Women's Quarter-Finals, Part 2

:00:46. > :00:56.The quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Only eight women left standing. When some

:00:57. > :01:01.of the greats of tennis are tested by pretenders to their crown. She is

:01:02. > :01:07.very hungry, very keen, very confident young lady. At 16, when I

:01:08. > :01:10.walked out to play Billie-Jean King, I was dealing with an interesting

:01:11. > :01:17.situation. Lee Jean King was my idol. Any time you're playing in a

:01:18. > :01:21.major, in a quarterfinals and you're playing against somebody do admire,

:01:22. > :01:31.that you respect, there are going to be extra nerves and I think a little

:01:32. > :01:35.more pressure as well. This is the reason why we practice the 15, 20

:01:36. > :01:39.years, to get an opportunity like this, to play in the quarterfinals

:01:40. > :01:50.of a major. This is extra special because it's Wimbledon.

:01:51. > :01:57.When it comes down to it, it's just a tennis court. The same dimensions

:01:58. > :02:06.as any tennis court you have ever played on. There is only one ball.

:02:07. > :02:10.It doesn't matter who the player is on the other side of the net. If you

:02:11. > :02:16.got this far, you must be pretty good.

:02:17. > :02:23.As Tracy proved back in 1979, this can be a make or break they! Eight

:02:24. > :02:29.women remain but after a tournament of shock exit, it's not quite the

:02:30. > :02:34.matchup we expect it. Some familiar names are there but the new stars

:02:35. > :02:40.have emerged. Who will have the passion and intensity to go forward?

:02:41. > :02:45.We are about to find out. Ladies quarterfinals day is not a new

:02:46. > :02:49.experience for the Williams sisters, Serena is 34 and Venus is 36,

:02:50. > :02:55.incredible to think it was 16 years ago that they both appeared in the

:02:56. > :03:02.quarterfinals here. 128 lady started the tournament, now just eight

:03:03. > :03:07.remain. -- ladies. Let's take a look at the match-ups.

:03:08. > :03:22.Once again, she is the headline act. Venus Williams is back in the big

:03:23. > :03:32.time, can she reached her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009?

:03:33. > :03:38.Shvedova is looking to upset the odds. Angelique Kerber has been in

:03:39. > :03:42.cruise control until the quotas, she will expect a much tougher test from

:03:43. > :04:11.former semifinalist Simona Halep. That's what we're looking forward to

:04:12. > :04:12.and on court, first up, it is Halep against Kerber, we will be going

:04:13. > :04:30.there shortly. On Court Number One, Venus Williams

:04:31. > :04:39.has started,. The number one seeds in the men's doubles complete the

:04:40. > :04:43.line-up there. The players have been out on the practice courts, Serena

:04:44. > :04:47.Williams is not just the defending champion, she is a six time champion

:04:48. > :04:53.here and knows all about raising her game in the second week when it

:04:54. > :04:57.matters. And this is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has finally

:04:58. > :05:05.found out that grass is sued her game! She's a big hitter. How will

:05:06. > :05:09.she fare today? Looking forward to the quarterfinals, doesn't that look

:05:10. > :05:18.lovely? Bathed in sunshine! Was last? -- will that last? Yes it

:05:19. > :05:21.should, if you are in the sunshine, it feels lovely and warm but we do

:05:22. > :05:30.have a bit of a north-westerly breeze. When the cloud comes over,

:05:31. > :05:34.does feel cool about our maximum temperature, 21 Celsius, even into

:05:35. > :05:40.the evening, it should stay dry with some sunny spells and by then,

:05:41. > :05:43.temperatures round about 20. Tomorrow morning, it should dominate

:05:44. > :05:48.ride at chilly note, the cloud bubbling up through the day so by

:05:49. > :05:53.the afternoon, sunny spells but feeling rather pleasant. For the

:05:54. > :05:57.rest of the week as we head into Thursday, more of a chance of having

:05:58. > :06:02.bright spells rather than sunny spells and just the risk of a

:06:03. > :06:06.shower. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, back in the sunshine and showers but

:06:07. > :06:13.we could have temperatures by then into the mid-20s so compared to last

:06:14. > :06:21.week, this brilliant. It is more than brilliant! It's fabulous. Great

:06:22. > :06:26.news for everyone coming to watch. This much we will be joining shortly

:06:27. > :06:29.on BBC Two, Venus Williams against Shvedova incredible that in ten

:06:30. > :06:38.years on the tour, they have never met before. It is on serve in that

:06:39. > :06:46.match. One match was from yesterday and it finished at 9:23pm last night

:06:47. > :06:56.in the dark. Thomas Berdych has finished it off. He broke twice to

:06:57. > :07:00.put out the silly, one of the oven coming players from the Czech

:07:01. > :07:08.Republic. -- one of the up-and-coming players. And on court

:07:09. > :07:17.17, Jamie Murray and Bruno Suarez, this is a five set doubles match,

:07:18. > :07:21.they have won it. They have one in five sets, that took over five

:07:22. > :07:34.hours! That is only a third-round match. Querry out on Court 17. --

:07:35. > :07:37.jewellery out on Court 17. The family are totally enjoying it and

:07:38. > :07:44.Jamie is the world number one in doubles, what a story they are, the

:07:45. > :07:46.Murrays. On Centre Court, Angelique Kerber, just a few moments ago, with

:07:47. > :08:01.set point on the Halep serve. No player wants to end a set and a

:08:02. > :08:05.double fault but that is what has happened, so Halep has taken the

:08:06. > :08:09.opening set. And that's where we're going now. They are in the first

:08:10. > :08:22.game of the second set. Simona Halep has had an early break

:08:23. > :08:28.point on the Kerber serve in this second set.

:08:29. > :08:35.But Kerber has an ace which wins the opening game, Halep looks

:08:36. > :08:40.distraught. She made a real determined effort to make a

:08:41. > :08:47.statement and win the opening game of September, is set she has to win

:08:48. > :08:54.to stay in Wimbledon. She is using her back and up the line more

:08:55. > :09:01.effectively. -- backhand. She changed her tactics in that last

:09:02. > :09:09.game, tried to be a bit more offensive, she wasn't able to break.

:09:10. > :09:17.They haven't been many holes of serve in this match.

:09:18. > :09:23.The server is not of heaven for either player. -- the server is not

:09:24. > :10:23.a weapon. I think that Halep may have had it

:10:24. > :10:30.covered. Kerber just plug the return back in. She didn't take her chances

:10:31. > :10:58.with the return, that allowed Halep to come into the net.

:10:59. > :11:04.Halep may get another hold here! She has not had many. Just the one so

:11:05. > :11:51.far. That serve was so important to

:11:52. > :11:52.Kerber. Sugar is predominantly to the backhand, if she can mix in a

:11:53. > :12:13.few more points, beforehand. It's important to have the variety

:12:14. > :12:17.of the serve because Halep immediately starts moving to her

:12:18. > :12:31.left, able to get a good hit on her backhand return.

:12:32. > :12:37.Just a few more errors creeping in from both sides, we haven't had one

:12:38. > :12:41.of those brilliant rallies for a little while now. Quite a cluster of

:12:42. > :13:26.them early on in this match. Halep had control of that rally the

:13:27. > :13:49.entire time, and wasn't able to put away that short, easy forehand.

:13:50. > :13:56.Asset lead already and 2-1 in the second, going with serve, Angelique

:13:57. > :14:03.Kerber at the moment looks like she's going towards the final four

:14:04. > :14:09.here at Wimbledon. Of course, she comes here for the first time as a

:14:10. > :14:12.Grand Slam champion. You can kind of see it appeared, you can feel it a

:14:13. > :14:17.bit more, what does that do to you when you win a major title for the

:14:18. > :14:22.first time? It gives you a tremendous amount of confidence,

:14:23. > :14:27.much more belief in yourself. A major is the toughest test we have

:14:28. > :14:34.in our sport, over 14 days, to win seven matches, it's everyone's dream

:14:35. > :14:39.growing up and for Kerber it was a tree control in Australia in

:14:40. > :14:44.January. Didn't play particularly well at the French, for the first

:14:45. > :14:49.time being able to say Grand Slam champion, but much more confidence

:14:50. > :14:55.here, much more belief in herself, her game, in these big matches. And

:14:56. > :15:00.that could be very useful as well, having that relatively recent win

:15:01. > :15:07.over Serena Williams up her sleeve as well.

:15:08. > :15:14.We had a run of first-time crumb slam champions as well. -- Grand

:15:15. > :16:32.Slam champions. A few more returns aren't finding

:16:33. > :17:32.the court in this second set. She tried to desperately, didn't

:17:33. > :17:40.she, Kerber, to finish Halep! Time and time again. She made it more

:17:41. > :17:42.difficult by not moving forward, taking the volley, played the

:17:43. > :17:59.hardest forehand of the rally. There is Darren Cahill, the former

:18:00. > :18:25.coach of Hewitt and Agassi, taking care of Halep.

:18:26. > :18:33.That time Kerber stepped into the court. She was able to make contact

:18:34. > :18:36.much earlier than she has for the majority of her returns, gets her

:18:37. > :18:51.first return winner. Halep is shaky right now with her

:18:52. > :19:02.second serve. An absolutely vital service game,

:19:03. > :20:31.this, for Simona Halep. It is gone wild, what a mess! --

:20:32. > :20:35.Margaret has gone wide! Sometimes intense and tight matches, we look

:20:36. > :20:36.for potential turning point, I wonder if that could come back to

:20:37. > :20:48.haunt Angelique Kerber? For the game to get herself out of,

:20:49. > :20:54.Halep. Kerber has made a mess of that folly. Simona Halep was far off

:20:55. > :20:59.the court, trying to get back into it but no way she would have gotten

:21:00. > :21:48.that, if it had gone anywhere in the court.

:21:49. > :22:01.You have to hand it to Kerber! She knows at times she's playing against

:22:02. > :22:06.a brick wall. These two, their baseline exchanges, have been

:22:07. > :22:10.amazing. The amount of balls to get back into play, the Met of good

:22:11. > :22:49.shots it has taken to win a point, high stuff.

:22:50. > :23:30.After all the breaks in serve in the first set, we are on serve in the

:23:31. > :23:35.second set, almost miraculously. Halep scrambling at the back of the

:23:36. > :23:39.court, quite exceptionally, and Kerber reading all the power to

:23:40. > :23:49.break down. An impressive hold after not breaking serve, these two are

:23:50. > :23:59.covering an awful lot of distance out there. The movement, the

:24:00. > :24:01.retrieving skills of both. Halep having to run just a little bit

:24:02. > :24:16.more. Of course what is interesting there

:24:17. > :24:20.is a about having to run an awful lot more against the much better

:24:21. > :24:25.opponent today than they have done in the tournament so far.

:24:26. > :24:32.Halep you would say has probably had the hardest run to the

:24:33. > :24:39.quarterfinals, the three setter against Madison Keys. Three of the

:24:40. > :24:45.four matches for Kerber were just about an hour. Just the one match in

:24:46. > :24:49.the third round, an hour and 40 minutes. Including Robson in round

:24:50. > :25:59.one. That one is going to hurt, Halep

:26:00. > :26:01.running through the forehand to get a bit more pace and in real trouble

:26:02. > :26:43.now. She is playing wonderfully! And

:26:44. > :26:53.Angelique Kerber takes a 4-2 lead in the second.

:26:54. > :26:59.Including an extraordinary skimmer of a backhand there. Like she is

:27:00. > :27:18.throwing perfect pebbles into the ocean.

:27:19. > :27:23.Halep is going to have to, puts special in order to get back into

:27:24. > :29:22.this match. She is back in it again! Setting up

:29:23. > :29:28.that break point with that wonderful return. Halep having to reach behind

:29:29. > :29:43.her. It really is a fascinating match,

:29:44. > :29:48.Lindsay. Just when you think there might be some space on the

:29:49. > :29:55.scoreboard, Halep is able to raise the level of her game. She is trying

:29:56. > :30:04.to keep herself camp unstable emotionally, Halep. Is she right to

:30:05. > :30:08.keep her foot pressed down on the pedal. She has treated us to our

:30:09. > :30:14.wonderful array of winning shots, but in a situation like this with a

:30:15. > :30:20.lead, the second set? Do you just keep hammering that or do you pull

:30:21. > :30:25.back a little bit? On this surface more than any other surface, you

:30:26. > :30:30.have to keep going for to get the win. You do not worry about your own

:30:31. > :30:41.opponent or where you put your shots, you do not want to get

:30:42. > :30:44.predictable either. In that last game Kerber was a bit more

:30:45. > :31:21.predictable with her shots and Halep took advantage.

:31:22. > :31:29.It is just wide from Halep. She is going to challenge in frustration,

:31:30. > :31:39.but these recovery shots from Kerber. Definitely wide. UMPIRE:

:31:40. > :32:02.Miss Halep has two challenges remaining.

:32:03. > :32:11.She let her get away with her second serve. Kerber made contact behind

:32:12. > :32:16.the baseline, she was not willing to step up and take that return early.

:32:17. > :32:36.Halep will be breathing a sigh of relief.

:32:37. > :32:45.Oh, both players covering every blade of grass. So fast, so

:32:46. > :32:49.determined. It is a great lesson to young players. Just never give up on

:32:50. > :33:53.these wide balls. Kerber and again. This time it is

:33:54. > :34:26.for a 5-3 lead. This time it means she is serving for the match.

:34:27. > :34:30.It was the perfect served by Kerber and she set herself up with the easy

:34:31. > :35:03.forehand. What a recovery after the first

:35:04. > :35:07.point and so much court covered. She has not hit many volleys in this

:35:08. > :35:44.match and then she hits an absolutely perfect one.

:35:45. > :35:52.Again Halep on the stretch in the defensive position going for the

:35:53. > :36:49.harder recovery shot. Again it is working for her.

:36:50. > :36:59.So much to admire about the way Simona Halep is digging in here.

:37:00. > :37:06.Doughty Djokovic are defending beyond the baseline. And it is hard

:37:07. > :37:11.for Kerber to content with. It must be so frustrating. You had a big

:37:12. > :37:15.game and you were able to dictate with the way you went around your

:37:16. > :37:24.tennis. When you are playing against somebody who is getting those balls

:37:25. > :37:29.back and potentially everyone is a winner. You are having to play over

:37:30. > :37:35.and over again and it gets mentally draining as well. We saw her

:37:36. > :37:44.refusing to miss getting all these balls back into play. I feel Halep

:37:45. > :37:50.is on the edge of possibly turning this one around if she is able to

:37:51. > :38:01.hold serve. The German champion from 1991.

:38:02. > :38:09.Steffi Graf famously dominated for Germany on these courts. Kerber is

:38:10. > :38:17.one of eight Germans inside the world's top 100. Sabine Lisicki is

:38:18. > :38:19.one of them, and the German women have had a decent record here over

:38:20. > :39:23.the years. That is the perfect point that you

:39:24. > :39:25.are talking about. She was resetting the rally. Now a few more errors are

:39:26. > :39:42.coming off the racket of Kerber. UMPIRE: Ms Kerber has challenged the

:39:43. > :39:53.call on the far right. The call was out. Replay the point. It is a

:39:54. > :40:56.matter of millimetres. Right. Write now. Heart will be

:40:57. > :41:08.pounding inside these two players now. That is impressive by Halep.

:41:09. > :41:20.She plays her best tennis of the day when her back is against the wall.

:41:21. > :41:28.Errors are starting to creep into the game of Kerber. Halep is

:41:29. > :41:43.covering the court so well. It is very hard to surprise Halep as

:41:44. > :43:04.well and off-guard. It only just crept over from Kerber.

:43:05. > :43:13.Just the perfect backhand slice. She was trying to hit a low, short

:43:14. > :43:59.slice. On grass that shops does not bounce up.

:44:00. > :44:09.Just on the line from Kerber. Halep pretty much buffeted against the

:44:10. > :44:20.backboards by the weight of the shots. For the second time Halep

:44:21. > :44:30.will have to cut out to serve to stay in the match. Kerber put the

:44:31. > :44:42.previous two games behind her. Nice positive energy from Kerber after

:44:43. > :44:52.this game. A fist pump after she held serve up to her camp.

:44:53. > :44:58.You just send some real nervousness around this court, Lindsay. Do you

:44:59. > :45:04.feel it? Everyone is too scared to take sides almost as if they will do

:45:05. > :45:11.something to them if they set count on one side or the other. So much

:45:12. > :45:16.respect for both of these two. Absolutely. More than anything they

:45:17. > :45:26.have just sat in admiration at some of the defensive work. A theatrical

:45:27. > :45:35.feel inside the greatest tennis theatre in the world. This building

:45:36. > :45:37.from the 1920s modernised for the current day. Halep is serving to

:45:38. > :46:36.stay in the match at 5-6. There was so little court to get

:46:37. > :46:56.this path by Kerber in and Halep managed to find it.

:46:57. > :47:07.Well, is extraordinary from Halep under such intense pressure. So

:47:08. > :47:52.close to defeat. She has done it again! How I have no

:47:53. > :47:59.idea. But what is clear is we are going to have a tie-break to decide

:48:00. > :48:08.this second set. What a hold of serve from Simona Halep. She hit

:48:09. > :48:40.incredible winners. Oh! I really like the decisiveness.

:48:41. > :48:43.She read that drop shot. She got off to such a quick start, to move

:48:44. > :48:50.forward, and anticipated that forehand volley.

:48:51. > :49:06.She put it away like she firmly intends to win this match.

:49:07. > :49:10.But while Kerber has still got her flashing forehand there is no

:49:11. > :49:58.certainty about that. Just a little more pace off her

:49:59. > :49:59.shots now for Kerber. Mentally both these players have risen to the

:50:00. > :50:36.challenge in the second set. She has barely giving away a thing.

:50:37. > :50:48.That is why she is so frustrated. Two gifts in a row.

:50:49. > :51:15.So many returns have gone back into play to get big points from Kerber.

:51:16. > :51:30.Oh! She worked so, so hard to get herself back into the set, Simona

:51:31. > :51:39.Halep. Just from nowhere she has started missing. Four balls out of

:51:40. > :51:48.court, two wide, two into the net, in a row from 1-1 in the tie-break.

:51:49. > :52:18.Kerber is two points away from victory.

:52:19. > :52:42.Two service points to come for the German.

:52:43. > :52:57.Oh, goodness me. On potentially the penultimate point of the match to

:52:58. > :53:03.get such a net cord as that. Sometimes life is not fair. But

:53:04. > :53:06.Kerber has played me diffidently and she has got four match points. --

:53:07. > :53:20.magnificently. UMPIRE: Game, set and match, Ms

:53:21. > :53:39.Kerber. Well, her world changed when she won

:53:40. > :53:44.the Australian Open at the start of the year, her first Grand Slam

:53:45. > :53:54.title. Is there a chance that here on the lawns of Wimbledon she could

:53:55. > :54:01.go on to win another? That was some display from Angelique Kerber. Still

:54:02. > :54:04.has not dropped a set. Looks so confident and most importantly

:54:05. > :54:07.comfortable. For Simona Halep it was a great day and tell that tie-break.

:54:08. > :54:13.She played so well to stay in that second set. It was a shame in the

:54:14. > :54:22.end there were two unforced errors at her biggest moment. UMPIRE:

:54:23. > :54:27.Ladies and gentlemen, if you leave your seat, please take all your

:54:28. > :54:37.belongings with you. If not, it will be removed. Three times she has lost

:54:38. > :54:46.to the eventual runner-up at Wimbledon. Eugenie Bouchard, Garbine

:54:47. > :54:51.Muguruza, who lost the final. But she will not be thinking about that,

:54:52. > :54:56.she will be thinking about going all the way. The number four player in

:54:57. > :55:01.the world who still is in with a chance of being world number one

:55:02. > :55:07.next week. Serena Williams has to lose today for that to still be a

:55:08. > :55:13.possibility. But Kerber really was the player on the front foot for

:55:14. > :55:17.that match. She had to defend herself, of course, at times.

:55:18. > :55:24.Desperate defending, wide of the court and deep into the corners, but

:55:25. > :55:28.with that ability to turn defence into attack so effectively. It was

:55:29. > :55:34.really getting ten dip into that second set. But then almost

:55:35. > :55:39.inexplicably the Simona Halep game disintegrated in the tie-break.

:55:40. > :55:44.That's unfortunate net cord as well on what turned out to be the

:55:45. > :55:51.penultimate point of the match and Kerber is into the semifinals.

:55:52. > :55:55.Congratulations, such high-quality tennis, but an unusual match with so

:55:56. > :56:00.many breaks of serve. Nine in the first set. Is that what happens when

:56:01. > :56:06.the stakes are so high? I think we both played a good match at a high

:56:07. > :56:09.level and we are both very good hitters and players. The match was

:56:10. > :56:16.really hard and I am happy I won it because it was close. Simone is a

:56:17. > :56:21.great player, she moves so well. I won the last point and that is what

:56:22. > :56:27.counts. You are the only player who is yet to drop a set, how important

:56:28. > :56:32.is that to you? What does it say about your game? Actually, I am

:56:33. > :56:38.feeling really good and focusing on my game and feeling aggressive and

:56:39. > :56:41.everyday here and I am so happy to be in the semis. You are through to

:56:42. > :56:47.the semis for the first time since 2012. Are you playing your best on

:56:48. > :56:52.grass? I think I have had a great year so far with the Australian Open

:56:53. > :56:57.title and right now I am feeling so good I think I am playing my best

:56:58. > :57:03.tennis right now and I hope I can play a few more matches here.

:57:04. > :57:08.Congratulations. SUE BARKER: She certainly looks to be playing her

:57:09. > :57:13.best tennis, a wonderful performance from Angelique Kerber, the

:57:14. > :57:19.Australian Open champion. Still yet to drop a set. She is through to the

:57:20. > :57:24.last four. She had a dip in form after the Australian Open, but she

:57:25. > :57:28.is back to my best here. We will see how once again on Thursday. The

:57:29. > :57:33.Centre Court crowd rises to Angelique Kerber. A wonderful match

:57:34. > :57:39.to start. Over on Court Number One it was a tie-break that decided the

:57:40. > :57:51.first set over there. Jaroslav washer

:57:52. > :58:04.Yaroslava Shvedova was up in the first set, but Venus Williams is now

:58:05. > :58:11.set up. That match is live over on BBC Two. And we are on Centre Court

:58:12. > :58:16.and Serena Williams is due on in a moment. Lindsay, you were watching

:58:17. > :58:21.that match. Pretty special from Kerber. It really was and this is a

:58:22. > :58:26.player who has never played her best tennis at Wimbledon and all of a

:58:27. > :58:30.sudden she is in the semifinal and she looks more comfortable and

:58:31. > :58:36.confident on the Centre Court. Her movement was on display today. She

:58:37. > :58:40.got so many balls back into play. She really frustrated Halep who,

:58:41. > :58:45.unfortunately, at the end of the match she just went away in the

:58:46. > :58:50.tie-break. But a special performance from Kerber. John, she is a

:58:51. > :58:57.defensive player, but can attack as well. She takes the ball early and

:58:58. > :59:00.uses her speeds to advantage. Winning the Australian Open gives

:59:01. > :59:06.her the confidence and belief she can go all the way. It looked like

:59:07. > :59:11.she would win pretty routinely at 5-3. Credit to Halep to bounce back.

:59:12. > :59:17.It was disappointing that in the tie-break not a whole lot work for

:59:18. > :59:21.her. I think Kerber was getting a little bit tight trying to finish it

:59:22. > :59:27.off. It is interesting to see two ladies or guys who are neither big

:59:28. > :59:31.servers and they cannot blow each other off the court and it is

:59:32. > :59:38.interesting to see. It was great tennis. That will definitely go on

:59:39. > :59:44.the highlights later tonight and the athleticism they showed will stop

:59:45. > :59:49.extending rallies, we had two of the best athletes. Not the most

:59:50. > :59:50.powerful, but two of the best movers and physical players. It was fun to

:59:51. > :00:04.watch. It is fair that the return is more

:00:05. > :00:10.important than it has ever been. That isn't only a chronic issue in

:00:11. > :00:13.the women's, it is really where the lady winner courtesy next is so

:00:14. > :00:18.separated from the rest of the field because her serve as the greatest

:00:19. > :00:25.weapon in the history of the women's game. I got this feeling that she is

:00:26. > :00:32.going to read it up, the conditions are starting to heat up a little

:00:33. > :00:37.bit, the ball is going to move through the air quicker, that's not

:00:38. > :00:41.good news for Pavlyuchenkova! She is someone who I watched about six or

:00:42. > :00:46.seven years ago that thought for sure she would be a top ten player.

:00:47. > :00:53.I have read about her talking about issues with being dedicated enough,

:00:54. > :01:01.we saw Nick Douglas, a lot of players out there are fit enough,

:01:02. > :01:05.consistent enough, and fortunately her opponent was a recipient of the

:01:06. > :01:10.increased intensity and dedication, it will be nice to see if she's able

:01:11. > :01:17.to at least not be and give Serena a real match. Let's hear from her, she

:01:18. > :01:30.reached to grand slam quarterfinals and seems to be back to her best.

:01:31. > :01:38.He had a really strong 2011, he got into the quarterfinals of the French

:01:39. > :01:49.and the US what happened since then? -- you had. I was very young, I was

:01:50. > :01:55.19, 20, and I thought, OK, it's all done now, everything is going to

:01:56. > :02:01.come easy. And I stop really working hard and started changing coaches,

:02:02. > :02:05.changing my team, and not really staying focused enough and

:02:06. > :02:09.consistent of court and on court, and I think that was the result and

:02:10. > :02:14.the Mrs is really changing in the last couple of years and now it's

:02:15. > :02:21.very physical, a lot of athleticism, you have to stay tough and

:02:22. > :02:23.consistent and work hard. A lot of people forget you guys are really

:02:24. > :02:29.growing up in the limelight, you had such a strong junior career, and

:02:30. > :02:35.then moved up, there is a lot of pressure that goes with that sort of

:02:36. > :02:42.responsibility? Definitely. Sometimes I was thinking before, I

:02:43. > :02:46.wish I wasn't another one ingenious, because so much expectations from

:02:47. > :02:52.the and my team, from my family, from everyone, saying she is number

:02:53. > :03:01.one winning everything and then she will be top ten in a couple of years

:03:02. > :03:08.then there was a bit elemental break down as well, I wasn't enjoying

:03:09. > :03:14.plain tennis anymore, 2012 and 2013 I was struggling. It has been your

:03:15. > :03:21.best Wimbledon, what would you put that down to? I think it would be my

:03:22. > :03:26.heart, consistent work, since I started with a new team, a new

:03:27. > :03:40.coach, working hard, I am happy to see that starting to pay off.

:03:41. > :03:48.How honest was she in that? Didn't want to be World War I in the

:03:49. > :03:52.juniors? That was so insightful. You get a sense of how much pressure

:03:53. > :03:56.this generation feels, she was winning everything in the juniors,

:03:57. > :03:59.everyone excited a seamless transition to the press Mac and it

:04:00. > :04:06.didn't happen for her, she had a lot of ups and downs, she is working to

:04:07. > :04:18.get back in shape now, and earlier, he -- she hired a new coach, who

:04:19. > :04:21.knows how hard the place -- plays at the top work, and he has helped to

:04:22. > :04:26.become a better player. Getting to the top sometimes is quite easy,

:04:27. > :04:32.staying there is immensely difficult! I am not sure how easy it

:04:33. > :04:36.is to get to the top! You have no fear that when you get to the top

:04:37. > :04:39.thing you do. It's fair to say, you are looking over your shoulder,

:04:40. > :04:46.there's only one place to go when you make it that high. The gap

:04:47. > :04:50.between the juniors and the press Mac is huge, I am happy to say she

:04:51. > :04:55.got her act together, I was one of the people who thought she would be

:04:56. > :05:00.in the top ten, I did notice she hit 13, says she has had some results.

:05:01. > :05:03.The fact they have changed the grass here has helped so many players

:05:04. > :05:11.because he is an example of a player, Cibulkova, another one, I

:05:12. > :05:16.can't play on grass, but she is still in it and someone like

:05:17. > :05:22.properly changeover, before she didn't want to be underscored, now

:05:23. > :05:26.she loves it. Serena knows all about this day, it is a welcome back to

:05:27. > :05:44.the quarterfinals for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, here they come.

:05:45. > :05:53.Serena Williams, back on Centre Court, she had to play on Sunday as

:05:54. > :06:01.well. Let's see how she has got through to the quarterfinals.

:06:02. > :06:11.Number one player in the world, against a woman in the match of her

:06:12. > :06:19.life. I never underestimate anyone, it was a really good match.

:06:20. > :06:32.It was definitely tough but I always expect the best. Mum was in the

:06:33. > :06:40.Royal box, that was really nice. It was a really good match. She played

:06:41. > :06:44.great, she always plays great against me, it takes a lot to break

:06:45. > :06:47.me mentally and I knew being a break down in the third that I was going

:06:48. > :06:53.to have to put my mind in it and I did.

:06:54. > :07:02.I was really focused and calm. Did you know that was your 300 grand

:07:03. > :07:10.slam when? I had no idea! That is awesome. It is good to win, she has

:07:11. > :07:12.played really well in the past, she beat me earlier this year so I knew

:07:13. > :07:25.I had to play really well to The certainly been an interesting

:07:26. > :07:36.journey, she had to dig deep against Christina McHale. She's from New

:07:37. > :07:39.Jersey, she has a great ball, I was happy to see her play the match of

:07:40. > :07:48.her life, she really makes Serena work. I think the stress she endured

:07:49. > :07:51.last year was tough for any human being, I thought she handled it

:07:52. > :07:54.exceptionally well, it was great for the game. There was a lot of talk

:07:55. > :08:01.about her being a couple of notches from the grand slam last year and I

:08:02. > :08:06.think for her, she loves make this happen. She has been through recent

:08:07. > :08:12.tough times, she's still there, still was in the semis, finals of

:08:13. > :08:19.the French, the writing is on the wall for somebody big hair, I would

:08:20. > :08:29.be surprised if she lost the Australian. There are still some

:08:30. > :08:34.tennis to be played. We talked about Michale but against Kuznetsova, it

:08:35. > :08:37.was a story of two halves, in the first half, then she comes out under

:08:38. > :08:43.the roof and it's a whole different Serena. The first ten games of the

:08:44. > :08:47.match, and then the last eight games of the match, it was a completely

:08:48. > :08:57.different Serena, the roof closed, Kuznetsova had no chance. This is

:08:58. > :09:01.Serena mastering the server and the return. She took more chances

:09:02. > :09:11.against Kuznetsova, hitting winners from all over, this will give her

:09:12. > :09:22.confidence. She is so familiar with this court, her opponent, not so

:09:23. > :09:26.much. It appeared early on she wasn't enjoying herself a lot out

:09:27. > :09:29.there, you hate to see that with someone who has accomplished so

:09:30. > :09:35.much, it seems counterintuitive, that she can't be loving this, it

:09:36. > :09:41.won't be much longer that she is doing it but now it feels like she's

:09:42. > :09:45.possibly starting to relax. And in the defect she is starting to do

:09:46. > :09:52.something historic and amazing. It'll be great for tennis if she

:09:53. > :09:55.ties the record of Steffi Graf. Still the passion is there, you

:09:56. > :10:01.almost feel the pressure that's on her, even now. You can always tell

:10:02. > :10:04.how Serena is feeling on the court, but unlike Venus, you are never

:10:05. > :10:13.quite sure, she's not emotional on the court. At times she has looked

:10:14. > :10:16.stressed, unhappy on the court. A little anxious, the first few

:10:17. > :10:23.rounds, it seems luxury has resettled down, she hasn't lost to

:10:24. > :10:28.anybody in the top portion of the draw, and she's in the business end

:10:29. > :10:32.of the tournament, her favourite court in the world, game translates

:10:33. > :10:41.so well on this surface. I would be surprised if she wasn't able to get

:10:42. > :10:47.a seventh Wimbledon. Pavin published changeover to play line-macro in the

:10:48. > :10:55.final. Do we have an update on the Venus score? I think she is serving

:10:56. > :11:01.for the match. Williams- Williams final? It was interesting, she went

:11:02. > :11:07.off court and she said, talking to her coach, she said he is at a

:11:08. > :11:14.calming influence and he calmed down until so she is better when she is

:11:15. > :11:25.calm. Why do you look at me that way? The other thing that might

:11:26. > :11:28.happen impactful was that the Kuznetsova second serve doesn't have

:11:29. > :11:32.a lot in it, you should rattle it and go after it and that which

:11:33. > :11:37.becomes even more dangerous and gets on her opponent's head, so I expect

:11:38. > :11:41.her to be more aggressive. I don't know exactly what he says to her, I

:11:42. > :11:48.see him in the Green room, he seems very suave and call and collected...

:11:49. > :11:54.He has this whole entourage. Whatever he is saying, has been

:11:55. > :11:58.working! If you look at the results since he has joined Serena

:11:59. > :12:02.Williams... She has a lot to do that but somehow they are clicking rather

:12:03. > :12:16.beautifully. Let's go over the code number one. -- Court Number One.

:12:17. > :12:23.This is such a wonderful story, we talked about earlier in the

:12:24. > :12:26.programme, with all the illness, the dip in the top ten and now the

:12:27. > :12:52.backfile -- the fore. Everything that she has gone

:12:53. > :12:56.through, from minor injuries, to her syndrome diagnosis, it has been a

:12:57. > :13:01.battle for her through these last few years and everyone has a soft

:13:02. > :13:06.spot for her and we want to see her be a factor again and this is why

:13:07. > :13:11.she is still playing. I have got to go and do some work on BBC Two.

:13:12. > :13:16.Thank you very much, we are all set for this one on Centre Court and

:13:17. > :13:23.John is making his way to the commentary box to join Simon Reade.

:13:24. > :13:31.Thank you, Sue. There is the head to head. Serena has dropped just one

:13:32. > :13:35.set in the process. They have not met on grass, but convincing wins

:13:36. > :13:47.since that Roland Garros match in Rome last year were Serena dropped

:13:48. > :13:49.just four games. The Spanish umpire has the honour of taking over this

:13:50. > :14:05.one. This is massive for Pavlyuchenkova.

:14:06. > :14:19.She has underachieved for most of her career. She has worked so hard.

:14:20. > :14:25.John, whenever Serena plays, it is up to Serena really. That is true.

:14:26. > :14:35.That says something about her greatness. We were just talking

:14:36. > :14:40.about her dictating the match and playing on her terms. If she is able

:14:41. > :14:44.to do that consistently, it is hard to see her not winning this

:14:45. > :14:50.tournament. Having said that, at her age she is probably figuring she

:14:51. > :14:54.will be out here for a year, maybe a couple of years, and as you get

:14:55. > :14:59.older you realise there is less opportunity and you get more

:15:00. > :15:04.stressed. She has been tied with Steffi Graf for the last year. She

:15:05. > :15:12.tried to win the Grand Slam. We saw what happened with Novak Djokovic,

:15:13. > :15:18.it was extremely fatiguing. Still she puts herself in a position and

:15:19. > :15:24.as badly as she has handled a couple of matches, she has been in the

:15:25. > :15:30.semis of the opens, the finals in Australia, the finals in France. You

:15:31. > :15:34.are talking about a level that is so exceptionally high that you look at

:15:35. > :15:40.Pavlyuchenkova who has never been in this situation Wimbledon and you

:15:41. > :15:47.feel for her at the moment, she will be feeling extreme anxiety, but also

:15:48. > :15:56.excitement. Serena has not brought out her a game a whole lot. It is

:15:57. > :15:57.easy to say go and enjoy yourself, no pressure, that that is another

:15:58. > :18:10.thing to do it. The biggest difference to me is the

:18:11. > :18:30.second serve, to dissipate Serena Williams is going to go after that.

:18:31. > :18:35.Not seeing enough of them on the opening game, that must be a good

:18:36. > :18:38.feeling. Massive match for her, biggest match on the Centre Court

:18:39. > :18:47.and she has started well against the best player on the planet. She is to

:18:48. > :19:16.make sure she gets coming early, that is smart play against Serena.

:19:17. > :19:54.The first bomb from Williams, there are going to be a few more!

:19:55. > :20:29.A surprisingly soft serve from Serena, not very well placed either.

:20:30. > :20:37.Not as authoritative as she usually is that the NAT there. -- the net.

:20:38. > :20:44.It is gusty out there today, little bit more difficult. Seems to be the

:20:45. > :20:50.wind behind Serena Williams at the moment. Could be a factor in this

:20:51. > :20:56.next service game for Pavlyuchenkova.

:20:57. > :21:05.Could still be feeling some major nerves. Do you feel the wind in one

:21:06. > :21:11.direction or does it swirl around? That depends. When I was out on

:21:12. > :21:17.court was Milos Raonic, it was clearly in one side, I am guessing

:21:18. > :21:20.it is behind Williams. This stadium, the way it's set up, will help both

:21:21. > :21:40.players pick it easier to deal with. It was hopeful waste from

:21:41. > :21:43.Pavlyuchenkova. That is a classic case, make an opponent hit an extra

:21:44. > :21:59.ball, it wasn't a point that Williams should have lost.

:22:00. > :22:25.Set up by a brutal approach shot, beautiful.

:22:26. > :22:36.Excellent. She is thinking clearly and executing. She has played

:22:37. > :22:43.doubles so she has worked on the top of shots. The children these type.

:22:44. > :23:00.She doesn't want to be a one trick pony out there, be predictable.

:23:01. > :23:24.Helps your hands when you play more doubles, feel around the net.

:23:25. > :23:31.She wants Serena Williams to be on the run in that account. It wasn't

:23:32. > :23:32.even a great approach but still her off the court, put some pressure on

:23:33. > :24:02.her. The return was almost as quick as

:24:03. > :24:05.they serve. This is what happens, she turned the match when she played

:24:06. > :24:09.Kuznetsova when she came back on court, she started attacking,

:24:10. > :24:20.destroying her second serve as she did on that point.

:24:21. > :24:52.It didn't to as quickly as she thought.

:24:53. > :25:15.Remember she won eight games in a row to beat Kuznetsova. It gives an

:25:16. > :25:22.opponent hope when they see even the great Serena Williams wound up

:25:23. > :25:30.missing easy balls. You realise you're not the only one who feels

:25:31. > :25:35.nervous out there. A beautiful day to be out there. After all the aggro

:25:36. > :25:38.we had with the weather on the first week, great to have a day like this.

:25:39. > :25:59.There is Henman Hill. Hello, Henman Hill! Man has arrived,

:26:00. > :26:05.pretty happy with Venus safely through. Great to see Venus back in

:26:06. > :26:09.the big time. She has been through so much, and handled it so well, her

:26:10. > :26:16.difficulties of being in the shadow of her sister. Well deserved

:26:17. > :26:20.congratulations to Venus Williams. She will have a semifinal against

:26:21. > :27:34.Angelique Kerber. I see her play points but she has

:27:35. > :27:39.here, this could be rather one-sided, she is dictating most of

:27:40. > :27:41.the points. The reason she has lost a couple of games are really the

:27:42. > :28:13.unforced errors. Halep against Kerber was a decent

:28:14. > :28:47.scrap. She rose to the occasion and paper much of her life in Australia.

:28:48. > :28:57.A fantastic shot. Patrick is her hitting partner. And there is her

:28:58. > :29:29.mother and sister. Serena would have made things far

:29:30. > :29:37.easier for herself had she moved forward. She switches grips and she

:29:38. > :29:55.just float it. She should still have made that forehand.

:29:56. > :30:40.Angelique Kerber made the Wimbledon semis four years ago.

:30:41. > :30:48.Serena was after heard there. That was some return. What about that

:30:49. > :30:54.shot? She is going to have her way here. That was an excellent return.

:30:55. > :31:08.She put Pavlyuchenkova under immediate pressure.

:31:09. > :31:29.That was a good first serve. It was 106 mph. She needed it then.

:31:30. > :33:02.Five games and no break point. Pavlyuchenkova has never really

:33:03. > :33:06.taken to grass. She lost the first round at Birmingham, the second

:33:07. > :33:09.round at Eastbourne and when asked about it she said, to be honest I

:33:10. > :33:16.have not been fit enough to play on grass. But after teaming up with her

:33:17. > :33:22.fitness coach in April, the whole focus was on fitness, getting

:33:23. > :33:28.stronger and moving faster. That has been something that has been an

:33:29. > :33:32.issue for her throughout her career. This gentleman is not the first

:33:33. > :33:37.person who has stressed the importance of being fit as a

:33:38. > :33:43.professional tennis player with as much talent as she had coming out of

:33:44. > :33:48.the juniors. In her interview she talked about the expectations and

:33:49. > :33:53.the pressure being too much. I know when I get stressed I start eating

:33:54. > :33:58.more. It is understandable, it is hard not to feel stressed when you

:33:59. > :34:04.are out there when you are a kid. You are expected to act like an

:34:05. > :34:11.adult. We all have our ways, I was not particularly good with dealing

:34:12. > :34:16.with stress. Come on! It actually worked in a way despite the

:34:17. > :34:19.appearance. In general it is harder for the younger players to break

:34:20. > :34:25.through as early as they did in the past. I give her credit for getting

:34:26. > :34:28.there. This could be a big turning point in her career. Williams is

:34:29. > :35:29.playing tight right now. Half a dozen errors now from Serena.

:35:30. > :36:02.We know Pavlyuchenkova has got another gear and so does Serena.

:36:03. > :36:15.Well, she was not in a mood to mess around. Understandably so. She was

:36:16. > :36:18.not quite sure to hit the forehand or the overhead. When it bounced

:36:19. > :36:28.high enough she could hit the overhead.

:36:29. > :36:40.That serve is the greatest shot in sport on the women's side. It is an

:36:41. > :36:56.unbelievable weapon for her. UMPIRE: Miss Pavlyuchenkova is

:36:57. > :37:11.challenging the call. The call was in. One of the great serve errors of

:37:12. > :37:15.all time. And in times of stress it is great to be able to have that to

:37:16. > :37:35.rely on. UMPIRE: Miss Pavlyuchenkova has two challenges remaining.

:37:36. > :37:43.I have never seen a player comeback from the brink of defeat as often as

:37:44. > :38:32.Serena Williams, whether it is set down on match point.

:38:33. > :38:37.Still she really cannot assert her dominance. She is giving as good as

:38:38. > :38:57.she is giving herself. Choice of shot? I liked the first

:38:58. > :39:00.one, the second where she could have attacked the volley. It is the most

:39:01. > :39:03.difficult shot that I have ever tried. You do not practice that very

:39:04. > :39:22.often. Let's go hit some volley lob is over

:39:23. > :39:29.somebody at the net! Nick Kyrgios might try that.

:39:30. > :40:00.But Pavlyuchenkova is starting to hit the ball better.

:40:01. > :40:12.It was too inviting in the end. Serena has hesitated at times here

:40:13. > :40:17.early. Stress and nerves are part of that, but she is starting to get her

:40:18. > :40:19.movement more comfortable and flowing forward. It will pay

:40:20. > :40:45.dividends. Still no brakes. You talked about

:40:46. > :40:50.stress early on and there was all this about the 22nd slam. Does that

:40:51. > :40:58.manifested itself in between matches rather than during matches but Kumar

:40:59. > :41:03.she is not thinking 22nd slam now? It is hard when it is something

:41:04. > :41:10.people are talking about constantly. When her mother gives her a piece of

:41:11. > :41:19.motherly advice, try to take your mind of the sport of tennis. Let's

:41:20. > :41:23.face it, she is chasing history. This is about being the best player

:41:24. > :41:31.in the history of the sport, no questions asked. There will be

:41:32. > :41:45.others who will say, you have not got to Stephanie Graf yet. She is so

:41:46. > :41:50.close. It would be bitterly disappointing. He has turned things

:41:51. > :41:58.around for her, got her to be more focused and more consistently ready

:41:59. > :41:59.and more fit to play more regularly. That is a partnership that has

:42:00. > :42:18.worked really well. She understands the nuances, the

:42:19. > :42:24.strategy, the position of the grass court. Obviously, she has played so

:42:25. > :42:34.many matches on this Centre Court for starters.

:42:35. > :42:37.I anticipate that very shortly she will take advantage of that

:42:38. > :43:05.experience. The ball kicked up pretty high. The

:43:06. > :43:29.court is firming up a bit. If I am playing Serena Williams, I

:43:30. > :43:38.want her to hit kick serves, not coming in with a lots of pace. A

:43:39. > :43:57.sliced serve into the body is more deadly than the kick.

:43:58. > :44:33.Yes, and this mediocre year that she has had, 28 wins, four losses.

:44:34. > :44:43.Anyone in the game would love that! The last that hit her was when she

:44:44. > :44:49.did not win the slam in the semis. She did not play at all for three or

:44:50. > :45:21.four months. She could not get over it.

:45:22. > :45:29.As you expect right here she is going to ramp up the pressure. The

:45:30. > :45:32.return set up that easy winner. You do not want to be hitting too many

:45:33. > :45:45.77 mph service. Things have tightened up right here

:45:46. > :45:50.for Pavlyuchenkova. I would try to hit a couple of servers like that

:45:51. > :46:09.and make sure the first one comes in now. Easier said than done!

:46:10. > :46:19.She had to go for it. Feeling stress and real pressure for the first

:46:20. > :46:23.time. That is an example where maybe she does not understand the geometry

:46:24. > :46:25.of the court. She found herself with less time than she wanted and she is

:46:26. > :46:52.trouble now. A massive return. But it was

:46:53. > :47:03.altogether a dominant game from Williams.

:47:04. > :47:15.SUE BARKER: We will be back to see Serena served for this set in a

:47:16. > :47:21.moment. On Court Number One Elena Vesnina has a break of serve against

:47:22. > :47:28.her from Dominika Cibulkova. At the moment it is going the Russian's

:47:29. > :47:40.way. She is a break of serve up. That match is on BBC Two. Back we go

:47:41. > :47:43.to Centre Court. So, the dimensions of the match

:47:44. > :47:53.change fundamentally in a couple of minutes. To me it felt like her

:47:54. > :47:58.return destroyed the second serve. All of said on the score is four

:47:59. > :48:04.all. She felt like she had to go to it a little bit too much. She has

:48:05. > :48:10.not been out there before and experienced the magnitude of what

:48:11. > :48:15.she has got a shot of doing. It would put herself in a whole new

:48:16. > :48:16.league. We have talked about her being a potential top ten player and

:48:17. > :48:34.this would do it. That was 120 miles an hour. The a

:48:35. > :48:35.game is coming out. It is when you can keep something in your back

:48:36. > :48:47.pocket. It will bring some smiles to the

:48:48. > :49:00.Serena Williams camp. It is amazing that presents she has

:49:01. > :49:29.got, the intimidation factor. UMPIRE: Game and first set to miss

:49:30. > :49:32.Williams. When Williams teamed up with Patrick a few people raised

:49:33. > :49:36.their eyebrows and thought, what is going on here? There was a

:49:37. > :49:41.documentary a couple of minutes ago and in it Patrick was saying that

:49:42. > :49:47.what he is amazed that is the life instinct that Serena has. When she

:49:48. > :49:51.is close to dying she finds something incredible. We call it

:49:52. > :49:58.also the killer instinct. She has got that in all types of different

:49:59. > :50:04.ways. Players sent that. They believe she has got is absolutely

:50:05. > :50:07.amazing. It is not just her serve. I call it the greatest weapon in

:50:08. > :50:14.sports history, that might be followed by her will and her belief

:50:15. > :50:19.in herself. I am talking about one of the great athletes we have ever

:50:20. > :50:24.seen on a tennis court, one of the most powerful athletes you have ever

:50:25. > :50:32.seen to pick up a tennis racket and these players feel that at the

:50:33. > :50:37.bigger moments. Somehow she gets more calm as the other players get

:50:38. > :50:43.more anxious, time and time again. She seems to have got more calm with

:50:44. > :50:51.Patrick. The results are even better since they teamed up. You are right.

:50:52. > :50:56.Why? I do not know if any of us will ever know the answer to that

:50:57. > :50:57.question. But for whatever reason the timing has worked out

:50:58. > :51:26.spectacularly. It is difficult now for

:51:27. > :51:28.Pavlyuchenkova. Does she go for even more because she is feeling batted

:51:29. > :51:53.around? Serena actually has not played that

:51:54. > :51:59.great yet. It is her presence and her reputation in a way. It was her

:52:00. > :52:11.serve that won her the first set. She has got another gear.

:52:12. > :52:16.She needs to get a bit of luck, hit a few lines and get a few easy

:52:17. > :53:14.points. Or some power. Her power is awesome.

:53:15. > :53:37.Pavlyuchenkova should stick with it. Keep competing.

:53:38. > :53:45.You absolutely source arena move across court and right here this was

:53:46. > :54:46.a slick approach with some spin on it. She sees it coming.

:54:47. > :54:53.At the moment she has got more time to operate. That is adding to this

:54:54. > :54:54.young lady from Russia's stress level, which was pretty high to

:54:55. > :55:02.begin with. That was called out. Immediately it

:55:03. > :55:54.is challenged. Did you wished you had Hawk-Eye when

:55:55. > :55:59.you were playing? I would say that phrase, you cannot be serious, that

:56:00. > :56:08.you even ask it. Who would you have had to row with? Ilie Nastase, who I

:56:09. > :56:14.learned a few tricks from, has something to say about officiating

:56:15. > :56:20.and he would say, he called me macaroni. We would have found

:56:21. > :56:26.somebody, started challenging ourselves. Pavlyuchenkova got away

:56:27. > :57:25.with that game really. That was good from Pavlyuchenkova.

:57:26. > :57:35.Towed to toe and she came out on top. She may be able to get

:57:36. > :57:52.something going. She just needs a little bit of time to operate.

:57:53. > :57:56.If she gets more aggressive of Serena's second serve, she has been

:57:57. > :58:24.kicking more serves. She has been a little lucky twice.

:58:25. > :58:26.Earlier on it hit the side of the line. Pavlyuchenkova was unlucky not

:58:27. > :59:16.to win that point. Pretty comfortable hold. Well,

:59:17. > :59:19.clearly point of Pavlyuchenkova's game plan is to bring Serena

:59:20. > :59:29.Williams into the net with that rock shelter. -- with that rock shot. She

:59:30. > :59:43.has got to pick the right time to pull that off, the surprise tactic.

:59:44. > :59:54.But she has had the right approach. That first serve, taking a little

:59:55. > :00:02.bit off, getting it up above 76%, that is high, that is good. Not

:00:03. > :01:11.giving Serena Williams too many looks at a second serve.

:01:12. > :01:22.Yeah, a little clenched fist, she is back on track.

:01:23. > :01:27.There is a danger that she might have been hammered into submission

:01:28. > :01:34.at the end of the first set, but she has come out strong at the start of

:01:35. > :01:41.the second. You wonder if her coach can have the type of impact that

:01:42. > :01:47.perhaps you would look at Magnus Norman, who was with Rob and so

:01:48. > :01:50.dulling, and he was unable to continue playing and became

:01:51. > :01:56.available, turned around Stan Wawrinka's career and made him a

:01:57. > :02:00.great player. This young 25-year-old may be in the same position. You

:02:01. > :02:11.mentioned the word underachiever earlier in the telecast, which might

:02:12. > :02:16.apply to publishing -- Pavlyuchenkova. Now she seems more

:02:17. > :02:19.committed to doing what it takes to reach her potential. Maria

:02:20. > :02:27.Sharapova, who he had worked with over a number of years as a hitting

:02:28. > :02:30.partner, after a drug suspension, he becomes available. He is playing the

:02:31. > :02:58.best tennis of her life. The call was corrected. No

:02:59. > :03:30.challenge. It was clearly in, no way that she was going to touch that.

:03:31. > :03:37.That is a terrific forehand on the run.

:03:38. > :03:52.Strong legs, beefy thighs, able to get a pop on that forehand and

:03:53. > :04:04.backhand. Discouraging when you play a point like you just did, you turn

:04:05. > :04:13.around, it is a great serve again. Jess Glynne, one of her songs is

:04:14. > :04:22.Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself, Serena is sometimes guilty of that.

:04:23. > :04:36.Noticed that she can't that ball off, angled forward, beautifully

:04:37. > :05:14.done. -- she cut. Serena accents that second double.

:05:15. > :05:23.-- accepts. Google sometimes these dresses are too short, you saw it

:05:24. > :05:30.puzzling -- pushing it down between first and second serve. Another big

:05:31. > :05:53.forehand from Pavlyuchenkova. Cannot do it.

:05:54. > :06:14.Wow, a couple of doubles in the game.

:06:15. > :06:35.A real physic, 118, timely. -- fizzer.

:06:36. > :06:46.Same story, John! She is absolutely brilliant at mixing up the Serbs and

:06:47. > :06:51.being unpredictable. That makes it even doubly difficult to be able to

:06:52. > :07:38.break her serve. -- mixing up the serves.

:07:39. > :07:42.It is the sheer pace of the shot, not surprising she called that a

:07:43. > :08:12.little late. -- she caught. Correction! Replay the point. She

:08:13. > :08:13.was on top of the rally after that. She was certainly in the winning

:08:14. > :08:58.position. UMPIRE: Net, second service. Too

:08:59. > :09:13.much for some! Hello! Is a listening to our commentary?

:09:14. > :09:48.Try to compete here, stay ahead, for the first time maybe the pressure

:09:49. > :09:58.will be on Serena Williams' shoulders if she can hang in there

:09:59. > :10:02.for a couple more service games. Oh, yes, spectacular! And she is ahead

:10:03. > :10:19.again. SUE BARKER: Still very competitive,

:10:20. > :10:23.Pavlyuchenkova. Over on course number one, Helene Vesnina has taken

:10:24. > :10:29.the first set from Dominika Cibulkova, and this is how she did

:10:30. > :10:35.it. 6-2, it is all going her way now, maybe that long hard match with

:10:36. > :10:38.Cibulkova, where she said it was the toughest she had ever played

:10:39. > :10:46.physically, maybe that has taken its toll. She has got a long way to go,

:10:47. > :10:52.that is over on BBC Two. Back we go to Centre Court.

:10:53. > :10:59.COMMENTATOR: And it is commendable, from Pavlyuchenkova, to stay as

:11:00. > :11:03.strong as she did in the second set. Losing the first, she could have

:11:04. > :11:09.died fairly quickly, but it hasn't happened. We saw Murray and Kyrgios

:11:10. > :11:15.playing closely, perhaps a similar game from Kyrgios than the one that

:11:16. > :11:21.we saw Pavlyuchenkova lose, and here she is, she is battling hard,

:11:22. > :11:27.putting in extra effort instead of less effort, that is what was so

:11:28. > :11:31.disappointing with Kyrgios - a lot of it, I would say, had to do with

:11:32. > :11:36.the quality of what Murray was throwing at him, as Serena is doing

:11:37. > :11:38.now, but you have to give her credit for making this actually pretty

:11:39. > :11:53.competitive match. Do not get discouraged when the ball

:11:54. > :11:54.keeps going by you and serve. Nine for the match, 48 now for Serena

:11:55. > :12:34.Williams in the tournament. 49! Just throwing in the old double now,

:12:35. > :12:38.but it is the first serve that is having an extraordinary effect. As

:12:39. > :12:49.you can see... She has cropped just four points on

:12:50. > :13:14.her first serve. -- she has dropped. To me, there is a noticeable gap in

:13:15. > :13:18.the quality of serve with what we have seen in the past. There was not

:13:19. > :13:43.a whole lot on that serve, Pavlyuchenkova attacked it.

:13:44. > :13:51.123 mph serve, should have finished it earlier. Great play from

:13:52. > :13:56.Pavlyuchenkova. Unrewarded this time. Fastest serve of the

:13:57. > :14:31.tournament tied right there. What a stretch! Just at the very

:14:32. > :14:38.edge of the stretch, and they like it in there. Patrick likes to be

:14:39. > :14:44.aggressive, and she was, she is so athletic. She got the racquet on it,

:14:45. > :14:54.but look at her openly face, that was a shot she actually meant to

:14:55. > :15:09.hit. -- open the face. High-quality match now.

:15:10. > :15:20.APPLAUSE A sweet ball from Pavlyuchenkova

:15:21. > :15:50.right now. She pulled up a little bit too early

:15:51. > :15:57.there, got to stay down with that drop volley.

:15:58. > :16:16.Tough shots to hit with new balls. Ball coming at you pretty quickly.

:16:17. > :16:32.That is an easier shot to hit. Not much held back there, you could hear

:16:33. > :16:37.the noise! That was right in her wheelhouse, not going to get away

:16:38. > :17:21.with a whole lot of second serves like that.

:17:22. > :17:29.You could see Serena really wanted to take that one on. Excellent serve

:17:30. > :17:55.into the body, jammed her just enough.

:17:56. > :18:05.She is ahead once again in the second set.

:18:06. > :18:13.It is amazing, what has happened in this tournament, because there has

:18:14. > :18:16.been no sign of it coming. 3/4-finals, Brisbane, St Petersburg,

:18:17. > :18:27.Acapulco, their last five matches in a row. -- three quarterfinals. Then

:18:28. > :18:35.it is lived. There is no rational reason to explain it. She battled

:18:36. > :18:40.through conditions that were making life difficult for everyone, the

:18:41. > :18:45.fans, particularly the players - a lot of wind and rain, a lot of

:18:46. > :18:49.delays. It says a lot about her character and the player that she is

:18:50. > :18:54.now that she is able to fight through this and finally be able to

:18:55. > :18:59.play the type of tennis that we kept waiting to see, especially after

:19:00. > :19:09.that early success five or six years ago when she had reached a couple of

:19:10. > :19:15.quarters. Fortuitous that a new coach has arrived on the scene, and

:19:16. > :19:18.she seems to have bought into the belief, understandably, that you

:19:19. > :19:25.need to be supremely fit to compete at the highest level. She is moving

:19:26. > :19:37.noticeably better than I have seen her for years. Any way to keep in

:19:38. > :19:41.the shade, it is warm today. I heard that the temperature might get up to

:19:42. > :19:44.2425, that would be a revelation. I'm not sure what it is right now.

:19:45. > :20:44.-- 24 or 25. Only one in the entire match, Serena

:20:45. > :20:45.Williams capitalised at 4-4, Pavlyuchenkova yet to have a chance

:20:46. > :21:01.to break. She is about to be feeling the

:21:02. > :21:04.pressure again, it is about to be 4-4, the position she was in the

:21:05. > :21:23.first set when she lost serve. Serena looking at the umpire to see

:21:24. > :21:30.if she thought it was out as she caught it, one eye on the ball, one

:21:31. > :21:35.eye on him. A bit more breeze at the moment. Yeah, it makes it tougher to

:21:36. > :21:46.serve, for sure, when it gets breezy.

:21:47. > :22:28.Needs a bit of luck, sure got it in there!

:22:29. > :22:38.Well, threatened there, but no break points, 4-4. He will be particularly

:22:39. > :22:43.pleased that William, throughout the tournament, has stayed calm,

:22:44. > :22:47.whatever the situation. She got into some trouble against Kristiina

:22:48. > :22:52.Makela but stayed calm through it. She has been struggling with some

:22:53. > :22:59.inner demons, trying to enjoy the experience a bit more. She might be

:23:00. > :23:08.enjoying things a whole lot more after this game, step it up here.

:23:09. > :24:09.That was a chance. So quiet on the court, you could

:24:10. > :24:11.hear Pavlyuchenkova's heart beating. She needs to hang in here somehow,

:24:12. > :24:46.extend this. She is facing break point for the

:24:47. > :25:02.second time. Sure enough, lightning does strike

:25:03. > :25:17.twice in the same place. I often talk to players and watch a

:25:18. > :25:25.lot of matches, obviously, and players have become already is and,

:25:26. > :25:28.not willing to move forward. It is understanding Dominic

:25:29. > :25:35.understandable, but when you look at... That was a case of nerves,

:25:36. > :25:40.somebody who may be gets, in a situation like this, someone who

:25:41. > :25:44.gets much more anxious. If you get more aggressive and that player is

:25:45. > :25:50.feeling tension, she is not able to hit her shots, or dare I say move

:25:51. > :25:54.forward, make them hit eight other passing shot, you could see that

:25:55. > :26:00.would be more difficult for her to do pretty much anything at this

:26:01. > :26:05.stage. She did not even have to take a chance, Serena. 177 successive

:26:06. > :26:09.weeks at number one, if she wins today, she will go number one in the

:26:10. > :26:19.world again on Monday for yet another week. Otherwise, if she

:26:20. > :26:32.loses, Kerber has to win the title to overtake her. Serena Williams

:26:33. > :26:44.getting closer to tying Steffi Graf with her singles record.

:26:45. > :27:27.Serena will love that, lightning shot. It was a lightning strike by

:27:28. > :27:29.Serena in that volley which went wide, and that is why she is jumping

:27:30. > :28:26.for joy, 30-0. Listen to that, the biggest come on

:28:27. > :28:31.she has given, and that was quite restrained. Two match points for the

:28:32. > :29:07.world's best. Skidded off the ground. No way of

:29:08. > :29:09.getting that back. There is a couple of worn patches back there that did

:29:10. > :29:25.not help. UMPIRE: Game, set, match, miss

:29:26. > :29:31.Williams. Why not finish like that? 123mph ace, another super

:29:32. > :29:40.performance. It seems that she is getting better and better.

:29:41. > :29:50.Pavlyuchenkova fought gamely but in the end, two if the games and that

:29:51. > :30:00.was enough. And Serena completely dominated. -- two iffy games. That

:30:01. > :30:04.is the intimidation factor. Williams just did to Pavlyuchenkova what she

:30:05. > :30:08.has done to many an opponent. She stepped up when she needed two and

:30:09. > :30:16.served incredibly well. She was able to take away confidence from the

:30:17. > :30:20.Russian, who had got to a Wimbledon quarter for the first time. She will

:30:21. > :30:29.be liking what she is seeing because at the moment, she is going to play

:30:30. > :30:34.another person who has never been in that position. Pavlyuchenkova,

:30:35. > :30:37.hopefully we will see more of her because she has obtusely improved

:30:38. > :30:44.and she has the credentials to do really well. No question. She has a

:30:45. > :30:47.lot to be proud of. She is headed in the right direction and she

:30:48. > :30:54.continues to dedicate herself, so there is no question in my mind that

:30:55. > :31:00.she will have bigger results. It is a tall order to deal with Serena

:31:01. > :31:03.Williams. A really tall order, especially on the Wimbledon Centre

:31:04. > :31:10.Court. She looked utterly commanding in a couple of the Slams that she

:31:11. > :31:16.has missed out on. Right now she looks the best player by a country

:31:17. > :31:19.mile. I think Angelique Kerber has shown that she has the athletic

:31:20. > :31:28.ability to stay with Serena on a hard court. It is not an

:31:29. > :31:36.impossibility, given that she has done it so low as well. At the end

:31:37. > :31:43.of January, whatever. Venus Williams, Serena Williams looks like

:31:44. > :31:48.there is a real possibility that will happen. We never thought that

:31:49. > :31:54.would happen, that they would play again in a finals of a Grand Slam.

:31:55. > :32:01.What do you know? She looks pretty happy as she goes off. She has

:32:02. > :32:10.finished every match she has played in really fine style. 6-0, the

:32:11. > :32:17.second set against Annika Beck and year against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

:32:18. > :32:21.And she finishes with a flourish here. Serena through to get another

:32:22. > :32:26.semifinal. She is courtside now with Gary Richardson. Congratulations.

:32:27. > :32:31.Your reaction on winning through to another semifinal? It is good. I am

:32:32. > :32:35.excited to have been able to win that one and get through. It felt

:32:36. > :32:38.really good. And as you were starting, your sister was just

:32:39. > :32:46.finishing. How long before you knew she had won? I knew she was up

:32:47. > :32:53.5-105- two, and then I saw on the court, they always show the score,

:32:54. > :32:56.and so I was like, yes. And did that make you want to get through because

:32:57. > :33:03.you knew you could meet in the final? One thing I have learned this

:33:04. > :33:06.year is just to focus on the match. When you go home this evening, how

:33:07. > :33:11.much will you talk about your respective matches to date? How much

:33:12. > :33:15.do you talk about what he did at work today? We do not talk too much.

:33:16. > :33:19.We are actually playing doubles later today so regardless, we are

:33:20. > :33:23.just happy to be both in the semifinals. That is so cool. And

:33:24. > :33:27.lastly, what a thing for your family if you both make it through to the

:33:28. > :33:33.final. It would be great. Obviously she is such a tough opponent but I

:33:34. > :33:37.want to win so bad, not in the final, if I am there, but if I am

:33:38. > :33:43.not there, I desperately want her to win. Go off and play your doubles.

:33:44. > :33:48.Thanks for calling in. SUE BARKER: They are busy family.

:33:49. > :33:52.Heading to an outside court for that doubles match but Serena very much

:33:53. > :33:58.at home on Centre Court once again. She has had a busy few days, laying

:33:59. > :34:01.on Sunday as well. But she is just getting better and better and like

:34:02. > :34:06.the great champions do, she raises her game when it matters. Serena is

:34:07. > :34:12.through to the last four and the Centre Court crowd really

:34:13. > :34:18.appreciating the performance. Let's get a brief reaction from John in

:34:19. > :34:22.the commentary box. You were talking about it there, a great champion

:34:23. > :34:29.raises their game when it matters. How do they do that? Well, I think

:34:30. > :34:33.you have to sense the moment and seize the moment. The great players

:34:34. > :34:37.do it more consistently and better. They are able to sense when it is

:34:38. > :34:42.time to step up. They also sense when there opponent is more

:34:43. > :34:47.vulnerable. Serena could tell that her opponent had tightened up and

:34:48. > :34:51.she seized on that. The truth is that Serena has the second best

:34:52. > :34:55.thing I have ever seen in the women's game, will and competitive

:34:56. > :34:59.fire, her belief in herself. That just comes across. I am here in the

:35:00. > :35:04.commentary box and I can feel it on the court. I know that her opponents

:35:05. > :35:10.feel it big time. It is incredible, and Venus as well, 36 years of age,

:35:11. > :35:13.and the illness she has had with her autoimmune disorder, she comes back

:35:14. > :35:18.and she still has that passion and intensity to be out there and loving

:35:19. > :35:21.it. Well, she is the greatest thing that ever happened to Serena

:35:22. > :35:25.Williams, Venus Williams, a tremendous older sister. I would not

:35:26. > :35:29.have been nearly as good if Patrick, my brother, had been that good. God

:35:30. > :35:34.bless her for being able to do what she has been able to do, and people

:35:35. > :35:37.sometimes forget that she has won Wimbledon five times and she is

:35:38. > :35:43.almost an afterthought compared to Serena. I know in the female locker

:35:44. > :35:47.rooms and in the men's locker room, a lot of people are calling for

:35:48. > :35:51.Venus to somehow miraculously pull off one more. I thought they had

:35:52. > :35:56.come and gone but she is right there with a shot. And maybe a final, some

:35:57. > :36:00.people find it difficult to know who to pool for but I think that was

:36:01. > :36:05.years ago and now we just appreciate two great champions going head to

:36:06. > :36:09.head. I think you hit the nail on the head. Venus has been through so

:36:10. > :36:13.much and at times you have wondered whether she could compete at the

:36:14. > :36:19.level we were expecting. The fact that she is in the semis, she goes

:36:20. > :36:22.in as an underdog against Angelique Kerber, but she certainly has a

:36:23. > :36:29.shot. The illness and fatigue that she suffered from, it is the least

:36:30. > :36:32.important major that she has to deal with, to be able to play at the

:36:33. > :36:35.level she needs to play at physically, and she has a better

:36:36. > :36:40.shot here than anywhere else. Mentally, this is where she excels

:36:41. > :36:45.and is more comfortable. She says it is like coming home. And you very

:36:46. > :36:51.much, John. So the quarterfinals, three of them have been completed.

:36:52. > :36:55.Still want to go on Court Number One but let's remind you what happened

:36:56. > :37:01.earlier on Centre Court. Angelique Kerber, serving at match point over

:37:02. > :37:06.Simona Halep, the number four seed against the number five seed. During

:37:07. > :37:13.the match, they played those long rallies but Kerber was the more

:37:14. > :37:17.attacking and she took both sets, 7-5, 7-6. Angelique Kerber is

:37:18. > :37:21.through to the semifinals at Wimbledon and she is the Australian

:37:22. > :37:25.Open champion. The Centre Court crowd thoroughly enjoying that

:37:26. > :37:28.match. So she is through to face Venus Williams and we were just

:37:29. > :37:36.talking about her. She has been through a couple of tough 3-set

:37:37. > :37:43.matches in the tournament so far, but she had no problems with

:37:44. > :37:47.Yaroslava Shvedova. 7-6, 6-2 she goes through. So Venus Williams,

:37:48. > :37:52.five-time champion, you will never see a bigger smile than that. She

:37:53. > :37:57.thoroughly enjoyed her time on Court Number One. Back in the big-time,

:37:58. > :38:02.Venus. And this is what is happening in the fourth match and it is

:38:03. > :38:06.Dominika Cibulkova, really struggling up against Elena Vesnina.

:38:07. > :38:11.Both of them have matches that went 9-7 yesterday. Cibulkova's was so

:38:12. > :38:19.draining and it does not look like she has much in the tank today. 6-2,

:38:20. > :38:25.4-1, Elena Vesnina in control. She will go through to face Serena

:38:26. > :38:28.Williams with two more games. So we are going to take you to a Men's

:38:29. > :38:32.Doubles match which was completed today. This is where they had to

:38:33. > :38:38.start with Jamie Murray, the number one doubles player in the world, and

:38:39. > :38:44.his partner Bruno Suarez, they are the Australian Open champions, and

:38:45. > :38:48.they were up against Michael Venus and Matt Pavic. And we will join it

:38:49. > :39:09.in the final set, 13-13. One of the biggest things that

:39:10. > :39:13.Murray and Suarez have to their advantage is an excellent coach, who

:39:14. > :39:21.will be around the venue somewhere watching. He is a master tactician.

:39:22. > :39:28.He will have given them some good advice. There is no one better at

:39:29. > :39:33.the net in that position than Jamie Murray in world doubles. And there

:39:34. > :39:44.is their coach. Down the channel, shovelling inland

:39:45. > :40:22.slightly. Bruno Suarez does not have the

:40:23. > :40:26.biggest of service, standing five foot 11. But he has served

:40:27. > :40:40.effectively and with his wing man at the net, he is quite a force.

:40:41. > :41:04.As it is the 14-13 scoreline, they are committed the full sit down

:41:05. > :41:07.allowance at the change of ends. If it was the first game of the set,

:41:08. > :41:13.they would be forced to walk around. It is a floor of the rules. If they

:41:14. > :41:17.have had a night off, they should really come back and go straight

:41:18. > :41:22.round and carry on. You would think so but imagine if it went longer,

:41:23. > :41:26.they would need those breasts. Almost five hours on Court. But

:41:27. > :41:29.because it is a fresh day, you could argue that. They have had eight

:41:30. > :41:34.hours of shuteye now and a five-minute warm up. Five points and

:41:35. > :41:40.they are sitting down. But thankfully both are up and ready to

:41:41. > :41:54.resume. Serving to stay in the match.

:41:55. > :41:57.Pretty breezy out there. You can see from the players' shirts blowing

:41:58. > :42:11.around. That was a chance for Soares. And he

:42:12. > :42:53.knows it. And in a nutshell, this team here,

:42:54. > :43:01.Mario Soares, 37 doubles titles to their name. -- Murray and Soares.

:43:02. > :43:03.The other two not so long in the tooth, not so experienced and 23 and

:43:04. > :43:21.27. A good start for Pavic and Venus.

:43:22. > :43:37.These two have won four titles this year. Runners up in nice. Murray and

:43:38. > :43:40.Soares, of course, backing the Australian Open. Grand Slam winners

:43:41. > :44:22.at the top of the year. Right back to Jamie Murray's feet, a

:44:23. > :44:25.good return. These two are ever dangerous in return because once

:44:26. > :44:26.they gel together and they are free swimming and playing with abandon,

:44:27. > :44:47.they are so dangerous. They are being a little more

:44:48. > :44:55.adventurous on return, a bit less planned and more inspirational.

:44:56. > :44:58.Pavic beating himself up for Billy after that mess. A very good second

:44:59. > :45:07.serve from Jamie Murray. -- beating himself up audibly after

:45:08. > :45:34.that miss. He has overcooked that one. The

:45:35. > :45:42.eighth double fault from the payer. The tension is almost palpable. A

:45:43. > :45:43.bit like at the start of the match, the players want to hold on to

:45:44. > :45:56.serve. Another first serve fails to hit the

:45:57. > :46:10.mark so Jamie Murray has to make doubly sure of this one.

:46:11. > :46:17.You imagine Pavic will be doing is not there. Two second serves and he

:46:18. > :46:34.has missed both returns. -- doing his not.

:46:35. > :46:48.Back in front and leading 15-14. Getting on for two hours for this

:46:49. > :46:54.final set alone. And we are about to hit the five-hour mark for the

:46:55. > :47:02.duration of the match. Four hours and 59 minutes. Michael Venus, the

:47:03. > :47:10.New Zealander, the only man who has not, out with serve yet. He is on

:47:11. > :47:13.duty next. Can Soares and Murray take advantage of this opening

:47:14. > :47:19.service game today. That is the question. Jamie Murray looks a

:47:20. > :47:21.little bit more menacing today with those shades on. It is considerably

:47:22. > :48:08.brighter. A row from the Court 17 crowd. -- a

:48:09. > :48:15.roar. And the maturation reaches five hours on the dot. Spread over

:48:16. > :48:32.two days. -- the match duration. Is this the beginning of the end?

:48:33. > :48:41.And of course it is all about energy and intensity and trying to make

:48:42. > :48:43.your opponents look small because you are bouncing everywhere. They

:48:44. > :49:00.have to get big edge here, these guys. They need to stay pumped up. A

:49:01. > :49:06.good finish from Bruno Soares. Steadying himself rock solid with

:49:07. > :49:12.his footwork, and thumping it away. And you would imagine that walking

:49:13. > :49:18.away last night, they are going with this set play and that, just to

:49:19. > :49:30.cover all the corners. Two points away.

:49:31. > :49:37.Just a little slip on the dust. The Brazilian was flat on his back for a

:49:38. > :49:50.brief moment. That is out and all of a sudden

:49:51. > :50:04.Murray and Soares have a match point. It is their third match point

:50:05. > :50:10.of the match. Huge pressure on Michael Venus, the New Zealander.

:50:11. > :50:18.Match point. And it is a good return. UMPIRE: The game, set and

:50:19. > :50:23.match Murray and Soares. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares has come

:50:24. > :50:29.through a marathon encounter on the right side of the scoreboard,

:50:30. > :50:35.defeating patridge and Venus in five hours and five sets, 16-14 in the

:50:36. > :50:41.decider. It started yesterday, and 90% of it was yesterday. The last 5%

:50:42. > :50:50.stake in Kirov on this Tuesday afternoon. -- the last 5% taken

:50:51. > :50:56.Kirov on this Tuesday afternoon. SUE BARKER: Also good news for Britain's

:50:57. > :51:03.Johnny married, he is through to the quarterfinals. And remember Johnny,

:51:04. > :51:07.he came in as a wild card in 2012 and won the doubles with Frederick

:51:08. > :51:14.Nielsen. Two Brits going well in the doubles. And now we will take you to

:51:15. > :51:18.a match that had to be completed on Court number three today and what

:51:19. > :51:23.drama we saw last night in this fourth round match with Jiri Vesely

:51:24. > :51:27.and Tomas Berdych locked in battle. The match did not finish until after

:51:28. > :51:32.nine and it was almost dark. Tomas Berdych at five match points but

:51:33. > :51:35.fails to take them. Vesely took that forced to set tie-break. We join

:51:36. > :51:39.them at the start of the fifth set and our commentators out on Court

:51:40. > :52:26.three are Jamie Becker and Ronald McIntosh.

:52:27. > :52:39.An uncharacteristic slow start to begin a service game from Jiri

:52:40. > :52:44.Vesely. Berdych taking the early advantage in getting ahead of 30. --

:52:45. > :53:11.getting ahead 0-30. My goodness, the mis-hit was audible

:53:12. > :53:21.from our commentary box. Bringing up three break points.

:53:22. > :53:46.Seeing off the first one with the 22nd ace of the match.

:53:47. > :54:10.A dream start for Berdych. Can he consolidate? By holding serve office

:54:11. > :54:59.on. -- of his own. In stark contrast to yesterday,

:55:00. > :57:00.Vesely's radar is just a little awry at the beginning of this set.

:57:01. > :57:34.A 16 stroke rally approaching the longest of the match.

:57:35. > :57:48.No mistake. Building on that fantastic serve and forehand

:57:49. > :57:54.combination. This is the tactic that really changed the momentum of the

:57:55. > :57:59.match yesterday. In that second set, Berdych taking control of the points

:58:00. > :58:10.coming forward. He consolidates the break.

:58:11. > :58:16.Signs of frustration evident in the body language of Jiri Vesely. We did

:58:17. > :58:20.not see any of that yesterday, particularly at the conclusion of

:58:21. > :58:25.that tie-break. Bind on his own serve again here. -- behind on his

:58:26. > :58:35.own serve. That was a confident leave from

:58:36. > :59:45.personally, pretty close from our commentary box. -- from Vesely.

:59:46. > :59:54.Just agonisingly short from Vesely's point of view. He did have lots of

:59:55. > :59:59.success with this tactic yesterday, and that one, that felt good in the

:00:00. > :00:16.air, but just not quite enough on it.

:00:17. > :00:33.So Vesely hold serve for the first time in the deciding set. -- holds.

:00:34. > :00:41.Well, on what is the sixth anniversary of Tomas Berdych's

:00:42. > :00:49.abiding presence in the top ten, he has been ever present in that

:00:50. > :00:54.rarefied echelon of tennis players since 2010, the 5th of July 2010,

:00:55. > :00:58.perhaps we can expand a little bit more on that extraordinary tie-break

:00:59. > :01:04.yesterday. It was so dark, it didn't include until 21 minutes past nine,

:01:05. > :01:10.and in the midst of the tie-break Hawk-Eye was no longer an option.

:01:11. > :01:16.Even before the tie-break, Hawk-Eye was taken away, that is how dark it

:01:17. > :01:24.became! So much drama. It was Vesely who rattled off the first fistful of

:01:25. > :01:29.points to lead 6-1, then Berdych had six in reply, to have his fourth

:01:30. > :01:34.match point, then another match point at 9-8, and eventually on his

:01:35. > :01:39.seventh set point it was Vesely who prevailed. Berdych wasn't best

:01:40. > :01:43.pleased, Vesely was absolutely elated. So here we are, that is how

:01:44. > :01:49.we have arrived at this second day resumption, Vesely find themselves

:01:50. > :02:02.trailing by a break, Berdych serving, fourth game, 2-1.

:02:03. > :02:21.Finding a very good angle on the back hand. The approach to the net

:02:22. > :03:00.proving to be an effective tactic for Berdych.

:03:01. > :03:08.Terrific battling by Vesely, but is Berdych making no mistake with those

:03:09. > :03:13.overheads. Well, this really has been a dream start for Tomas

:03:14. > :03:17.Berdych, gifted the break, in that first game, allowing him to have the

:03:18. > :03:18.confidence and the freedom to open up his shoulders, come forward into

:03:19. > :03:56.the net. He is beginning to feel it now,

:03:57. > :04:02.using that tactic to good effect yesterday, executed to perfection

:04:03. > :04:06.there. Yeah, he has a lot of success when he pins Tomas Berdych into the

:04:07. > :05:22.backhand corner, the first example of him executing that tactic today.

:05:23. > :05:31.Well, terrific lead times from Vesely, putting Berdych on the ropes

:05:32. > :05:35.immediately. -- terrifically. A good example of the backhand being very

:05:36. > :05:42.flat, coming through the grass court. So three straight points by

:05:43. > :06:56.Vesely. Wonderful coverage by Tomas Berdych,

:06:57. > :07:03.hurtling up to the net to retrieve this drop shot. I'm not sure that

:07:04. > :07:07.was the correct choice shot by Vesely, he was in control, didn't

:07:08. > :07:14.need the drop shot, but nevertheless Tomas Berdych looking sharp this

:07:15. > :07:22.afternoon. A big athlete, Tomas Berdych, six feet five, 200lb,

:07:23. > :07:32.rumbled his way up to the net effectively to secure that point.

:07:33. > :07:59.He knew it as soon as it left his racquet, Berdych.

:08:00. > :08:11.Ace number 23 for Jiri Vesely. Perhaps a surprising statistic, he

:08:12. > :08:17.is leading the big serving Berdych an average speed.

:08:18. > :08:36.Well, he is definitely firing now, very sharp and do this -- onto this

:08:37. > :09:42.forehand. Well, Vesely holds serve. We

:09:43. > :09:50.discussed the drama during the tie-break, perhaps worth pointing

:09:51. > :09:56.out that Vesely staved off three match points. He was 0-40 down on

:09:57. > :10:04.his own serve in the 12th game of that fourth set, came back from then

:10:05. > :10:08.on, the momentum really in his favour, and eroded through what

:10:09. > :10:14.proved to be a 16 and a half minutes tie-break. Yeah, it was an amazing

:10:15. > :10:18.effort, and that is perhaps the disappointing thing, from Vesely's

:10:19. > :10:22.point of view - after all that drama, under normal circumstances,

:10:23. > :10:27.if the match had continued, he would have had all the momentum, but today

:10:28. > :10:32.is a new day, Berdych is time to compose himself because he was very

:10:33. > :10:36.frustrated last night, and obviously Vesely has got himself into gear

:10:37. > :10:40.now, he looks like he is back to the same type of fluidity and form as he

:10:41. > :10:46.was playing with last night. But from his point of view, it would be

:10:47. > :10:51.a real shame if Berdych did manage to serve this out, and the one break

:10:52. > :10:57.at the start of the pet set, he will be kicking himself if that is the

:10:58. > :11:00.case. That is what we appeared to be heading for yesterday, but from a

:11:01. > :11:04.tickly Berdych could not serve it out, broken in the ninth game. --

:11:05. > :11:22.but dramatically. That ended up being a really

:11:23. > :11:25.effective return! Full stretch, it almost died as a drifted over the

:11:26. > :11:42.net. Good opportunity Vesely has created

:11:43. > :12:50.for himself here now, 0-30 ahead. Big hitting baseline exchange during

:12:51. > :12:55.the course of that rally, 17 strokes long. Impressive ball striking from

:12:56. > :13:01.both players, Tomas Berdych two or three times in that rally successful

:13:02. > :13:20.with his backhand down the line, but this is not far out.

:13:21. > :14:33.So break point on the Berdych serve for the 22-year-old.

:14:34. > :14:44.And he's done it, he gets the break back. So now we are back on serve,

:14:45. > :15:02.3-3 in the deciding set. Any outward signs of frustration

:15:03. > :15:06.that Vesely has demonstrated, he has moved on quickly, he hasn't felt

:15:07. > :15:16.sorry for himself, and we are now back on serve.

:15:17. > :15:20.Four times as many as is from the racquet of Vesely compared to

:15:21. > :16:33.Berdych. -- aces. Plenty of swerve and kick on that

:16:34. > :16:51.left-handed serve, it put Berdych at full stretch, unreturnable.

:16:52. > :16:55.And again he has used variety on that serve to terrific effect, to

:16:56. > :17:36.keep Berdych guessing. He just wants to keep his focus,

:17:37. > :17:41.Vesely, at this point in the match, every single point is so important,

:17:42. > :17:45.and the way he is serving, you feel if he can get his nose in front on

:17:46. > :17:53.the scoreboard, he is going to get a great opportunity.

:17:54. > :18:04.UMPIRE: Mr Vesely is challenging the call, the ball was called in.

:18:05. > :18:19.The elected to watch this terrific return. Confirmation, what a return

:18:20. > :18:22.by Berdych. Mr Vesely has two challenges remaining. Concentration

:18:23. > :18:50.absolutely crucial at this juncture in the match.

:18:51. > :19:02.Well, he has found that out twice during his service game. And

:19:03. > :19:07.combined with the choice of watching the Berdych return bite the

:19:08. > :19:20.baseline, that is how he is facing break point here.

:19:21. > :19:35.My goodness! What a topsy-turvy service game from Erie Vesely. --

:19:36. > :19:39.Jerry Vasily. He fails to consolidate the break, he was

:19:40. > :19:45.serving like a dream at points in that service game, aces,

:19:46. > :19:51.unreturnable serves, but then electing to watch the ball bisect

:19:52. > :19:57.the baseline, and another unforced error to concede a serve. You can

:19:58. > :20:03.tell by the look on his face how disappointing that is from 40-15 up,

:20:04. > :20:07.the backhand errors, the four hand. It is just such an important point

:20:08. > :20:10.in the match, you could feel that having got the break back, the

:20:11. > :20:16.momentum was starting to swing again in his favour, and I don't know, can

:20:17. > :20:20.we put that down to tension? It is the first time he has been in the

:20:21. > :20:27.last 16, starting to get close to the finish line for the first time.

:20:28. > :20:34.It is understandable. He is going to have to respond once again, he was

:20:35. > :20:39.broken on the opening service game of set number five, battled his way

:20:40. > :20:48.to break Berdych, but then failed to consolidate the break, broken in

:20:49. > :20:50.game number seven. He is trailing again, Berdych is serving, 4-3,

:20:51. > :22:14.deciding set, new balls. Just the extra zip of the new balls

:22:15. > :22:19.leading to those two initial errors from Vesely, and on this point

:22:20. > :22:51.Berdych able to take control - no chance for Vesely.

:22:52. > :23:02.So having been broken in his previous service game, Erie Vesely

:23:03. > :23:07.faces the prospect of serving to stay in the Championships here. --

:23:08. > :24:06.he's trailing by a break, ninth game, deciding set, 3-5.

:24:07. > :24:17.Practically pummelled off the cord jeering the course of that point,

:24:18. > :24:23.Berdych pinned him. -- off the court during. We praised Vesely's

:24:24. > :24:25.resilience so far in the match, but I wonder if this is one set too many

:24:26. > :24:41.now. So, again, and able to execute the

:24:42. > :24:42.drop shot effectively, it is match point number six for Tomas Berdych.

:24:43. > :24:54.-- unable. He is not giving up yet, he sees off

:24:55. > :25:21.the first match point. That is brave, match point down and

:25:22. > :25:31.he fires its down the line with a forceful forehand volley. He came

:25:32. > :25:39.back from 0-40 down, facing three match points in the 12 game of the

:25:40. > :25:41.fourth set yesterday. -- the 12th game. Facing match point, second

:25:42. > :26:02.serve here. Game, set and match, Berdych. What

:26:03. > :26:10.an epic encounter between these compatriots from the Czech Republic.

:26:11. > :26:18.Tomas Berdych, the Number Ten seed, through to the Wimbledon

:26:19. > :26:23.quarterfinals for the fourth time. Well, what a match that was, they

:26:24. > :26:28.finished at 9:23 last night, experienced telling in the end, but

:26:29. > :26:31.I am sure we will hear a lot more of your reverse and in the future.

:26:32. > :26:37.Berdych is through, he will be back for a quarterfinal tomorrow against

:26:38. > :26:41.Lucas Pouille, who has never won a grass court match before coming to

:26:42. > :26:46.Wimbledon, and now he is in the last eight. After the match, Tomas

:26:47. > :26:51.Berdych spoke to John Inverdale. When you are coming back for a one

:26:52. > :26:55.set shoot out, how much more stressful does that make the night

:26:56. > :27:00.before, and when you wake up this morning? Yeah, I have to say, the

:27:01. > :27:06.feeling after last night, or before last night, it was not really ideal,

:27:07. > :27:10.I have to say. I mean, I was in a good position to finish the match

:27:11. > :27:20.already yesterday, and then it did not happen, we have to stop because

:27:21. > :27:23.of the darkness. Coming up again today, overall, I mean, it was all

:27:24. > :27:26.about my experience, I have been in those situations in the past, and I

:27:27. > :27:30.know how to deal with that, so I was really trying to get what happened

:27:31. > :27:37.yesterday out of my mind, you know, and just stay calm, focused, get

:27:38. > :27:43.ready for the shoot out of the last set today. And yeah, I came strong,

:27:44. > :27:47.I came prepared, I took my chances, and it worked pretty well. Coming

:27:48. > :27:53.into this tournament, was getting to the last eight a minimum

:27:54. > :27:56.requirement? Yeah, I mean, I would always say that is a minimum

:27:57. > :28:01.requirement with the position I am right now, and that is what I want

:28:02. > :28:06.to achieve. So, usually, getting through the first week is one of the

:28:07. > :28:11.facts that you really want to do, from the beginning, and then many of

:28:12. > :28:16.us say the tournament has started. The first one of the new week is

:28:17. > :28:19.done, and now I just need to get ready for the next one. You are

:28:20. > :28:23.playing somebody you have never played before, I heard you say you

:28:24. > :28:30.have practised with him once. What kind of research will you do over

:28:31. > :28:33.the next 24 hours into his game, his strengths and weaknesses? I will

:28:34. > :28:37.definitely watch some videos, I think these days it is pretty good,

:28:38. > :28:42.you have a lot of options to save from matches in the past, you know.

:28:43. > :28:47.It is always very good to know something a little bit before. I

:28:48. > :28:50.mean, obviously, when you step on court, everything starts from zero,

:28:51. > :28:55.but it is good to know little details and build up the game plan,

:28:56. > :28:59.and also that is the work of the team, and I want to see something of

:29:00. > :29:03.that, because it is better when you have that visual thing. You know,

:29:04. > :29:07.just get myself ready and prepare for the match tomorrow.

:29:08. > :29:15.A a goal to the final six years ago, everybody was saying he is going to

:29:16. > :29:18.do that multiple times in the future but it has not happened. How much do

:29:19. > :29:22.you desperately wants to be back here on Sunday, if not this year

:29:23. > :29:28.then at some point in the future? It is definitely the only goal, that is

:29:29. > :29:34.why you play tennis, why you keep coming back every day and working

:29:35. > :29:41.hard and trying to push the limits. That is it. It is just another year

:29:42. > :29:47.and another try, and that is why we do it. I am going to try hard, try

:29:48. > :29:53.to go one by one and hopefully get all the way. SUE BARKER: He will

:29:54. > :29:57.have been very happy to have made it through to the last eight yet again.

:29:58. > :30:01.Let's look back at the ladies quarterfinals in just a moment but

:30:02. > :30:07.first, your reaction to that, a tough time for Tomas Berdych. It is

:30:08. > :30:11.very tough and sometimes in Grand Slams, certain circumstances happen

:30:12. > :30:17.that can affect what ultimately happens to you. And with all the

:30:18. > :30:21.weather problems we had here, to play back-to-back, normally in a two

:30:22. > :30:25.week event you have some time on and some time off and it is such a

:30:26. > :30:28.physically demanding sport. Not only is it physically demanding, it is

:30:29. > :30:33.emotionally draining and you need those days off to recover. If you

:30:34. > :30:36.are constantly coming back out onto court, and OK he only had to play

:30:37. > :30:40.one sets today but you still have to come here and go through your free

:30:41. > :30:43.match routine and warm and preparation, but he has not really

:30:44. > :30:48.had that break from everything. Getting away from the crowds,

:30:49. > :30:52.everything. That can have a knock-on effect going for red and that is

:30:53. > :30:56.what Grand Slams are all about. Sometimes it works in favour of

:30:57. > :30:59.other players and helps with scheduling, if players are scheduled

:31:00. > :31:04.on Centre Court and there are no problems with the weather. All these

:31:05. > :31:08.things mount up. He was very emotional, furious last night to be

:31:09. > :31:13.asked to play that tie-break. He really did not wanted. He got even

:31:14. > :31:17.more angry as he went 5-1 down. Anyway, years ago. That look at the

:31:18. > :31:24.semifinal line-up as far as the ladies championship is concerned.

:31:25. > :31:27.And we have Serena Williams at the top of the draw, taking on Elena

:31:28. > :31:33.Vesnina and Angelique Kerber against Venus Williams. Your reaction?

:31:34. > :31:38.No-one would have predicted the Williams sisters in the last four,

:31:39. > :31:44.Serena but not Venus necessarily. But she is back in the top ten and

:31:45. > :31:53.as soon as Muda River last, the second seed, a few other seeds went

:31:54. > :31:59.as well. Venus has an aura at Wimbledon, but she does not have on

:32:00. > :32:05.the tour. She has worked through it and she has played about three kids

:32:06. > :32:11.who are half her age. We have talked about Berdych dealing with rain

:32:12. > :32:16.delays but Venus has had a number of very draining matches, an off, and

:32:17. > :32:22.off. She is really enjoying playing tennis and she has saved her best

:32:23. > :32:32.for Wimbledon. I know you both watched her match with anaesthesia

:32:33. > :32:37.Shvedova. -- with Shvedova. Amazing that they had not played each other

:32:38. > :32:40.before. How did you feel she played? She was down 5-2 in the first set

:32:41. > :32:44.but that is where the order comes into play because he felt that shred

:32:45. > :33:01.of did not believe in herself. She tightened up. -- Shvedova. But every

:33:02. > :33:06.time she was coming forward, she was ready to be at the net. The server

:33:07. > :33:09.is not as good as it was. She does not get as many free points but she

:33:10. > :33:12.intersperses it so that the rhythm of the match is very difficult for

:33:13. > :33:16.the opponents. Opponents find difficult to play because either she

:33:17. > :33:28.will bang down a great big ace or she will throw out a wobbly second

:33:29. > :33:33.serve. Sometimes her... But she just loves being out on court. The other

:33:34. > :33:37.factor with her is that she is mentally so difficult to get inside

:33:38. > :33:45.her head. She gives nothing away in terms of her body language. She was

:33:46. > :33:51.very slowly in between the points. You cannot get into her head at all.

:33:52. > :33:54.She loves being out there. And let's hear what Venus had to say. This is

:33:55. > :34:01.how at a press conference. How would you describe your wrote to

:34:02. > :34:08.getting back here? The road was six years. They go by fast, thankfully.

:34:09. > :34:18.But I have been blessed, really blessed to have an opportunity to be

:34:19. > :34:22.here, and I do not have any regrets about anything that has taken place

:34:23. > :34:25.in between. It has been a journey but it is something that I have had

:34:26. > :34:29.to do and it has made me stronger. You have to admire, everything that

:34:30. > :34:36.she has been through, the illness that she has had, giving her all out

:34:37. > :34:39.here at the age of 36. But this is her favourite place. It was

:34:40. > :34:45.noticeable on Court One because the crowds did not know much about

:34:46. > :34:48.Shvedova, who was unseeded, and they were really pulling for Venus. She

:34:49. > :34:53.has got to the point where she is respected so much as a former

:34:54. > :34:57.champion, and people know her story and probably thought she would be

:34:58. > :35:02.retired by now. I have often thought that she still plays to support

:35:03. > :35:05.Serena. I cannot imagine those two, one being on the tour and the other

:35:06. > :35:10.not. That is really motivated her. I think the fans will have a big

:35:11. > :35:14.impact on what happens in the semis. I think people will think it is a

:35:15. > :35:19.wonderful story with Venus, they have got to know her and they

:35:20. > :35:24.respect and they want to win. And we have known her for so long. 16 years

:35:25. > :35:28.ago, the two were in the last eight. It is an incredible story. Venus is

:35:29. > :35:34.through and in the semifinal, facing Angelique Kerber come up against

:35:35. > :35:38.Simona Halep. It was not a big serving contest. 13 breaks of

:35:39. > :35:45.service, a lot of big baseline rallies. But that error has got her

:35:46. > :35:49.through, the Australian Open champion, in straight sets, 7-5,

:35:50. > :35:59.7-6. The crowd thoroughly enjoying the display. She is through to face

:36:00. > :36:06.Venus Williams and let's hear what she had to say after the match.

:36:07. > :36:09.Massive congratulations. You are through to your second semifinal

:36:10. > :36:14.here at Wimbledon. How well do you think you played? It was a tough

:36:15. > :36:18.match. We have both been playing really good tennis and I think it

:36:19. > :36:22.was a high-class match but I am really happy about my performance. I

:36:23. > :36:30.was playing really tough and trying to move him good. Also being

:36:31. > :36:34.aggressive. It was not so bad is today. Even better than that. You

:36:35. > :36:38.are the only player left in the women's draw who has not dropped a

:36:39. > :36:43.set all tournament. That is quite a statistic to be proud of. Of course.

:36:44. > :36:52.It is always good to win matches in two sets, but I think every single

:36:53. > :36:55.match I play here is different. I was trying to play better from match

:36:56. > :36:59.to match and it is good to be in the semifinals without dropping a set.

:37:00. > :37:02.You won the Australian Open earlier in the year but you are saying that

:37:03. > :37:07.you are playing your best tennis now. Why is that? Actually, I think

:37:08. > :37:12.I have a lot of confidence. I know how to play on grass and I know how

:37:13. > :37:18.to win against really good players. This is what I am enjoying here. I

:37:19. > :37:22.really enjoy London, and I am looking forward to the next

:37:23. > :37:26.challenge. At what age did you start dreaming of being a top tennis

:37:27. > :37:34.player and winning a major tournament? After-school, actually.

:37:35. > :37:38.I decided on being a pro and right now I have already had a long time

:37:39. > :37:44.on the tour. It was always the dream to win the big tournaments. I won at

:37:45. > :37:50.Australia this year and Wimbledon was always a dream for me, to win

:37:51. > :37:53.it, to play here, it was always something really special. The

:37:54. > :37:58.semifinal against Venus Williams, you have had some exciting matches

:37:59. > :38:02.against her. That is true. It has always been tough and close. I

:38:03. > :38:06.played against here in the Olympics four years ago and she is always a

:38:07. > :38:11.dangerous opponent, especially in Wimbledon. I am looking forward to

:38:12. > :38:16.playing against terror again and I think it will be a good match. I

:38:17. > :38:21.will give everything to beat her. Have you watched play through this

:38:22. > :38:26.tournament? She seems to be playing with a lack of fear, she seems to be

:38:27. > :38:29.enjoying everything she's doing. She is enjoying it and she is playing

:38:30. > :38:37.good tennis right now. I have watched a few matches, a few games,

:38:38. > :38:48.and she is a dangerous opponent. I think I have to play really good

:38:49. > :38:51.tennis, to beat. -- to beat her. I feel sorry for her, she is always

:38:52. > :38:56.compare with Steffi Graf. But she moves well and she is a great

:38:57. > :39:00.athlete. I think it is a big difference from what we saw at the

:39:01. > :39:03.French Open on the clay-court season because she was saying how badly she

:39:04. > :39:07.was playing and she could not find her timing. After the French Open,

:39:08. > :39:11.she spent a lot of time on the practice court working on her serve,

:39:12. > :39:17.which can be an issue and it might be in the matchup against Venus on

:39:18. > :39:21.Thursday. But she is a wall in women's tennis. How would you get

:39:22. > :39:27.the ball past, I don't know. She is a former swimmer and that is why she

:39:28. > :39:31.has strong shoulders and great legs. A very different matchup with Venus

:39:32. > :39:36.in the semis but she gets to everything and she has also added a

:39:37. > :39:44.lot to her game over the last year and a half, more variety. The money

:39:45. > :39:48.shot is the forehand down the line. They did not go away on that

:39:49. > :39:52.occasion, but there are very few players in the world that can hit

:39:53. > :39:56.through her. Maybe Venus can do it but I don't know. I think you have

:39:57. > :40:04.said it right. She is such an absorber of pace, and we talk about

:40:05. > :40:08.her strong legs physically, extremely strong. On a grass court,

:40:09. > :40:12.you need to be able to stay close to the ground and absorb it but she is

:40:13. > :40:16.trying to be a more aggressive tennis player. And her serve, it is

:40:17. > :40:21.not a big serve but she is left-handed and she can swing out

:40:22. > :40:26.wide, and also swing it into the body. She tucks players up and she

:40:27. > :40:30.gets a lot of joy out of her serve. It is deceptively effective if that

:40:31. > :40:37.is a way of describing it. It is not a big serve. She just uses it very

:40:38. > :40:46.cleverly. It is a tough one to call, Venus against Angelique. You would

:40:47. > :40:49.have to say that Angelique Kerber is the favourite, but there is a lot of

:40:50. > :40:53.pressure. Venus could be quite loose. I don't know with the rain

:40:54. > :40:58.delays, how much Venus has played over this period of time, she has

:40:59. > :41:04.played a day in, day out for quite a while. When you get a day off, you

:41:05. > :41:09.sometimes go like that and you feel worse when you come back to play. I

:41:10. > :41:16.don't know if that will affect Venus but of the two semifinals, I would

:41:17. > :41:24.say that would be a classic match. Lovely to see her back on court.

:41:25. > :41:27.Venus today against Pavlyuchenkova, she played great tennis, like the

:41:28. > :41:31.great champions do. She is such a different character to her sister.

:41:32. > :41:36.She wears her heart on her sleeve, she is feistiness and fire out there

:41:37. > :41:44.will stop massive amounts of power that she brings. She is a very

:41:45. > :41:47.intimidating opponent. And I have to say, I could sit and watch her serve

:41:48. > :41:51.all day long. It is the most beautiful service action that we

:41:52. > :41:56.have ever seen in the women's game. And the backhand return a

:41:57. > :42:00.crosscourt, in particular, is sensational. When she puts her mind

:42:01. > :42:04.to it, she is the best player out there on the tour by fire. But it is

:42:05. > :42:07.whether she can control her emotions enough to get through this event,

:42:08. > :42:11.which is such a massive piece of history that she is going after. We

:42:12. > :42:15.keep saying that it has had her faltering in the last three Grand

:42:16. > :42:18.Slams, but I think she is looking fitter and hungrier and more

:42:19. > :42:24.motivated than I have ever seen her. There is no question that after she

:42:25. > :42:30.lost in the final of the French Open to Muguruza, she has been out there.

:42:31. > :42:34.She is looking so fit physically. I think it is going to take a lot to

:42:35. > :42:37.beat her. And when you're down the other end, if she is dominating the

:42:38. > :42:45.rallies, you're going to do a lot of running. I don't think Serena likes

:42:46. > :42:51.the gym at all. But she looks amazing. I feel like the semifinal

:42:52. > :42:55.will be very similar to the one she played against Pavlyuchenkova. A lot

:42:56. > :42:58.of the players that take on say that you have to concentrate from the

:42:59. > :43:03.first point until the last point and if you have a lapse, then it is all

:43:04. > :43:07.over, which is what happens to Pavlyuchenkova out there today. One

:43:08. > :43:13.thing that is different this year, I see her looking up to the player box

:43:14. > :43:17.more and there is more communication. She might be feeling

:43:18. > :43:22.more vulnerable because of what happened at the French Open. That is

:43:23. > :43:26.something you used to not see, are looking psychologically insecure.

:43:27. > :43:30.But if you have that great serve and everything she has, she should not

:43:31. > :43:37.really need any support. But maybe she feels that she does. But she did

:43:38. > :43:46.struggle, a break down against Kuznetsova and having difficulties

:43:47. > :43:50.against Katrina McHale. They both came through 3-set matches

:43:51. > :43:56.yesterday, but I think the emotional turmoil for Cibulkova, it took a

:43:57. > :43:59.toll on her today and she was not playing at best. But Elena Vesnina

:44:00. > :44:05.took advantage and sailed through this match, 6-2, 6-2. So she is

:44:06. > :44:08.through to the semifinals at Wimbledon, with a big smile. Through

:44:09. > :44:15.to the last four and after the match, she spoke to us.

:44:16. > :44:18.Congratulations, unseeded here, and after some inspired tennis you are

:44:19. > :44:21.through to the semifinals of Wimbledon. How does that feel? It

:44:22. > :44:26.feels amazing and I still cannot believe that I won the match because

:44:27. > :44:30.it was really intense, no matter the score. Dominique is a great player.

:44:31. > :44:41.We always have tough matches against each other. I am just so happy. You

:44:42. > :44:45.did not just win it, you absolutely controlled that. How surprised what

:44:46. > :44:50.you against an opponent like Dominika? It was tough to play

:44:51. > :44:54.against her because she won easily last week and beat a she lot of

:44:55. > :44:58.great players. I know that she is on great form, but I am as well. I felt

:44:59. > :45:02.that I have been playing better every match. I had very good match

:45:03. > :45:08.yesterday and I felt that I was able to recover and step onto the court.

:45:09. > :45:15.I felt like I had to injure it, and no matter what, I am on the -- in

:45:16. > :45:23.the quarterfinal playing on Court Number One, and I was saying to

:45:24. > :45:33.myself, Elena, you just have to enjoy it. And this is your first

:45:34. > :45:39.Grand Slam semifinal in singles. Have you changed anything? I had a

:45:40. > :45:43.tough beginning of the year and the end of the year. I dropped out of

:45:44. > :45:46.the top 200 and I have a difficult time. Every tennis player, we have

:45:47. > :45:51.these difficult times and it makes you better and stronger and you have

:45:52. > :45:55.to deserve it. You really have to deserve your ranking. So I was

:45:56. > :46:00.playing for qualification, and there was a lot of matches. I knew that I

:46:01. > :46:04.have the game, I just had to believe in myself, and I was working with

:46:05. > :46:08.the same fitness coach at the end of the year, with the same coach. I did

:46:09. > :46:12.not change anything in my team, but I got married, that was the only

:46:13. > :46:15.thing that changed from last year. Maybe it helped me as well. But I

:46:16. > :46:21.think the most important thing, I did not break up when I went out of

:46:22. > :46:26.the top 100, and it was really difficult to come back from that.

:46:27. > :46:29.She talks as well as she plays. A great comeback from her because it

:46:30. > :46:35.is difficult when you have that dip. It is a hard fight back. And she has

:46:36. > :46:38.been top 30 for a long time, not qualifying for many years. Not a lot

:46:39. > :46:44.of fun to go back there. Getting married really did help. As Andy

:46:45. > :46:49.says, marriage works. She talked about it at Eastbourne last week,

:46:50. > :46:55.she said, I have taken a lot of pressure off myself. I have had a

:46:56. > :46:58.lot of pressure on my shoulders. In doubles, results have been better.

:46:59. > :47:07.We have not always seen it in the singles. But she has a good grass

:47:08. > :47:10.game. She hits short swings and flat balls, she is a good athlete and she

:47:11. > :47:14.can volley as well. No reason why she should not be in the semis. Her

:47:15. > :47:21.first Grand Slam semifinal. Serena is in her 32nd. Quite a difference.

:47:22. > :47:25.It is a big step up. A whole new experience, and that could be a

:47:26. > :47:29.factor. I think it could be. You never know how somebody will react

:47:30. > :47:33.when they go out there for their first Grand Slam semifinal. She

:47:34. > :47:36.could just blast through, the way that Sharapova played at Wimbledon

:47:37. > :47:40.when she went on to win. We all wondered how she was going to cope,

:47:41. > :47:46.and she took her game to her opponent. But for there is near, and

:47:47. > :47:55.sometimes the doubles play she has had can really help her. Dashboard

:47:56. > :47:59.for Elena Vesnina. She has won Grand Slam finals in doubles, and I think

:48:00. > :48:05.she is using that to develop a single play. When she needs to draw

:48:06. > :48:08.on a first serve, she will have done that in doubles many times and she

:48:09. > :48:12.needs to use that in her singles play. She was terrific today,

:48:13. > :48:16.hitting the server and returning exceptionally well. I think she was

:48:17. > :48:20.sensational. She certainly was and we may have an all Williams final.

:48:21. > :48:24.Thank you both. From the singles, turning our attention to the

:48:25. > :48:28.doubles. And this is a Mixed Doubles match featuring the number one

:48:29. > :48:37.seeds, Ivan Dodig and Samuel works are up against Anna Smith, and let's

:48:38. > :48:46.join Andrew Castle for this one. The lob was not such a bad idea,

:48:47. > :49:12.just the wrong person. That is a terrific return of serve

:49:13. > :49:17.from Smith. 119mph first serve out wide. She must have picked it.

:49:18. > :49:29.Really good hands, excellent work and it keeps them in the game. The

:49:30. > :49:40.quickest of the matches so far, just missed 122.

:49:41. > :49:54.A tough second serve. Moving in and closing over a high ball. Dodig is

:49:55. > :50:07.now serving two Anna Smith. Match point. He was going for the big,

:50:08. > :50:25.white serve, Dodig. Smith was looking for the one up the middle.

:50:26. > :50:28.Skupski got the glory but Smith, once again, playing a horrific

:50:29. > :50:39.point. Saved a match point already. Now a

:50:40. > :51:39.break point. Lookout fireback Anna Smith is

:51:40. > :51:47.standing. -- look how far back Anna Smith is standing to receive this

:51:48. > :51:57.server. Snagged by a member of the London Fire Service there. Plucked

:51:58. > :52:08.out of the air. A good time to get a 120mph first serve in.

:52:09. > :52:16.126. A bit of adrenaline flying. That is pretty much maxing out for

:52:17. > :52:23.him. Neots is vulnerable they are, watch

:52:24. > :52:50.out. -- Mirza. And again. Superb. This time of the

:52:51. > :52:58.forehand side. Great backhands from that Centre Court. And once again,

:52:59. > :53:01.just picking that serve. And that is what you have to do when it is

:53:02. > :53:06.coming at you so quickly. I think that is where it is going. If she

:53:07. > :53:21.has any other indication from the task. -- from the toss.

:53:22. > :53:24.Taking up her usual position, Anna Smith, a long way behind the

:53:25. > :53:41.baseline. Not as big, but it had movement on

:53:42. > :53:56.it. A good slice that really hit the court and moved away.

:53:57. > :54:09.126 again. Does he go bigger and wider or does he try the slide, the

:54:10. > :54:42.heady slider as he did last time? Mirza moved a little too were left.

:54:43. > :54:49.Anna Smith is having the returning game of her life. She really is. She

:54:50. > :54:55.saw Mirza moved to the middle of the court. She was good enough to get it

:54:56. > :54:57.up the line. Nice hands, a good doubles player that has won a lot of

:54:58. > :55:44.matches here over the years. UMPIRE: Dodig and Mirza are

:55:45. > :55:49.challenging the call on the right service line. The ball was called

:55:50. > :55:51.out. I don't think they will find any joy here. Plenty of dust in

:55:52. > :56:13.there. -- in the air. And that is out as well. Great

:56:14. > :56:17.effort from Dodig. That is a big turn up. The British fans here are

:56:18. > :56:31.loving that. It was a game where he twice

:56:32. > :56:35.produced his fastest serve of 126mph. The ace was down the middle

:56:36. > :56:39.and they had a match point. But they never went back to that ace. Anna

:56:40. > :56:44.Smith could not be moved for pace. She did great. She certainly did.

:56:45. > :56:51.She was the person responsible for the break, really. She was the one

:56:52. > :56:59.that kept the team in it. Skupski did his magnificent man in his

:57:00. > :57:08.flying machine act at one point. Four of 21 break points. Skupski and

:57:09. > :57:19.Smith have also broken four times. We are on serve, and from 2-5 down

:57:20. > :57:24.to 4-5. Serving to tie it up. No tie-breaks in this final set.

:57:25. > :57:51.Remember, this is Court 18, see you on Thursday.

:57:52. > :57:57.A bit of then and in that return. Dodig is not thrilled to be still

:57:58. > :58:02.out here, not thrilled that he just lost his serve. He is going to go

:58:03. > :58:04.back to the men's locker room and saying, so you served for the Mixed

:58:05. > :58:23.Doubles, did you, and lost it? Solid as a rock here, Anna Smith.

:58:24. > :59:01.She knew where it was going. Her favourite shot, crosscourt.

:59:02. > :59:08.Oh, she has made it! Inside out backhand return from Mirza, just

:59:09. > :59:30.dropped in. They are not going to drop their

:59:31. > :59:49.serve twice in a row at the end of this, are they?

:59:50. > :00:02.Oh, just wide! She's so had that, Anna Smith thinking of having a pack

:00:03. > :00:09.at that one. Match point saved on his first

:00:10. > :00:23.serve, Dodig served for it. Memories of Jamie Murray with Jelena

:00:24. > :01:25.Jankovic. Good dip on that volley from

:01:26. > :01:30.Skupski, right on the baseline, Mirza just doing the best she could

:01:31. > :01:38.to make the forehand, but once again another good volley from Smith.

:01:39. > :01:49.Three games in a row, two holds, and that break of the Dodig serve, and

:01:50. > :01:55.it is 5-5, final set. Two hours blade, most of it extremely

:01:56. > :02:00.entertaining, watching the patterns out there, Sania Mirza with the

:02:01. > :02:39.pressure on at 5-5 and momentum against.

:02:40. > :02:44.He knew where it was going, Skupski, just a bit deep in the court, just

:02:45. > :03:09.couldn't quite get it back over. Oh! Challenging the call on the

:03:10. > :03:16.right far sideline, the ball was called in. I know, and it was called

:03:17. > :03:21.in, because surely it was. There seemed to be a bit of a puff of

:03:22. > :03:26.chalk there. Dodig looked away as soon as the challenge had taken

:03:27. > :03:30.place, that was square on the line, a concentration thing as much as

:03:31. > :03:45.anything? Just willing the ball to go out. Trouble here, 15-30.

:03:46. > :03:55.Can they actually pull this out? It looks like it, doesn't it? It looks

:03:56. > :04:10.like Dodig and Mirza are not happy, and why would they be?

:04:11. > :04:18.You can't do that, you know, you can't do that. Second serve, at 80

:04:19. > :04:40.mph, break point, you have to make that. That is what pressure does.

:04:41. > :04:49.Didn't get out behind that ball, Anna Smith, just see what she is

:04:50. > :04:55.doing with their racquet now, she knows she needs to get in behind the

:04:56. > :05:02.ball. Feed just didn't work. -- her feet. That is a better shot. More

:05:03. > :05:31.commitments there from Skupski. Game! They have knocked the stuffing

:05:32. > :05:41.out of the number one seeds here, from 2-5 down to 6-5 up. And Anna

:05:42. > :05:44.Smith will serve for this match, we wouldn't have thought that was

:05:45. > :05:48.possible 25 minutes ago. I was going to say they weathered the storm at

:05:49. > :05:55.the beginning of the first set, but they were down 3-0 after 40 minutes.

:05:56. > :06:00.But then they have, back with great play, particularly on the returns of

:06:01. > :06:05.serve, Skupski making his presence felt at the net. A nice easy game

:06:06. > :06:10.would be appreciated here, it won't happen, I wouldn't have thought. The

:06:11. > :06:15.first point is vital, it gives you confidence to move forward, and Anna

:06:16. > :06:21.Smith needs to get first serves in to take the pressure off, enable her

:06:22. > :06:28.partner, Skupski, to help at the net. But, certainly, they have all

:06:29. > :06:30.the momentum. The British team wildcards into this year's

:06:31. > :06:44.tournament. Time! I think Colin Fleming and

:06:45. > :06:52.Jocelyn Rae, Anna Smith's partner in the first round, Colin used to play

:06:53. > :07:00.with Neal's brother, Ken, but this would be a bigger turn up. Anna

:07:01. > :07:08.Smith with the honour. Get that ball up in front, get out and hit it.

:07:09. > :07:38.Very good serve, that, coming in at 100 mph and accurate.

:07:39. > :07:48.That is OK, trying to get involved. First serves, as you were saying,

:07:49. > :08:13.actually. Another excellent second serve, good

:08:14. > :08:18.placement, doing everything to stay away from the Sania Mirza forehand,

:08:19. > :08:46.and a nice drop volley from Skupski. See has done it, Skupski has done

:08:47. > :08:50.it. Good reach on the volley from Skupski, almost didn't get there,

:08:51. > :08:53.did he? Just got there in the end and made it awkward enough for

:08:54. > :09:14.Mirza. And there you go, that is the way to

:09:15. > :09:21.do it, that is a huge win! That is so nice to see! Oh, congratulations

:09:22. > :09:24.to that pair, Anna Smith and her partner Neal Skupski have done

:09:25. > :09:29.something that probably not too many people thought they were capable of

:09:30. > :09:34.today. Well, I have to confess, I might have been one of them, and I

:09:35. > :09:37.am delighted to be wrong, that is fantastic.

:09:38. > :09:41.What a shock result, huge upset. When you think that Sania Mirza is

:09:42. > :09:47.ranked world number one in doubles, a six time Grand Slam winner, and

:09:48. > :09:52.Dodig was also a grand slam winner, ranked number four. They are out in

:09:53. > :10:00.the second round, well done to Neal and Anna. Wonderful scenes on 18.

:10:01. > :10:05.Just before we leave you on BBC One, a round-up of the news of the day,

:10:06. > :10:13.and ladies quarterfinals day. Serena Williams marches on, a straight sets

:10:14. > :10:18.win up against Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, 6-4, 6-4, cool and calm,

:10:19. > :10:21.serene, just raised the level of the game when it mattered. And she is

:10:22. > :10:28.the route to the semifinals once more. She will face Elena Vesnina,

:10:29. > :10:34.who defeated Dominika Cibulkova, both have long matches yesterday, it

:10:35. > :10:40.took its toll on Cibulkova, but Vesnina only lost four games,

:10:41. > :10:45.through to her very first Grand Slam semifinal, and that will be against

:10:46. > :10:50.Serena on Thursday. Venus Williams, what a story this is, she has come

:10:51. > :10:54.back into the top ten, now she is back in a semifinal at Wimbledon,

:10:55. > :11:01.the first time since 2010, big celebrations from her as she

:11:02. > :11:06.defeated Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 7-6, 6-2, so Venus Williams back in

:11:07. > :11:15.the big time once again, and no bigger smile than Venus, the crowd

:11:16. > :11:18.really rising to her story. Back in the semifinal, she will face

:11:19. > :11:25.Angelique Kerber, who defeated Simona Halep 7-5, 7-6, wonderful

:11:26. > :11:30.long rallies in this match, Kerber moves are so well around the court.

:11:31. > :11:33.She won the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, a bit of a

:11:34. > :11:39.given form since then, but back to her best, she will take on Venus

:11:40. > :11:43.Williams in the semifinal. -- dip in form. We have just seen a wonderful

:11:44. > :11:47.win for Anna Smith and Neal Skupski, and Jamie Murray got in on the

:11:48. > :11:54.action, a wonderful win, 16-14 in the final set with Bruno Soares, the

:11:55. > :11:58.Australian Open champions earlier this year. They only started playing

:11:59. > :12:03.at the beginning of the year, a wonderful family affair. That is

:12:04. > :12:07.Jamie's coach. What a year it has been for Jamie, the world number one

:12:08. > :12:12.in doubles, they are true, but it took them five hours three minutes,

:12:13. > :12:17.through to the third round. And we have got doubles matches still to

:12:18. > :12:21.come over on BBC Two, the Bryan brothers Andy Williams sisters.

:12:22. > :12:31.Today was ladies quarterfinals day, quite a day, bye-bye. -- and the

:12:32. > :12:40.Williams sisters. She hasn't dropped a set so far, and she maintains her

:12:41. > :12:43.perfect record. That was something from Angelique Kerber! Real

:12:44. > :12:48.appreciation for Venus Williams and watch it has done in these

:12:49. > :12:56.championships. She is that kind of player, dangerous, unpredictable.

:12:57. > :13:01.Never write off Venus Williams! Serena Williams, in her 12th

:13:02. > :13:06.quarterfinal here. One of the greatest weapons in sports history.

:13:07. > :13:15.It seems as if she is getting better and better. It looks as though she

:13:16. > :13:17.is entering the ring. Oh, that is a return and a half. What moments

:13:18. > :13:19.these are for Elena Vesnina.