the court to be able to

cover whatever Ram hit, but the perfect backhand return. Can they

capitalise? Great serve. Arguably his most

comfortable one, not that he doesn't have a pretty good serve outweighed,

Benneteau, but there is a little more curve on it than most players

and because of that the one on the key is probably the ones on the big

points he will hit nine times out of ten -- out wide.

With so much movement out here, is it a case in many ways of just

putting your spot all the time? I think so, it is difficult and is bit

when you're crossing. If you are going to go over the line or a

crosscourt and just hate it. I don't think you have time. -- hit it. We

are speaking second serve. Of course, otherwise you have a little

more time. He got a lot more bones on that serve. That was above his

shoulders and it is just that much tougher to control at times --

bounce. You speak a lot about length on the court but sometimes on a

second serve if you can just get it in short and get it to lift off the

court it is a pretty good serve as well.

APPLAUSE Klaasen and Ram lead, five games to

four. He could not have wished to deliver a more perfect service game

there, Rajeev Ram. Looking at these doubles, in the Slam, vaguely normal

doubles, so to speak, but the rest of the year they play no when Ken

is. Sudden death in these service games. What do you think? -- they

play no end tennis. The matches are over in an hour, they come to

Wimbledon and you can get matches that go for four hours. It is a big

difference. I know it is doubles, not singles, but still. Spending the

whole year focusing just for one hour, one hour and 20 minutes, then

it comes into four hours, and you can see how their concentration camp

go. Wobbled and is the only one that does this. I suppose they enjoy it

-- can go. The other ones are just sudden death overtime -- Wimbledon

is the only one that does this. They enjoy being out here, they love the

game, love being out here for as long as possible. It is a real treat

for them, as you say. What an angle! He has done that a

few times in the second serve, hasn't he? 90 mph is good pace on

the second serve. For Roger-Vasselin they have both come on his second

serve. It is such a difference, though, in

ten years of doubles, used to players with chip returns, not all

the time but quite often. Very rarely do you see that type of

return any more. It is all about taking chances, hitting over the

ball. The lob is still a good shot, though, with the about of movement

areas. Yes, and with hanging over the neck, if you time it right, and

Jamie Murray is about the best in that regard -- over the net.

Klaasen and Klaasen have done better in this match already than they did

in previous meetings between these teams, last year in Rome on the

clay. Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin won that one, so they already have

more points on the board. You can see how from that position

Roger-Vasselin is expecting the one down the tea to the two tables

neutralise that angle he has at his disposal. They are trying to narrow

the court with that serve but then he put it out wide and he just

cannot The danger is with that Tunisia

backhand, you have to be very alert and move very quickly -- that

Benneteau backhand. Those Ram's duty there was to close the gap but

otherwise you leave space. If you time it a bit wrong you can

obviously see this He just lost his bearings a little

bit and because he was so focussed on where the ball was, he didn't

really have a great understanding of where Roger-Vasselin had moved to.

He tried to cut it a little too close to the line across court. Here

they are with Ram in the I position here. Where will Klaasen go? Will he

go back out wide? A terrific return. Roger-Vasselin stayed home down The

T and he got his reward. A good educated guess from the Frenchman

and he gives his partner a chance here.

Just a little tentative with the forehand from Klaasen. It gave

Benneteau time. Although he didn't rip it there,

Julien Benneteau, he picked the right man who just for the first

time in the opening set just looked a little fragile. Yes, they were

good ground strokes with a lot of spin and dipping, shots, these days

the volley has to be deep otherwise the power that the baseline can hit

with the ground strokes, two unfortunate errors in a row. Good

pressing by the French team. Benneteau's brother is helping him

out coaching wise at the moment. He split with his coach back in October

2015 partly I'm sure because of the lack of match play and because of

the surgery. Doing the basics well after getting

that break. We have seen a couple of really nice

backhands from Ram off that serve down The T, but it is not easy to

keep producing and you wonder whether you're going to get the

opponent crossing on the net. He tried to find a return there down

the line, but hasn't picked it. And... The 2014 champions are a set

closer to a final here at Wimbledon. It is the first set they've lost

this championship Klaasen and Ram and you look back to that game where

they had 0-40, sorry on Benneteau's serve and Klaasen actually made a

very good forehand return and a good half-volley from Benneteau, but it

was a makeable forehand by Klaasen which he missed by a foot and it

would have been a clean winner and that would have been the break. So

it is just small points here that make the difference. The stats

there, Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin strong on the service sets. Winning

80% on their second serves which is remarkable statistics, but there is

the big one, the break points, Klaasen and Ram had four and didn't

convert. Other than that, they have got to take the chances and they had

that 0-40 and didn't take one of the break points. It is the first set

they've lost in the Championships. We have got a couple from France who

are pretty battle hardened in terms of the big points they have had to

play going down the stretch in the last couple of matches, so they will

be somewhat relieved that they managed to get that under their

belt. It is a good match though. It is a good standard. The crowd are

enjoying it. There has been a few very good rallies. Some classy

tennis out here. Well, I think it is not a bad match. Sometimes you get

doubles, the serves are so big, you get matches where you just drift in

and there is no returns going back and it is a little bit one-paced.

The serves are good serves, but nothing where there are ridiculous

serves, we are seeing some good first volleys.

These teams are synchronised as well, these days, compared to your

day, the need for the bathroom break at the same time as each other! I

didn't know what that was. We weren't allowed to do that!

Well, they just want to take a little bit extra time as well to get

themselves in the right frame of mind as they start a pretty pivotal

second set for them. And just put the relative disappointment behind

them of losing that opening set. They were the ones that looked as

though they started a little more brightly, but it was the French team

that started stronger. He called out there, but

Roger-Vasselin thought that was going out. I'm sure Benneteau could

have got that anyway. I think he could. A good rally. A nice feel

from all four players. The coach who is working with

Klaasen. He is South African. Well, you saw a little space and he

was millimetres away from landing it. And that's the danger when you

go to the angle, you can see Ram's first volley up the middle narrowing

the angles he went wide there, but didn't get enough on it and they had

a lot to defend. Has he got stung? A bee. Owh.

A sting. Sometimes, I don't know if you can see see the sting, but you

can almost pull it out, but wow, that's...

Oh, he picked it up. The memo, don't pick bees up!

He needs to go and update his subscription to the Discovery

Channel and just check what happens in the wild.

LAUGHTER Picking up bees. I know what to get

him for Christmas. A whole series. I can't believe he did that!

I tell you what, it is a good job he is not allergic to it. I am. Are

you? Yes. That's quite a horrific thing to get.

And seriously dangerous, but it looks like it is a little bit of

pain, but that could get a lot of swelling. Well, he will get a lot of

people writing in saying that he is a very gentle chap. He didn't want

to kill the bee. He just tried to rescue it!

Well, hopefully the bee is fine. He hope he hasn't run on it. That would

be a bit of a waste. He steps on it accidentally. Well, now, it is dead.

Once a bee stings you, it is dead. It pulls out its abdomen as well. I

mean indirectly, it is a shame the whole thing has been completely

futile! LAUGHTER

Not only has he upset his chance of making a Wimbledon final, but he has

killed the one thing he was trying to protect!

Oh dear. He swots it. Charming. Well, that was a bit more dramatic

than it looked like it was going to be for an opening game of a second

set! LAUGHTER

Benneteau, he is still cracking up laughing. He says, "What's going

on?" Yeah, I mean, all seriousness you

can see he is holding the bottle without putting his pressure on it.

I mean... I've run out of water. Not only that, there is a drastic

shortage of honeybees in cities as well.

Well, I think he left that and it wasn't proved to be the most prudent

of calls. Great reactions from Roger-Vasselin

and Klaasen was just trying to get himself across the court there, but

it was actually too much pace on the return from Ram and Roger-Vasselin

could just use that. Well, the last time Klaasen served,

he got broken. So a little bit of pressure on the South African.

A terrific rally. Lovely hitting from Roger-Vasselin and some great

defensive work. From Ram and Klaasen there, just moving in tandem, just

closing the angles down and the space.

It is so important to keep good balance at the net. Nice wide

stance, slightly wide at the shoulders, you just need to be able

to reach. You see how much of the court Klaasen with just half a step,

he could pretty much cover half of it. It looked like an easy shot, but

no real gaps appearing for him. He has got a terrific slice serve when

he lands it. A good, solid start by both teams

here at the beginning of the second set. Again, there you see that flat