Day 10, Part 2 Wimbledon


Day 10, Part 2

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You are about to lead -- leave the sanctuary of the locker room. Take a

:00:11.:00:57.

deep breath. Focus. It's time to take the walk. Pictures hang on the

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wall. Great moments captured in time. Ignore them. Your opponent is

:01:06.:01:17.

right there. Ignore them. You are nervous. There is pressure.

:01:18.:01:23.

Especially if you are the home favourite. The woman who has

:01:24.:01:29.

suddenly got the whole nation behind you. History weighing on your

:01:30.:01:35.

shoulders. Ignore it. Walk down the stairs. Past the trophy cabinet.

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Past the honours board. Ignore them. Tell yourself, this is just another

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match. Only it's not. You know it's not. It's the semifinal at

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Wimbledon. The door is open, finally. The end of the tunnel. And

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it's time to go to work. No one knows that walk better.

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Martina Navratilova has 59 Grand Slam titles, while Johanna Konta

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will make that walk today still striving for her first. We have not

:02:22.:02:27.

had a day like this for 39 years. A British woman in the semifinals at

:02:28.:02:31.

Wimbledon. But Konta has performed brilliantly at this year's Wimbledon

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and carries the country's hopes after Andy Murray's defeat

:02:36.:02:40.

yesterday. She was out on the practice court this morning. Three

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times she has been taken to three sets and each time she has found a

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way to win. And they have been some of the most thrilling matches of

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this year's Wimbledon. Standing in her way is an all-time great of the

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sport. Venus Williams is a five times winner of the ladies singles.

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At the age of 37 she is the oldest semifinalist since Martina 23 years

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ago. She has played 100 matches here and won 86. But Konta has a winning

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3-2 record against Williams. And has already disposed of number two seed

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Simona Halep. She is the first British woman to reach the

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semifinals since Virginia Wade in 1978. The other semifinal is Garbine

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Muguruza against Magdalena Rybarikova. Muguruza was a finalist

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two years ago when she lost to Serena Williams. Rybarikova is one

:03:37.:03:41.

of the stories of the championship. She is ranked 87 in the world and

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she makes comeback from injury. She has won 18 of 19 matches on grass

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this year. Good afternoon. Today is a huge day for Jo. She will be on

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Centre Court later, hoping the British fans will cheer her to

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victory. That is the second match on the centre. First up, it is Muguruza

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against a player who until now had never made it past the third round

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of a major. Maybe the nerves were kicking in. Just a short time ago

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Muguruza claimed the opening set. This is how she did it. And another

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error from Rybarikova. Muguruza takes the opening set 6-1. Her

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coach, can she do Martinez, a former Wimbledon champion, absolutely

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delighted. Muguruza has a break of serve as we join it live in the

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second set. She is serving at 1-0. Let's join our commentators, Kim

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cloisters, John McEnroe and Simon Read.

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That is one of the few times she has come forward. That is what she

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needed to do there, just reach for it. Get down with those legs.

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I hate to say it, as she turned towards us, there is a resigned look

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about Rybarikova. Frustrating, too. It is frustrating if you are playing

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the biggest match of your career and you're not playing your best tennis.

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She is a little hesitant. That is not fun. At least on the big stage

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you want to play some of your best tennis.

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She is keeping a great length, to, Muguruza. She has come out extremely

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focused, ready to go. She has brought game. -- her A game.

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And this is a woman who has won 18 19 grass court matches coming into

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this one. But of course is very different. -- this is very

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different. And then there is that. It took 35

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minutes for her to start to feel the ball. That one shot, that forehand

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passing shot that would have given her the lead, just send her reeling

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in the opposite direction. Now she looks like she did at the beginning.

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She is coming back to being completely frozen. Muguruza seems

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even a little bit better. She was making some mistakes in that first

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sad. She is now stepping her game up. For Rybarikova, it is one thing

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saying, I'm thrilled to be in the semifinal, I'm delighted, can't

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believe it. She didn't say it but I'm sure people have said to her,

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there is no pressure. You are not expected to win. Taking that on

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board is one thing and it is another thing believing it. You want to show

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what you can do. One of my most frustrating things about losing my

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Grand Slam finals early in my career was that, OK, it's lose, that is not

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fun. But the fact I wasn't able to play my best tennis. That my

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opponents did not beat me at my best, that was the most

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disappointing for me. Right now, if you had told me she had won 18 out

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of 19 grass court matches, it looks like she has lost 18 out of 19.

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She has stepped game up again, Muguruza. Another notch.

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Too casual by Rybarikova. How about blasting the ball at her? Change

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something up. A clever little shot. That is a

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one-handed sliced backhand. Caught Muguruza off-guard. Tried to let at

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bounce and changed her mind again. She is hitting way too many balls a

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couple of feet inside the baseline. Beautiful. You have to hand it to.

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-- you have to hand it to her. The other side of the coin, it's nice

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when everything is working. Yeah. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen

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too often. At times it's frighteningly good. When I was --

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when I was getting beaten, hence of Lee, I'd be looking at the clock.

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You've got to make it to an hour. Make it a set 6-3, or something.

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I played Rios one time here on Centre Court. I did the opposite. It

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was 6-0, 5-0. I was trying to stay on for 45 minutes just to give it a

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little bit of a challenge! Yes! APPLAUSE

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Clear thinking. Could that be a trigger? LAUGHTER.

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It's a nice feeling for Muguruza knowing that your opponent is not

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going to hit her of the court. She has put a lot of variety in to her

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shots but they are not hurting her. You can see what a huge difference

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hitting the ball deep makes when you're out there. That return right

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at the baseline, way too many. APPLAUSE

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That previous return is something her coach worked on with everybody

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he coached. That is something he really tries to focus on when he

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works with a girl. She is unstoppable. People don't

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understand what controlling the court means. They should study this

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tape. How much easier it is when you are dictating from the baseline as

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opposed to scrambling. She is going to challenge. It did

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look like it might have been long. SLOW CLAPPING

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Certainly needs to be as far as this match is concerned. And it is.

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The toss was extremely low, too far forward.

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Really good job. Muguruza is on fire. The rallies are getting longer

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and she is playing a little bit better again, Rybarikova, but it is

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Muguruza all the way. Just moving her from side to side.

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It was there if it was over. That was the same shot she had to hold

:18:02.:18:10.

the first game. She didn't do it. Way too many short balls. Her serve

:18:11.:18:21.

is 34 miles an hour less than it has been in the tournament. -- three or

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four. Desperate enough to try for the first time the serve and volley.

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Is a break point for a 5-0. That is the skill she has at her

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disposal if so -- if only she could use it. She has got some good hands.

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She has got a lot of variety. That has really hurt her, how short

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she has hit the ball. That is the shot of the match, that backhand

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down the line. APPLAUSE

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For once, Muguruza being manoeuvred around. This is the longest game of

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the match. And it is pivotal. APPLAUSE

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Well played. It is fascinating. Just two years

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ago at Birmingham on grass, Rybarikova went the 6-3, 6-1. A few

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weeks later, Muguruza goes on to get to the Wimbledon final. She was

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playing well at that stage. But big court, biggest match of her life,

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she hasn't been able to show. Yes, and of course a lot can happen in

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that time. This is already a huge step for her. Both girls. Muguruza,

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since then, has had some of the biggest result of her career.

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Something I have admired about Muguruza is that even before she had

:22:13.:22:17.

one a lot of big matches, she was so composed out there. She looked like

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she had already won Grand Slams, without being overly confident. She

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already acted and behaved like she belonged. And I think is something

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that added to it. That belief in yourself is so important, to be able

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to win matches like this and to win big tournaments. From what I have

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seen in the last couple of years, you never feel that confidence is

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one of her problems. No! Which is a good thing. As I said, not overly

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confident. But she has her results where you think, she is doubting

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yourself. You would never see it in her body language.

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The way she acted when she won the French, it looked like she was never

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going to lose another match! But she has perhaps been humbled

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just a touch in the past year or so. Can she do Martinez came into the

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picture. The timing seemed right. She has gathered herself you nicely.

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-- Conchita Martinez. Martinez a champion here 23 years

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ago. APPLAUSE

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She has played those really well, those lobs. Unfortunately, there

:25:12.:25:19.

have only been three or four of those points. And in 12 games, that

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doesn't amount to a whole lot! Another game goes Muguruza's way.

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When Conchita Martinez won it, Martina was what, 37? It would be

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interesting to see Muguruza play another 37-year-old American. It is

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possible. We will find out, apparently soon, what happens in the

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other semifinal. We said about Muguruza for a lot of

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this year, that when things go wrong, they start to go very wrong.

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But there is no sign of anything going wrong here.

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Again that depth. It is most like you want to get a hook and take her

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out of there. -- almost. She wants you to get the hook! Please take me

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off. For Muguruza, this is the perfect

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semifinal. It is short, she is not wasting any energy. She has been

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able to play her game, dominate her opponent. She will leave this match

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feeling very comfortable and motivated to start. She has been

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dictating. APPLAUSE

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She is through to the final again. And it was that good, Conchita

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Martinez is smiling. The good news for Rybarikova is it did last the

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hour. But there wasn't much more. 64 minutes. But wasn't Muguruza good?

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She was extremely good. Rybarikova didn't make it hard enough for her

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to be tested but she dictated most of the games, almost all of them.

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Like I said before, she will leave the court feeling very comfortable

:30:10.:30:13.

and happy with how the semifinal went. She is into her third Grand

:30:14.:30:21.

Slam final. But John, as you were hinting, I sense when she won Roland

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Garros last year, she was going to take over. She acted like she

:30:25.:30:31.

believed it. It took awhile for her to get to grips with the reality

:30:32.:30:34.

that it wasn't quite that simple. I think she is playing better than she

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was when she won the French. She beat Serena.

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She's more aggressive and it paid off. I feel bad for Rybarikova.

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She's had the tournament of her life. It would be hard to, not for a

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while, to be thinking about what just happened. It makes you think,

:31:00.:31:04.

yeah, maybe I am like 80 in the world. You don't think of yourself

:31:05.:31:08.

as a top player after being beat like that.

:31:09.:31:12.

Well, she will go to 33 on Monday. That will be a boost to be seeded in

:31:13.:31:18.

some tournaments. Getting into the main draw wherever

:31:19.:31:25.

she wants. And who know, Muguruza, the world number one spot is

:31:26.:31:29.

changing week by week and looks as if it will do, and she has a shot at

:31:30.:31:33.

that. Is she the number one? No.

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A possibility. She will go five if she wins the

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title, Muguruza. She did what she needed to it was a

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great effort. So, there is confirmation. It lasted

:31:54.:32:00.

all of 65 minutes. But Muguruza is through, 6-1, 6-1.

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She's now talking to Phil Jones. Congratulation, another Grand Slam

:32:09.:32:13.

final. You've reached this one, far quicker than anyone expected. It

:32:14.:32:16.

seems you're on the top of your game right now? I think that I played

:32:17.:32:20.

very well for sure. It was a tricky match. She's a talented player. She

:32:21.:32:26.

was playing well during the tournament. Today I stepped out on

:32:27.:32:30.

the court confident and everything went well.

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How about your big match experience compared to her's, having been a

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Grand Slam champion ho in the final here, was that telling? Definitely.

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When you have been before, you handle the matches better. I played

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well, definitely, yes. Owl through the tournament, you are

:32:52.:32:59.

playing at a great level. Are you surpassing that time you were

:33:00.:33:01.

playing at the French Open? Surpassing it? I'm not sure. I just

:33:02.:33:07.

want to keep it up well now. And hopefully it goes my well. What is

:33:08.:33:14.

Conchita Martinez going to bring to you, being here on former occasions.

:33:15.:33:20.

Well, she knows how to win here. She has been helping Major League

:33:21.:33:23.

through the weeks with her experience and tip, so for sure it

:33:24.:33:26.

will help. And a question on the final itself,

:33:27.:33:33.

it will be Venus, Johanna Konta, an historic occasion, regardless of who

:33:34.:33:37.

is in the final, how will you enjoy the final? I will enjoy it for sure.

:33:38.:33:42.

Being in a Grand Slam final is an achievement. I want to win, no

:33:43.:33:46.

matter who is in front. I want to see their game. I will look forward

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to it. Well, congratulations, you are

:33:51.:33:52.

playing brilliantly. Well done. Thank you.

:33:53.:33:57.

A masterclass of grass court play and concentration as well. She never

:33:58.:34:02.

let her opponent into the match. Keeping the level of her game so

:34:03.:34:07.

high. When she is in full flow, she looks unstoppable on this surface.

:34:08.:34:13.

There is coach, Martinez, yes, she's absolutely delighted. A former

:34:14.:34:26.

champion here, she has seen Robert Mugabe playing her best and getting

:34:27.:34:31.

into a semifinal for a second time. Well done to Muguruza,

:34:32.:34:36.

disappointment for Rybarikova. But, firstly, what an incredible match,

:34:37.:34:40.

Muguruza is playing? Don't wake her up. All of the years of train, we

:34:41.:34:46.

play to be playing at that level. That is dream like. The way that

:34:47.:34:51.

Muguruza wassating har gets on the serve. Being aggressive. The

:34:52.:34:58.

footwork was so alert. On balance, hitting targets from one sideline to

:34:59.:35:03.

the other. Within six inches of the baseline and loves the backhand and

:35:04.:35:08.

continues to be aggressive as she has throughout the tournament.

:35:09.:35:13.

And never gave her opponent time to play the shots? Just suffocated her.

:35:14.:35:21.

She tried to change the pace with the slice, the drop shots but

:35:22.:35:26.

Muguruza was up there so quickly, she was so prepared. Up there.

:35:27.:35:33.

Obviously loves the backhand. But no missed cues. And Rybarikova was

:35:34.:35:37.

rushed all the time. And Muguruza was inside the baseline

:35:38.:35:41.

in almost every rally. Rybarikova could not push her back? No, and

:35:42.:35:48.

threw in the slice, and there, Muguruza with excellent footwork and

:35:49.:35:51.

preparation and continued to stay calm. We thought maybe she would get

:35:52.:35:58.

nervous closing out quickly but never did.

:35:59.:36:02.

A clear focus and game plan. And as far as Rybarikova is

:36:03.:36:06.

concerned, the enormity of the occasion caught up with her? I

:36:07.:36:12.

agree. She was kicking the ball around, and hitting the ball looking

:36:13.:36:17.

relaxed. But not today. She was a little agitated. A couple of

:36:18.:36:22.

challenges, looking to her support box. I think she got to within a

:36:23.:36:27.

couple of matches of winning Wimbledon, within a touching point

:36:28.:36:30.

and tightened up. This is a lot to take in. She's won five matches, and

:36:31.:36:39.

beaten many, and then the media and the obligations, maybe a little too

:36:40.:36:44.

much. But what a fairy tale so far. We have said it in the summer with

:36:45.:36:51.

Muguruza, a breath of fresh air for tennis but it didn't happen. And if

:36:52.:36:55.

she carries on playing like this, she will be the world number one? We

:36:56.:37:01.

have said it how many time, Sue? That is consistency, that is

:37:02.:37:07.

lacking. Muguruza's career, she has won a grand total of three titles

:37:08.:37:12.

and a major, which is not right for someone with this level of talent

:37:13.:37:17.

and potential and the weapons but is not giving it often enough. Maybe it

:37:18.:37:25.

is Conchita matter Mersey, she knows how to win at Wimbledon in '94. And

:37:26.:37:33.

also chilled. She is relaxed. Maybe that is helping Muguruza manage the

:37:34.:37:38.

situation. She knows how to win here. Garbina struggled with the

:37:39.:37:45.

forced errors. In a tough situation she puts the spin on the ball, and

:37:46.:37:50.

keeps it in play to wait for the right opportunity. Maybe that is

:37:51.:37:55.

Conchita in her head. It took just over an hour. But there

:37:56.:38:00.

is a real buzz on the Centre Court, next up is the British woman rocking

:38:01.:38:03.

Centre Court this year. British tennis history is made. It's

:38:04.:38:39.

been 39 years since a British woman became a semi-finalist.

:38:40.:38:46.

Wow! Yes, it is Johanna Konta up against Venus Williams. Martina has

:38:47.:38:56.

joined us. We saw you doing that nervous walk on Centre Court, it

:38:57.:39:00.

starts to build from the quarterfinals onwards? It does. It

:39:01.:39:05.

has changed the walk. It is longer now as the locker room was closer

:39:06.:39:10.

are so even more time to get nervous. But it's a great moment.

:39:11.:39:14.

This is all the work has been done. This is where you want to be. So,

:39:15.:39:19.

hey, you are here, you get to play. But it is almost surreal it is quiet

:39:20.:39:25.

in the walkway, it is you and the opponent and then you come out and

:39:26.:39:29.

you are on worldwide TV. It's a big change. Even the lockerroom is quiet

:39:30.:39:34.

with less competitors in the drauchlt it feels like, OK, this is

:39:35.:39:39.

the moment. We saw in the last match just how nerves can play a part. She

:39:40.:39:44.

didn't play well in the first few games but couldn't stop the rot?

:39:45.:39:49.

This is why the beginning of the match is crucial for the lower

:39:50.:39:54.

ranked player. Not to let the top-ranked player runaway. As their

:39:55.:39:58.

nerves are set. It is really a freight train. She needed the first

:39:59.:40:04.

hole, it didn't happen. And Muguruza has been playing this way the whole

:40:05.:40:11.

tournament but today, I would have thought her nerves would have been

:40:12.:40:15.

Dingling than perhaps other matches but she played solid.

:40:16.:40:22.

Well, of course, Venus knows her way to a woman's semifinal but let's

:40:23.:40:26.

hear from Johanna Konta, she's been talking to Richie. A very special

:40:27.:40:31.

day for Johanna Konta. It's extra special for British

:40:32.:40:36.

tennis fans - they've waited 33 years to be able to say that one of

:40:37.:40:43.

their own is in the quarterfinals. Whenever you engage in one of these

:40:44.:40:48.

tight tight tustles, you always seem to have the belief... Wow! It's her

:40:49.:40:53.

trademark. I trust in my own ability. It has to

:40:54.:40:58.

be there. # And I rise up

:40:59.:41:01.

# I'll rise like the day # I'll rise up

:41:02.:41:06.

# I'll rise unafraid # I'll rise up, and I do it a

:41:07.:41:15.

thousand and times again... You're the first British woman since 1978

:41:16.:41:18.

to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon. Winning the quarterfinal

:41:19.:41:24.

match means you will be in the top five of the women's rafrngings when

:41:25.:41:28.

they are out next week... I didn't know that! OK! Thank you!

:41:29.:41:31.

Congratulations. Thank you! When you add up all of

:41:32.:41:38.

the achievements, do you pat yourself on the back and go well

:41:39.:41:47.

done? It's difficult. I guess in both the fortunate and unfortunate

:41:48.:41:50.

positions in tennis, things move very quickly. Before you know it,

:41:51.:41:55.

the championships will be over and there will be ex-events next week.

:41:56.:41:59.

In that sense as it is so fast-moving it is almost an art to

:42:00.:42:03.

reflect well and acknowledge the good things you do. And it is

:42:04.:42:08.

something that I work on to acknowledge the good things I'm

:42:09.:42:12.

doing. But I'll let you know over Wimbledon how my pat on the back

:42:13.:42:18.

went, OK. ARCHIVE: British tennis history is

:42:19.:42:22.

made... Venus William, semifinal at Wimbledon, the sound of that to us

:42:23.:42:26.

is exciting, as you can imagine, what about for you? Equally. I have

:42:27.:42:31.

shared the court with her a number of times in the last couple of

:42:32.:42:36.

years, each time I have had to play her it's been a battle. The last

:42:37.:42:40.

time she got the better of me, so I'm looking forward to sharing the

:42:41.:42:43.

court with her again and to be playing against someone in such good

:42:44.:42:48.

form, who is such a champion. I've never played her on the grass, so

:42:49.:42:52.

that will be a new experience as well. How much can the crowd help

:42:53.:42:57.

you in those difficult moments, that, I'm sure, will be coming

:42:58.:43:04.

against Venus? I think they've been tremendous in their passion, their

:43:05.:43:10.

support and their excitement for me to, I guess, battle well. I'm

:43:11.:43:13.

definitely feeling humbled and grateful that they are on this

:43:14.:43:17.

journey with me here and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing

:43:18.:43:24.

them on Thursday. She's staying so focussed. And she's

:43:25.:43:30.

come through major battles at this tournament? She has. Garcia 6-4. And

:43:31.:43:42.

then Halep. In the set, five in the tie-break and then two sets to come.

:43:43.:43:47.

And then getting the number one ranking, and Halep backed off a bit.

:43:48.:43:54.

And Martina, this is when she broke in the fourth set it was important.

:43:55.:43:59.

There are 23 games in a row where the players held serve. That is how

:44:00.:44:04.

they play, no break points. But Jo put herself in the position more

:44:05.:44:10.

than Halep. And pulling back, that was all she needed.

:44:11.:44:14.

This is serving for the match, no sign of nerves at all? Not at all.

:44:15.:44:20.

She was brilliant. She doesn't let the errors mount. That is what she

:44:21.:44:28.

used to do. That's amazing to have such a turn around in two years.

:44:29.:44:34.

Obviously working with a mentor coach has been helpful to be clear

:44:35.:44:37.

of the game plan out there. But to be able to employ it time and time

:44:38.:44:42.

again, that is helpful coming into the semi-finals to have the three

:44:43.:44:45.

tight matches to come through. And beating Venus in Miami.

:44:46.:44:50.

But this is this morning. Look how relaxed she is. Like she is going

:44:51.:44:54.

out for a game in a local park. Again, this is why you are here.

:44:55.:45:00.

This is a warm up to get the cobwebs out, to get the heart rate going and

:45:01.:45:05.

the blood rate going. But all the work has been done. This is the warm

:45:06.:45:10.

up. She is clearly enjoying it. That is what it should be, embracing it,

:45:11.:45:16.

not dreading it. And you have to stay focussed, and

:45:17.:45:22.

also to keep the feet moving. It's a difficult balance.

:45:23.:45:27.

Tennis is a difficult competition, you must be intense, then calm, to

:45:28.:45:34.

get ready for the ball, to be fast then slow. It is fast, low, fast,

:45:35.:45:41.

slow. To remember your mistakes so you don't make them again. It's a

:45:42.:45:46.

fun game! And where one point can swing the set? Absolutely. And how

:45:47.:45:53.

many times has she been able to do that and on her own serve. She has a

:45:54.:45:57.

big serve but a clutch serve. That is important. She can come up with

:45:58.:46:01.

the big serve when she needs it most. Serving today will be huge.

:46:02.:46:09.

Both players have a huge first serve but Venus' sell serve can be

:46:10.:46:13.

attackable. Her first serve must be high.

:46:14.:46:16.

They are both big servers, there is nothing between the two. One mile an

:46:17.:46:24.

hour on the first serve, again on the second serve. The only

:46:25.:46:32.

difference is at the bottom is where Venus has 22 double faults to Jo's

:46:33.:46:37.

ten. Overall, Venus has a better return

:46:38.:46:43.

of serve, overall. Also that last match against Halep, Jo was missing

:46:44.:46:47.

the returns. So she must get that into play.

:46:48.:46:50.

And the placements. This is where Venus has been serving. The middle

:46:51.:46:57.

column in the red. 30% on the left court and 14% on the deuce court and

:46:58.:47:04.

then change over to Konta, she's going for the corners.

:47:05.:47:10.

0% on the left. Tracy, we know she loves to go for the angle. She is

:47:11.:47:15.

fit. So she can get the returns back? She should body serve more

:47:16.:47:24.

with Venus at 6ft 1, throw in the body serve so Venus can't get into a

:47:25.:47:31.

rhythm on the returns. And Jo forehand is a little brittle but

:47:32.:47:36.

Venus serves out wide to the deuce court.

:47:37.:47:42.

And grace placement, and does not like to be taken wide on the return,

:47:43.:47:47.

so she is using the body serve. As you are older you hit the body

:47:48.:47:53.

serves. The young guns go for the aces, Venus is using the body serve,

:47:54.:48:00.

somebody that long it is hard to get out of the way of the ball. Venus

:48:01.:48:05.

loves to step into the ball. When you are that tall with long arm it

:48:06.:48:12.

is is a little more tricky, so hopefully Jo's team have done the

:48:13.:48:17.

homework and know where Venus is serving so that they can change

:48:18.:48:22.

their locations a little bit. Technically, who's serve is better?

:48:23.:48:28.

I think it is Jo. Venus is a big server but pulls down with the left

:48:29.:48:33.

side quickly. And has a tendency to get predictable. As she slices on

:48:34.:48:39.

the right side of the ball she likes to go wide, especially down the T in

:48:40.:48:45.

the ad side. That is predictable. She must mix it up to all four

:48:46.:48:50.

corners and the body serve. The second serve she decelerates instead

:48:51.:48:55.

of going up and after. I think that Jo's second serve is better. Jo has

:48:56.:48:59.

been playing in the first women's semifinal leer. But not the same for

:49:00.:49:04.

Venus who made her debut 20 years ago. She is still in contention for

:49:05.:49:07.

the final. Here is her story.

:49:08.:49:14.

A lot can change in 20 years, people come, people go... Some things

:49:15.:49:23.

remain constant but long reigns are scarce in sport, making Venus

:49:24.:49:27.

Williams the rarest of gems. 20 years after her first Wimbledon, 100

:49:28.:49:35.

matches and five titles later, Williams The Elder is a serious

:49:36.:49:37.

contender again. It's the love for the game. It is

:49:38.:49:42.

what you need to keep a long career. Of course, the belief too. She must

:49:43.:49:47.

still believe she is capable of beating the best players out there

:49:48.:49:50.

and she can. At 37, she's the oldest woman to

:49:51.:49:57.

make the semi-finals here since the legendary Martina Navratilova in

:49:58.:50:01.

1994. The British player who practiced with Venus during the

:50:02.:50:04.

first Wimbledon didn't see it coming at all.

:50:05.:50:09.

I remember back in 1997, Venus' first Wimbledon. We spent a lot of

:50:10.:50:12.

time together on the practice courts. I started hitting with

:50:13.:50:20.

Venus, it was not normal, getting every ball at mach 10. If you told

:50:21.:50:26.

me 20 years ago she would be playing in 2017, I don't think I could have

:50:27.:50:30.

believed you. And considering the gloom of her

:50:31.:50:35.

heavy dwloom of the recent and much publicised car accident.

:50:36.:50:45.

Maybe I should go... Venus is a warm person, an empathetic person, this

:50:46.:50:48.

is not something that she would be able to brush off. She internalises

:50:49.:50:55.

it. She's a stoic person, so for her to break down like that,

:50:56.:50:59.

demonstrates the internal struggle she is going through.

:51:00.:51:07.

I think that she finds refuge on the tennis court but no more so than at

:51:08.:51:10.

Wimbledon. Just being on that grass, I think is

:51:11.:51:16.

very comforting to her in a lot of ways. And she's one of only two

:51:17.:51:23.

former champions here, so I'd' give her a shot.

:51:24.:51:29.

Being able to treat the two imposters, triumph and disaster, the

:51:30.:51:35.

same, has never felt more apt for Williams as she bids to succeed her

:51:36.:51:46.

sister as champion and win her first singles championship for nine years.

:51:47.:51:51.

You can't discount Venus, she is playing well, as well as she ever

:51:52.:51:57.

has. Venus comes to Wimbledon as if she belongs here.s as she says, it

:51:58.:52:02.

feels like her home. Taking fill ownership of Wimbledon once again,

:52:03.:52:07.

would abtale for the ages. A lot can change in 20 years but lifting

:52:08.:52:13.

Wimbledon trophies never gets old. It really is the most incredible

:52:14.:52:18.

story. And being a great champion, walking on to Centre Court it is

:52:19.:52:23.

playing from memory, remembering how to feel on the big moments.

:52:24.:52:29.

Venus has many great feelings and memories to go by. She has won five

:52:30.:52:37.

times. No other woman has won here like that, so she is a favourite

:52:38.:52:47.

from the get-go. It helps. You can see how you hit it ten years

:52:48.:52:52.

ago and then now, and think she can hit it.

:52:53.:52:59.

I didn't think we would see Venus competing for a grand lamb final

:53:00.:53:07.

ever again after hers medical diagnosis, the fatigue and the

:53:08.:53:10.

discomfort for her joints it is a dream.

:53:11.:53:16.

-- Grand Slam. I agree. Last year she got back to the semi-finals and

:53:17.:53:20.

got back into the thick of it. And the top ten and at 37 to get into

:53:21.:53:25.

the finals of the Australian Open, losing to Serena but as soon as

:53:26.:53:31.

Serena was not in the draw, you had to make Venus a part of the

:53:32.:53:35.

conversation. She knows how to play on the surface. She knows it. She is

:53:36.:53:39.

comfortable with the grass on her feet. The points are shorter so,

:53:40.:53:43.

that is helpful. And she knows when to go for the shot, when to pull the

:53:44.:53:46.

trigger. We are to discuss what Jo can do

:53:47.:53:54.

against Venus but let's get into the mind of her coach.

:53:55.:54:06.

It's over. British tennis history is made.

:54:07.:54:12.

It's been 39 years since a British woman can say I'm a Wimbledon

:54:13.:54:15.

semi-finalist. What a moment. A Wimbledon semifinal

:54:16.:54:20.

against a five-time champion for your player. How exciting is it?

:54:21.:54:25.

It's very exciting moment in my coaching career as well.

:54:26.:54:30.

Yes, this is where we want to be. This is what we are training for.

:54:31.:54:34.

Yeah, I believe it will be a fantastic match.

:54:35.:54:39.

Let's look ahead. Venus Williams, 20 years ago she first played the main

:54:40.:54:42.

draw at Wimbledon. It's one of the great stories of the

:54:43.:54:47.

sport, that she is here again in another semifinal.

:54:48.:54:52.

Yes it is fantastic to play against Venus now. She has a successful year

:54:53.:54:57.

this year. Everywhere she is playing she has had very good results. So

:54:58.:55:04.

this will be a very big test for Johanna but a semifinal Wimbledon,

:55:05.:55:08.

playing Venus Williams it can't get much better.

:55:09.:55:15.

We know about Venus' strengths, they are obvious, what about the

:55:16.:55:19.

weaknesses. The area to target? I don't think that we can speak about

:55:20.:55:24.

a weakness, a player like Venus does not have a weakness. It is more

:55:25.:55:30.

patterns. There are things we can expect. For Johannna it is forwent

:55:31.:55:38.

focus on her strengths. When you got the call to coach

:55:39.:55:43.

Johanna Konta, did you believe then that success at Wimbledon was

:55:44.:55:48.

possible? Yes. Definitely yes. A great athlete. Someone who is

:55:49.:55:53.

professional, dedicated. I saw someone with a big presence on

:55:54.:55:55.

court. Not afraid to fail. And not afraid

:55:56.:56:01.

to lose. Some have suggested perhaps she can

:56:02.:56:07.

embrace the crowd a little more. It is such an advantage having 15,000

:56:08.:56:16.

people behind you. Is that an issue, or would you rather she carry on

:56:17.:56:21.

what she is doing? It is great to enjoy the court and feel the energy

:56:22.:56:26.

from the crowd that is for sure. She is probably not expressing it as

:56:27.:56:30.

much as people would like her to. But she is still young in her

:56:31.:56:35.

career. And it's something that needs time for her, I think.

:56:36.:56:41.

But, yeah, she's very comfortable in the zone where she is right now. At

:56:42.:56:45.

this moment I would like her to stay in that zone.

:56:46.:56:49.

Is it possible she will be in the Wimbledon final on Saturday? For

:56:50.:56:53.

sure, it's possible. 50/50 against Venus.

:56:54.:57:00.

She has to play a good match. Unfortunately, it will depend on the

:57:01.:57:04.

level of Venus but I give her a chance.

:57:05.:57:08.

She has to believe in herself. I do belief in her. Her team believes in

:57:09.:57:12.

her. What will your final message be to

:57:13.:57:17.

her when she makes the walk from the locker room to the court? Enjoy it.

:57:18.:57:22.

It is interesting. We have heard it many times.

:57:23.:57:28.

Jo, to involve the crowd more. Did you ever hear that about Bjorg?

:57:29.:57:35.

Sampras or even Agassi? Never. You need to win. That's how you get the

:57:36.:57:45.

crowd involved! For me, it is not a part of her process. She has

:57:46.:57:50.

routines to go through, before serving and each point. That would

:57:51.:57:53.

be distracting for her to change at this time.

:57:54.:58:00.

And her coach does the tactics, e-mails them to her. She must recite

:58:01.:58:06.

them to him and they have a game plan and they stick to it.

:58:07.:58:11.

It is good to know. I liked to speak to my coach. But whatever works and

:58:12.:58:15.

it is working for her. It is good to know that they have a set game plan

:58:16.:58:20.

for the different players. These days there is not the variety as

:58:21.:58:25.

there used to be but there must be ideas toos what to do and

:58:26.:58:31.

concentrate on. There is the coach and the boyfriend

:58:32.:58:36.

and the dad in the pink shirt and the glasses. So a nervous time for

:58:37.:58:42.

them. Being British, you have seen the newspapers, this is more than a

:58:43.:58:46.

tennis match, isn't it? It is such a big deal. Also this is the feeling

:58:47.:58:53.

that this is the break-out year for Johanna Konta. She won in Miami,

:58:54.:58:57.

this is a big year. She broke into the top ten. I don't know if the

:58:58.:59:01.

British crowd knew so much about Johanna Konta. I feel like the

:59:02.:59:06.

matches have impressed them. The way that she held her demean our and has

:59:07.:59:11.

been calm. She loves the battle, the process. In each interview she

:59:12.:59:15.

speaks about that. She has employed that well. When I look at the dad

:59:16.:59:19.

there, you must think about what the family has been through. They were

:59:20.:59:24.

living in Australia, they decided to come here when she was 12, to be

:59:25.:59:30.

home schooled. To put all of the eggs in the basket to play tennis.

:59:31.:59:34.

To move here. To move to Spain. This is a long way coming, it is for this

:59:35.:59:38.

moment right here. Absolutely. It is a sacrifice. You did the same,

:59:39.:59:44.

Martina. It's what you have to do to follow your dream it is a wonderful

:59:45.:59:47.

sport to be a part of. You want to make sure you gave it

:59:48.:59:52.

everything you had. There is no other chance. The time is returning

:59:53.:59:57.

away. You have to make the most of it when there are opportunities.

:59:58.:00:01.

It's a commitment. There are many that go along for the ride. Maybe

:00:02.:00:06.

that helps as you give it your best. You have so many people that have

:00:07.:00:09.

given up their dreams to help your dream. So it takes off the pressure,

:00:10.:00:16.

you better be committed. Tennis in Australia, she was one of the rising

:00:17.:00:22.

juniors but not a top-ranked junior. But getting help from coaching. They

:00:23.:00:26.

took the funding away. That is when they decided to come here. Then at

:00:27.:00:32.

one point the funding was taken from her here as well. It give as strong

:00:33.:00:38.

desire to show them. If she was not so highly talented, it was the work

:00:39.:00:43.

ethic, in the school, the coaches that she worked with have all spoken

:00:44.:00:48.

about the work she has put it. And this is a huge opportunity.

:00:49.:00:54.

Talking about it with Serena out of the game, Maria Sharapova not being

:00:55.:00:59.

here, this was an opportunity to come through and take the

:01:00.:01:01.

opportunity. Yes. That is a big window of

:01:02.:01:06.

opportunity. We have spoke about it from the beginning, who will take

:01:07.:01:09.

the opportunity and make the most of it. Now you see the end result. It

:01:10.:01:15.

could be Muguruza, or could be Jo or Venus. The big hitters have come

:01:16.:01:19.

through. But they play to win. That is what wins majors that is what

:01:20.:01:29.

wins on grass. We saw it at the French with Ostapenka winning. And

:01:30.:01:34.

it was wide open. Anywhere from the small division to come through and

:01:35.:01:37.

win the French. This is a huge opportunity.

:01:38.:01:41.

You look at the French, Wimbledon, the women's matches have been

:01:42.:01:45.

fantastic! ? Physical, mental. And the people that go for it, they play

:01:46.:01:50.

to waned win. And so I hope that the girls are watching and the boys

:01:51.:01:55.

watching this sport. This is what works so get your stuff organised

:01:56.:01:59.

and play to win and not hope that the other person plays badly. Taking

:02:00.:02:04.

the bull by the horns. Excuse me, Halep pulled back. She

:02:05.:02:11.

was up a set, 5-4 in the tie-break, two points away, the shots didn't

:02:12.:02:15.

have the same sting. Landing in thester of the court. And Jo was

:02:16.:02:20.

brave. That's how she must play today.

:02:21.:02:27.

Martina, we saw you telling her to ignore everything. Here she is.

:02:28.:02:32.

Straight out. They are not holding the players. Jo followed by Venus,

:02:33.:02:36.

wait for the cheer... Didn't that give you goose bumps?

:02:37.:03:04.

That was just a huge cheer. I think it will be a factor. That will

:03:05.:03:07.

energise both players, particularly Jo. They are giving it all they

:03:08.:03:15.

have. The crowd may help. It may hurt. At the end of the day you have

:03:16.:03:19.

to play the ball. You're playing Venus Williams, not anybody else.

:03:20.:03:23.

Venus is playing Jo Konta, not anybody else. We will see who can

:03:24.:03:28.

play better tennis at the crucial moments. This is what it is all

:03:29.:03:36.

about. We saw in the last match, these first few games will be key to

:03:37.:03:40.

get yourself focused. She is looking so relaxed. She is chatting to the

:03:41.:03:45.

umpire. This is what we want to see. This is the right state of mind. I

:03:46.:03:50.

can feel the energy already. The crowd will be for her. Yet you have

:03:51.:03:55.

this five-time champion who is so calm, so poised. Jo has beaten

:03:56.:04:01.

Venus. That was the break-out tournament

:04:02.:04:16.

for me with Jo. Miami. It was a big event. And back-to-back big players.

:04:17.:04:21.

She is the only player in the semifinals to have won a tour title.

:04:22.:04:26.

Does not been a great year for any of these players. Venus Williams has

:04:27.:04:35.

a great opportunity here. These people play great tennis on grass.

:04:36.:04:42.

They play aggressively. Shirley Bassey watching on. The crowd will

:04:43.:04:48.

also have a huge respect for Venus as well with everything that she has

:04:49.:04:54.

achieved. Five times a champion. They must be feeling divided. Of

:04:55.:04:59.

course they wanted -- the Brit to win. But what a tailored would be if

:05:00.:05:05.

the nurse were to win here again. At 37. We will talk more about the

:05:06.:05:13.

semifinal. First, let's look at Jo's journey through to the last four.

:05:14.:05:21.

Welcome to Court One. Johanna Konta, the world number seven. High home

:05:22.:05:30.

hopes for her. She has the double break. And it is an ace to win the

:05:31.:05:48.

match for Johanna Konta. Konta takes the opening set. What a

:05:49.:05:58.

fightback from Donna Vekic. Konta composed as ever, hangs on. What a

:05:59.:06:09.

battle. What resilience. First set to the British number one.

:06:10.:06:19.

Three down, four to go. To end 40 years of you know what.

:06:20.:06:22.

One of the biggest days British tennis has known in a long time. Jo

:06:23.:06:27.

Konta halfway there are a women's quarterfinal. She has one the first

:06:28.:06:34.

set. -- won. She had the mental resolve to get the job done. We are

:06:35.:06:41.

level at a set apiece. Jo Konta, Wimbledon quarterfinalist, the first

:06:42.:06:49.

since Jo Durie in 1984. Wow! That is worrying from a British perspective.

:06:50.:06:54.

A magnificent tie-break from Simona Halep. They are bringing the best

:06:55.:07:01.

out of each other. Look at that. Jo Konta has forced a final set. It is

:07:02.:07:06.

over. British tennis history is made.

:07:07.:07:14.

We have found out a lot about Jo throughout this Championships. We

:07:15.:07:22.

will find out even more today as we see the stats of what she has

:07:23.:07:26.

achieved. Semifinal at the Australian Open. She has been in a

:07:27.:07:30.

Grand Slam semifinal. Not quite the same as a home Grand Slam. That was

:07:31.:07:37.

break-out tournament. She announced herself that she would be part of

:07:38.:07:41.

the elite. It has been a nice process, but kind of a quick process

:07:42.:07:45.

the last couple of years am considering she is 26 and has been

:07:46.:07:52.

at this a long time. Donna Vekic had beaten her in Nottingham. And Simona

:07:53.:08:00.

Halep, that was the match right there. She was two points away from

:08:01.:08:06.

defeat. Their kitsch and Garcia gave the most trouble -- Donna Vekic.

:08:07.:08:18.

What will decide the match today is if Jo can return the serve. Venus

:08:19.:08:25.

has the bigger serve. She needs to give herself more opportunities to

:08:26.:08:28.

break serve. She will get broken. Everybody does. Word-macro this is

:08:29.:08:35.

Venus' favourite Grand Slam. It is her favourite course. -- court. The

:08:36.:08:45.

serve is a natural slice, so it stays down and moves away from the

:08:46.:08:51.

opponent. Venus lost one set in the second round. Then she played big

:08:52.:08:57.

hitters. She beat Ostapenko, the French Open champion. She will be

:08:58.:09:00.

used to that hard, powerful, flatground stroke. It is 3-2 in

:09:01.:09:07.

favour of Jo as far as the head-to-heads go. They have played

:09:08.:09:13.

twice this year. Martina, you are saying this year that Mark -- Venus'

:09:14.:09:21.

return is better? Yes, she goes for more and makes more. Especially on

:09:22.:09:25.

the big points. If I were looking at something weird here, I have not

:09:26.:09:34.

seen Venus play a first serve in the warm up. Jo is smacking the heck out

:09:35.:09:42.

of her serve. Total speculation. But you want to warm up the arm more

:09:43.:09:51.

than that. You are right. We watched practising earlier and she was doing

:09:52.:09:57.

the same thing. I have seen that in past tournaments. Could it be her

:09:58.:10:01.

age, at 37? Last year she had trouble with her arm much of the

:10:02.:10:05.

season. Could it be something that she needs a little bit more time to

:10:06.:10:10.

warm up? She will definitely need that serve all out today.

:10:11.:10:16.

Absolutely. They are both very tenacious, aggressive players. They

:10:17.:10:26.

have to back the big serve up. Big first strike, both players. Both

:10:27.:10:30.

good at moving forward and knocking the swing volleys away. It is a

:10:31.:10:33.

matter of who can hold their nerve spatter, who can move better and

:10:34.:10:37.

play the big points better. The movement is crucial because I don't

:10:38.:10:41.

think Venus is moving as quickly. That is the one thing in a game that

:10:42.:10:47.

is not as strong as when she was 27. Not slower by a whole foot. Just a

:10:48.:10:53.

little bit. These small things can make the difference. Everybody has

:10:54.:10:57.

been asking me if she can win. It is must like a coin toss. It is most

:10:58.:11:02.

impossible to tell. I would give the slight edge to Venus because she has

:11:03.:11:06.

been here before. The crowd tell you it is ready to

:11:07.:11:16.

start. It is Jo Konta pots --'s big day on Centre Court. Can she make it

:11:17.:11:21.

back -- to the final as Virginia Wade did in 1977?

:11:22.:11:29.

It has been a long journey for Jo Konta to get to this point. You will

:11:30.:11:35.

hear the noise in a moment as she emerges to what is a home-court

:11:36.:11:37.

reception. The atmosphere is crackling. Muguruza went through in

:11:38.:11:45.

the first semifinal. Contact Centre Court. -- Konta.

:11:46.:12:09.

Not quite ready. Attacked by a beast.

:12:10.:12:20.

LAUGHTER. The insect has had a very good season.

:12:21.:12:56.

It is going to be a different style of match compared to Konta against

:12:57.:13:03.

Halep. But we all hope the quality of the hitting is the same. If we

:13:04.:13:15.

had any doubt about Venus' arm, her serve before the warm up, 99 miles

:13:16.:13:19.

per second serve. I think the shoulder is just fine.

:13:20.:13:52.

That is a big forehand from Venus Williams. Jo Konta takes a big swing

:13:53.:14:00.

forehands. She will have to shorten it a little bit or you will see that

:14:01.:14:04.

result right there. She doesn't have time to get a round ball. The Venus

:14:05.:14:06.

Williams has come out firing. APPLAUSE

:14:07.:14:51.

On the line and Konta gets something on the board. It helps to settle in.

:14:52.:14:57.

-- it helps her to settle in. But the hold for a Venus Williams.

:14:58.:15:16.

Near of an ideal start. Her sister watching on alongside her mother.

:15:17.:15:23.

You can see the power of the hitting we are going to see from both of

:15:24.:15:30.

these women throughout this match. There is Venus Williams' culls on

:15:31.:15:45.

the right-hand side. -- coach. Konta served so well against Halep. She

:15:46.:15:48.

has done throughout the championship.

:15:49.:16:11.

UMPIRE: Let, second service. Venus ready to attack that second

:16:12.:16:18.

serve. Sometimes just that presence there:

:16:19.:16:35.

settle. A double fault very early. You feel the player closer to you,

:16:36.:16:41.

so you hit a shorter serve. Sometimes they go in the net.

:16:42.:16:56.

APPLAUSE It is important for Jo Konta to get

:16:57.:17:00.

off to a decent start. Her coach on the left with the sunglasses. You

:17:01.:17:08.

don't want to let Venus Williams get into her stride.

:17:09.:17:26.

Well Mac! -- Womack! That sends a message. The return is way more

:17:27.:17:38.

powerful than the serve. 93 mph second serve. Venus Williams smacks

:17:39.:17:39.

it back. The crowd applaud, thinking it might

:17:40.:17:55.

be an ace. Johanna Konta asks the question.

:17:56.:18:06.

Not quite. Still stuck on 29 aces in this tournament. APPLAUSE

:18:07.:18:21.

Not even the long arms of Venus Williams can get to that one.

:18:22.:18:45.

APPLAUSE You can hear the goodwill from the

:18:46.:18:51.

crowd, urging her to hold her serve. APPLAUSE

:18:52.:19:18.

That is a good comeback in that service game from Konta. We saw what

:19:19.:19:22.

can happen if things start to slip away quickly, as we did in the first

:19:23.:19:29.

semifinal. Virginia Wade watching, the last British woman to have won

:19:30.:19:36.

here in 1977. That was a big game. It could have totally turned the

:19:37.:19:40.

match already. It was essential for Jo to get on board, hold her nerve,

:19:41.:19:47.

which she has been doing, repeatedly.

:19:48.:20:07.

APPLAUSE That is well played. Konta keeping

:20:08.:20:20.

Venus on the move. Venus has lost a little bit of that spectacular

:20:21.:20:24.

movement. She still moves incredibly well but that forehand was a little

:20:25.:20:27.

bit shorter than Venus would like it to be, and Konta attacks.

:20:28.:21:08.

When you watch her move around the baseline before serving, she has a

:21:09.:21:15.

wonderful calm demeanour. It is the explosion into the power of it. Her

:21:16.:21:26.

legs, so beautiful. There was not much Konta could do about that. Good

:21:27.:21:32.

serving again by Venus Williams. Whether Johanna Konta can get

:21:33.:21:37.

anything on that serve, that is a big question. Both have been serving

:21:38.:21:39.

very well throughout this championship. When they both have

:21:40.:21:46.

those big serves, if they are landing the first serve, it is very

:21:47.:21:52.

difficult for any opponent. Jo Konta add that ridiculously great serving

:21:53.:21:59.

day against Simona Halep in the first set. 97%. You never hear of

:22:00.:22:03.

that. And she lost the set despite that. She didn't serve as well in

:22:04.:22:07.

the second and third but won the match. Venus Williams, straight off

:22:08.:22:16.

the bat here. Ten first serves in. Tracy mentioned Venus' use of legs.

:22:17.:22:21.

It is also high she uses her wrists. You see how loose it is. The racket

:22:22.:22:26.

makes a big loop and accelerates. It starts with the hips. The upper

:22:27.:22:30.

body, shoulder and finally the wrists. The racket completely comes

:22:31.:22:38.

around. It is not just the height but it is the snap. 120 mile -- 129

:22:39.:22:45.

miles per she once recorded at Wimbledon.

:22:46.:23:33.

APPLAUSE Terrific from Konta to absorb those

:23:34.:23:47.

powerful ground strokes. It is very tough to be that close, three feet

:23:48.:23:57.

inside Rome baseline. It is testing your own quickness and hand eye.

:23:58.:24:07.

She is quite good at shutting out the clamour and the noise and the

:24:08.:24:26.

turmoil, Konta. Carlos Ramos says it was just a

:24:27.:24:49.

Ford. Konta is happy with that. -- fault.

:24:50.:25:03.

We can confirm if she had challenged, it would have been

:25:04.:25:10.

successful. It was in, apparently. The umpire was pretty adamant the

:25:11.:25:15.

ball was out. It caught a good part of the line, a centimetre and a

:25:16.:25:22.

half. Bad luck for Jo. It is pressured time again on her serve.

:25:23.:25:26.

UMPIRE: Let, first service. APPLAUSE

:25:27.:25:54.

Fantastic serve under big pressure. 109 mph down the middle. Jo has been

:25:55.:26:01.

sending predominantly Widener first serve. Venus predominantly down the

:26:02.:26:07.

middle. It'll be interesting to see how the numbers out during this

:26:08.:26:08.

match. -- pan out. It wasn't a bad serve but came back

:26:09.:26:46.

pretty hot. Venus Williams is standing well inside the baseline

:26:47.:26:49.

when hitting the second serve return. She is taking away time from

:26:50.:26:51.

Konta. APPLAUSE Konta has been mixing the placement

:26:52.:27:09.

of serves up up hole tournament. APPLAUSE

:27:10.:27:24.

And another one. It brings the hold for Konta. It is not easy for her at

:27:25.:27:29.

the moment. The best thing is she is standing up pretty well when she is

:27:30.:27:35.

put under pressure. She has been doing it all tournament. Against

:27:36.:27:39.

Donna Vekic in the second round. APPLAUSE

:27:40.:28:18.

The first double fault of the match fur Williams. -- for.

:28:19.:28:38.

That is too good from Williams. She seemed to be on the back foot. Even

:28:39.:28:47.

off-balance, she found the gap. You have got to cover the line. She

:28:48.:28:54.

moves to Fatullah right. Really, Venus was so late offer back foot,

:28:55.:28:59.

that was the only shot she had got. You don't want to give away the easy

:29:00.:29:06.

shot. As difficult as that might be. APPLAUSE

:29:07.:29:13.

But she is starting to just forge a few chances on the Williams serve.

:29:14.:29:20.

Konta gets down further ground strokes so beautifully. Necessary on

:29:21.:29:25.

the grass. Smart serving from Venus Williams.

:29:26.:29:48.

Not giving the angle to Jo. More spin. She has to take that slice

:29:49.:29:54.

away on big points. APPLAUSE

:29:55.:30:22.

Excellent approach from Venus. She got low and brushed up beautifully.

:30:23.:30:26.

The better get in position. She does that little funny pomp with their

:30:27.:30:31.

elbows before an overhead. It is very peculiar. But she has one of

:30:32.:30:33.

the best overheads in the game. So another for Venus Williams.

:30:34.:31:03.

Already, I think you sense it will be a rather close semifinal.

:31:04.:31:08.

And the quality of hitting from Venus Williams, and a different

:31:09.:31:16.

level of power from these two. Absolutely, and Venus five-times

:31:17.:31:21.

champion. This is something she is so accustomed to. And for Johanna

:31:22.:31:26.

Konta, she is starting to get used to the match situations, and is

:31:27.:31:31.

proving to be mentally tougher in the last couple of years. Magdelena

:31:32.:31:35.

Rybarikova seemed to result under the occasion. It is interesting,

:31:36.:31:42.

that Anne Jones, who won Wimbledon in 69 and a couple of French Opens.

:31:43.:31:56.

And to the left, Miss Williams, who won in '62 against Sekova's mum.

:31:57.:32:05.

Wow. It is interesting with Venus Williams, and the series of slams,

:32:06.:32:10.

she has won but she's been away for a long time. She'll be feeling a few

:32:11.:32:14.

jitters as well, I'm sure. Again, her father, watching how she

:32:15.:32:56.

gets down so well. 5ft 11, not as tall as Venus but has the ability,

:32:57.:33:01.

as you have to have on grass, to get down.

:33:02.:33:09.

And another line-clipper from Johanna Konta.

:33:10.:33:45.

Now the second serve eaten up by Venus Williams.

:33:46.:33:51.

It's really all about first-strike grass court tennis.

:33:52.:33:56.

Once you get in defensive position, to get that point back to neutral...

:33:57.:34:36.

You don't see that much from Venus, the approach and moving forward.

:34:37.:34:45.

Really just trying to take time away from Konta. A tactic.

:34:46.:34:53.

Great response. Again, it's clutch-serving, as you said.

:34:54.:35:12.

Again! Wow! Location. The balls are on the centre of service line, which

:35:13.:35:20.

is even better on the slice. This can truly lift your confidence,

:35:21.:35:40.

and it's necessary at the moment, as she is feeling the squeeze from

:35:41.:35:44.

Williams. It is either 30-30 or deuce. But no

:35:45.:35:48.

break points from the players so far. But Williams has had it much

:35:49.:35:51.

easier. Too much top-spin on that forehand

:35:52.:36:19.

return. It needs to be flatter. That's Konta's best shot.

:36:20.:36:43.

For both players, the forehand is the side that can be more brittle

:36:44.:36:45.

and you can make more mistakes. Nice return.

:36:46.:37:20.

Backhand. Right at Williams' feet. She is still busy, covering after

:37:21.:37:27.

her serve. And effective on any court but

:37:28.:37:29.

especially here. There for a second serve at 15-30.

:37:30.:37:58.

Too slow a second serve. Konta got ahead of herself after she hit that

:37:59.:38:00.

early. So once more for Venus Williams.

:38:01.:38:36.

But once again, just a few signs from Konta, that she can get

:38:37.:38:42.

something on the Williams' serve. But Venus Williams is serving pretty

:38:43.:38:47.

well on the first match. And earlier on it is such a weapon.

:38:48.:38:52.

A sunny day. It's been close. A little muggy earlier today. But

:38:53.:38:57.

there they are, basking on the hill. He was quick to be up. The quickest

:38:58.:39:07.

reaction by a distance! They're all watching themselves on the big

:39:08.:39:10.

screen. Henman Hill. I no ethat people have

:39:11.:39:17.

been trying to come up with a name, that it should be alliterative

:39:18.:39:35.

but... Konta CKopia. You can check it.

:39:36.:39:43.

The Hill! Well, Johanna Konta, again, as you said, Venus Williams

:39:44.:39:49.

is serving so well. When you are getting the opportunity you have to

:39:50.:39:54.

do something with it. Now serving with new balls. No service points,

:39:55.:39:57.

no break points, for either player. Serving lights out. Half percentage

:39:58.:40:36.

against Halep, now she is getting them in and hitting aces. It's nice

:40:37.:40:49.

to get those quick points. Now a decent first serve there but

:40:50.:40:53.

Williams is equal to it. A short take back on the return. No time for

:40:54.:40:57.

more. Lock it is with accuracy.

:40:58.:41:27.

Went for it in the second serve. The second double fault for Konta. Once

:41:28.:41:37.

again she finds herself at that nervy time, 30-30.

:41:38.:41:55.

Can't fault the quality of her play when she is under a bit of pressure.

:41:56.:42:04.

Comes up with a big serve and the backhand just unloads on the front

:42:05.:42:07.

foot. So flat. It goes through the court.

:42:08.:42:25.

And again, the response from 30-30 to hold.

:42:26.:42:33.

It's a lot of corners hit by both players, under pressure.

:42:34.:42:38.

It is really high quality tennis. Nobody is wilting.

:42:39.:42:43.

I have a feeling somebody's not going to lose this match, somebody's

:42:44.:42:48.

going to win it! They're both going for it. That will pay off for one of

:42:49.:42:51.

them. Venus looking up. That sun is right

:42:52.:43:37.

where she likes to toss the ball. And the double fault arrives.

:43:38.:43:47.

She's not happy at all. If she can't move it, a cloud will

:43:48.:43:57.

be along shortly. Oh, no. No. No. Wow. That's surprising. We rarely

:43:58.:44:05.

see Venus miss swing volleys. Just completely misjudged this.

:44:06.:44:11.

Maybe still blinded by the sun from the serve and then looking right

:44:12.:44:15.

into it again on the volley. I don't know how bright it is out there,

:44:16.:44:28.

playing against the sun. Well, the first break points arrive.

:44:29.:44:33.

A return right back at the feet of Venus Williams. And Centre Court

:44:34.:44:43.

will only get louder. Cover the T serve. The computer

:44:44.:44:51.

brain is working. One disappears.

:44:52.:45:21.

What a serve. That was courageous, 106, second serve.

:45:22.:45:32.

Wow! That's her fastest second serve of the day.

:45:33.:45:37.

Probably of the tournament. It pays off for Venus Williams. That

:45:38.:45:41.

is seriously brave tennis from the former champ.

:45:42.:45:55.

And having seen off those two break points it moves closer now to the

:45:56.:46:02.

hold. So crucial for Venus to be hitting

:46:03.:46:06.

her forehand with authority like this. Staying down and committing to

:46:07.:46:08.

it. Venus Williams weathers the storm.

:46:09.:46:24.

What opportunities there were for Johanna Konta.

:46:25.:46:35.

Now with Williams serving first, what pressure there will be on the

:46:36.:46:40.

serve of couldn't Konta to stay in this first set. A right match on her

:46:41.:46:45.

hands though. Johanna Konta is really dictating

:46:46.:46:51.

once the ball is in play. She's got 14 winners, four unforced errors,

:46:52.:46:55.

Venus Williams eight in five. So Venus has been on the back foot

:46:56.:47:01.

more. But what a shot that was when break point down, second serve, it

:47:02.:47:05.

was one of those if you make it, you're a hero, if you miss it, too

:47:06.:47:12.

much. But she made it. It was tremendous, the second serve.

:47:13.:47:15.

Now she focuses and regathers. Quite often a very, very difficult

:47:16.:47:34.

game, when you have come close to breaking, a couple of break points

:47:35.:47:38.

to try to hold yourself and of course this one to stay in this

:47:39.:47:40.

first set. A challenge from Konta but it did

:47:41.:48:08.

look a little heavy-handed. Long from here it looked. I thought

:48:09.:48:14.

she may try to hit a short ball. But I think she saw Venus at the

:48:15.:48:18.

baseline and tried to sneak it in at her feet.

:48:19.:48:26.

The ball spins funny off that court, it's hard to control.

:48:27.:48:36.

And the pressure grows. Control that forehand side.

:48:37.:48:45.

Just a little bit of top-spin for control is needed.

:48:46.:49:17.

You can feel, you can hear Venus Williams stepping up the noise and

:49:18.:49:25.

the power and suddenly three set points for Venus Williams.

:49:26.:50:14.

Well, that second serve was so deep! Talk about bravery on second serve.

:50:15.:50:23.

A loft the crowd had their hearts in their mouths.

:50:24.:50:26.

It's a good thing. There was a lot of kick on that serve. But the kick

:50:27.:50:32.

brought it in. So a brave second serve from Jo. Just back on the

:50:33.:50:33.

line. It's long! And it is the first blow

:50:34.:50:51.

to Venus Williams in this semifinal. There was a pause as the crowd took

:50:52.:50:56.

it in. But Venus Williams having stared

:50:57.:50:59.

down two break points herself, takes the set. And it so often happens at

:51:00.:51:06.

well like that. It is the great champions who take their

:51:07.:51:07.

opportunities. . Just the small windows there,

:51:08.:51:18.

Venus serving at 15-40, then on the second service point, 106, the

:51:19.:51:23.

fastest serve of the day. It is amazing how quickly the momentum of

:51:24.:51:27.

a set, of a match can turn. Konta was a little sloppy but Venus

:51:28.:51:31.

really stepped on the pend there will to put the pressure on Konta.

:51:32.:51:36.

It will be a tale of that first set, now here in the numbers in the

:51:37.:51:40.

yellow and the gold in that category. And Venus Williams, up in

:51:41.:51:45.

most of them. Yeah, the biggest thing is the

:51:46.:51:48.

second serve points won. As we spoke about before the match, we thought

:51:49.:51:55.

that Venus' second serve is usually more attackable but this tournament

:51:56.:52:00.

hitting it well and Johanna Konta with the kick-serve it goes into the

:52:01.:52:04.

power zone of Venus Williams and she is just a little better on the

:52:05.:52:09.

second serve that is the difference in the set. Johanna Konta has come

:52:10.:52:13.

come through a few three-set matches already.

:52:14.:52:27.

10-8 over the Croatian opponent and against Simona Halep, recently. But

:52:28.:52:32.

will have to do it again. Coming from a set down against Venus

:52:33.:52:34.

Williams. She will be chasing this one. Williams will be serving to get

:52:35.:52:41.

this second set under way. But she has shown so far, Konta, her

:52:42.:52:46.

mental strength throughout this championship.

:52:47.:52:55.

Second set Miss Williams to serve. Go Nice serve. Perfectly executed.

:52:56.:53:12.

Into the right hip instead of the left hip. It's tougher to get out of

:53:13.:53:14.

the way. And so Konta was committed. Threw it

:53:15.:53:34.

in behind her. I want to see if Venus starts to

:53:35.:53:38.

target the Konta forehand a little more. Missing a few critical returns

:53:39.:53:43.

on that side. Entering the rallies as well.

:53:44.:54:00.

Now they seem to be missing the second serves and the ball is coming

:54:01.:54:06.

slower, as she's not timing it right.

:54:07.:54:11.

A little too eager, aq sharks at which you would like to go down the

:54:12.:54:17.

middle of the court so, if you go early, the ball will still go in the

:54:18.:54:24.

court. Venus Williams, to open the second

:54:25.:54:28.

set. Yes, the floor of the match moves

:54:29.:54:32.

with Venus Williams, having taken the first set.

:54:33.:54:37.

And Johanna Konta has to be strong here. But again in a tennis match

:54:38.:54:43.

there can be so many shifts of momentum, and Johanna Konta will

:54:44.:54:47.

have to hope that this woman's level dip as little and then she can take

:54:48.:54:55.

advantage of it. Such positive luck by Konta always.

:54:56.:54:59.

Staying close to her routines. Well it's one thing to take the

:55:00.:55:36.

second thing early and chip and charge. It's easier to be running

:55:37.:55:40.

through the ball with a slice but to hit it on the fourth swing and run

:55:41.:55:45.

to the net, the timing has to be perfect. But it still sends a

:55:46.:55:56.

message. Venus Williams is taking the first serve return early as

:55:57.:56:00.

well. The ball is getting there a little quicker than what Johanna

:56:01.:56:04.

Konta is used to and missed a few second shots as she's just not ready

:56:05.:56:08.

for it, the timing is different with Williams inside the court.

:56:09.:56:18.

Still throwing down the occasional ace.

:56:19.:56:27.

Nice to see from Jo. Half a dozen aces in this match

:56:28.:56:28.

alone now. The swell of noise inside Centre

:56:29.:57:04.

Court trying to lift Konta. I think Venus Williams may ask...

:57:05.:57:40.

She stepped in, thought she had clipped the line.

:57:41.:57:46.

Oh, it hit the line, 40 performance 30.

:57:47.:57:54.

Good challenge. We don't see Venus challenge that

:57:55.:57:57.

much. She doesn't challenge hardly at all.

:57:58.:58:01.

She must have seen something that we didn't see.

:58:02.:58:14.

She's very trusting! It didn't matter in the end. Konta has a game

:58:15.:58:25.

up there in this second set. Venus is off to find a new weapon.

:58:26.:58:33.

Surely the players change around the ball, the ball change, seven or

:58:34.:58:38.

eight games but Venus, in the middle of the match, changes. I guess with

:58:39.:58:44.

the heat, the ball is flying. Maybe she wants a slightly tighter raquet.

:58:45.:58:52.

The raqueta lose tension more quickly. We would play with the same

:58:53.:59:05.

wooden raquets for weeks on end! And as you were mentioning about Konta.

:59:06.:59:09.

It doesn't matter what stage the match is it, the score, she

:59:10.:59:12.

approaches it exactly the same way. Well, working with the mental coach

:59:13.:59:39.

over the last couple of years, has made all the difference in the world

:59:40.:59:43.

to go back to her routines. To barely look up at the crowd, just

:59:44.:59:49.

look down at the ground. To go through the montra of what she must

:59:50.:59:50.

do. Great positioning from Konta inside

:59:51.:00:20.

the baseline. That body serve is so effective,

:00:21.:00:38.

especially if you see your opponent start to move in and try to take

:00:39.:00:44.

your time away. You say, OK, you're going to stand in, I will hit it

:00:45.:00:47.

right at your body. The contrast with Konta who goes wider down the

:00:48.:00:49.

line. The groan from the crowd told you

:00:50.:01:33.

before we saw it. You don't get many opportunities against the great

:01:34.:01:37.

players, and this is one of those. You just can't make an unforced

:01:38.:01:41.

error like that, unless you are going for a winner. A couple of

:01:42.:01:48.

forehands in a row. And the game has gone. We remain on serve in this

:01:49.:02:01.

second set. Watching Venus Williams's service game but on the

:02:02.:02:04.

counter service game this is what we have been talking about, the way

:02:05.:02:08.

Venus Williams imposes herself and is taking things pretty high up the

:02:09.:02:14.

court. This is where I think Jo Konta is struggling on the second

:02:15.:02:20.

shot. Just after the serve, you see how fast the ball gets back because

:02:21.:02:23.

Dennis Williams is sticking every server inside the baseline and every

:02:24.:02:28.

second serve well inside the baseline, and metre and a half in,

:02:29.:02:31.

so the ball gets there that much quicker and it is a different

:02:32.:02:34.

cadence on the second shot which is given Jo trouble. Here it is in

:02:35.:02:45.

actuality. The split step for balance is great, the only take

:02:46.:02:50.

back, and the left arm helps ensure that she gets that body turned. Look

:02:51.:02:55.

at the legs, she uses the legs to absorb the power and yet stay down

:02:56.:03:01.

and forward. They come back at a pretty hefty speed as well. So Konta

:03:02.:03:07.

will be facing that now as she serves at 1-2.

:03:08.:03:25.

Konta just looking to the box before deciding to challenge. It felt wide

:03:26.:03:33.

from here. Of course, we are about 40 yards from there. It looked wide

:03:34.:03:43.

when she hit it, and it is wide. UMPIRE: Miss Konta has two

:03:44.:03:46.

challengers remaining. The hand of apology. Two let cords

:03:47.:04:09.

in a row, forcing Jo to come in and the second dribbling the ball over

:04:10.:04:14.

the net. In trouble, 0-30, she must come up with some big serves here.

:04:15.:04:43.

No, three break points. The double fault, 13 for the entire tournament.

:04:44.:04:54.

I wonder if that stance is causing some of that.

:04:55.:05:07.

What a touch. Shot! She was a little slow getting to the backhand but she

:05:08.:05:18.

did a good job keeping the ball low. What a nice drop volley on a big

:05:19.:05:22.

point. Will this be the difference in this game? She needs a break.

:05:23.:05:26.

She's not been lucky in this match so far.

:05:27.:05:49.

And it's good, just another clip on the net is fine for Konta. Two down,

:05:50.:06:00.

want to go. She's flirting with the net every shot she hits, her

:06:01.:06:05.

clearance is so low. Still a break point down, both.

:06:06.:06:22.

Williams has it now. If Johanna Konta is to make it to this

:06:23.:06:32.

Wimbledon final she will have to travel a very long road. The first

:06:33.:06:37.

sign of frustration from Konta that we have seen all day. The backhand

:06:38.:06:43.

up the line from Williams clipped the net and messed up Konko's timing

:06:44.:06:50.

there. She has a right to be frustrated, 17 winners, eight

:06:51.:06:55.

unforced, but Venus Dummett Venus Williams, 6-4, 3-1 up, she has

:06:56.:07:02.

nothing to show for it. Well-balanced match Venus Williams

:07:03.:07:06.

has played. There are no chinks in her armour today.

:07:07.:07:28.

That is a body second serve. It is such a weapon, Konta just getting

:07:29.:07:43.

out of the way. Three? Miles per hour.

:07:44.:08:01.

Another body serve. The body serve is effective when the Rich Turner

:08:02.:08:07.

stands close in so the ball gets there first, and also one big points

:08:08.:08:11.

because when you are a receiver on a big point you are trying to guess

:08:12.:08:15.

where the ball will go so you are trying to explode to the ball so the

:08:16.:08:19.

ball is going right at you and you don't have the mentality to defend,

:08:20.:08:21.

you want to go for it. Hitting with conviction in the rally

:08:22.:08:40.

but then the mistake. Beforehand again. -- the forehand.

:08:41.:09:19.

And again, the second serve from Venus Williams, another hold, moving

:09:20.:09:26.

along so well, getting closer to the final. There are many, of course,

:09:27.:09:31.

watching this with British coloured lenses but it's a great story on the

:09:32.:09:35.

other side of the net as well. Written off by so many, turned 37

:09:36.:09:40.

last month, and for a long time as well in the shadow of the Serena but

:09:41.:09:45.

she seems to be playing as well as she ever has done. Absolutely, it

:09:46.:09:50.

all started here last year getting back to the semifinals, and that

:09:51.:09:53.

allowed her to get the confidence and get back into the top ten. She

:09:54.:09:59.

had a good, strong US Open and made the finals again in Australia.

:10:00.:10:06.

Serena is out with impending motherhood and Sharapova is out and

:10:07.:10:10.

Azarenka just coming back, Venus thought this was a great opportunity

:10:11.:10:13.

and has handled the whole situation with the car accident just prior to

:10:14.:10:21.

the Championships beautifully. When everything is going really well you

:10:22.:10:25.

are so happy to be playing tennis, yes, I'm playing tennis, and when

:10:26.:10:29.

things don't go so well in your private life, I still get to play

:10:30.:10:32.

tennis, so it's kind of an escape one way or the other and Venus

:10:33.:10:36.

Williams, the old pro that she is, is totally focused on the moment and

:10:37.:10:41.

handling the pressure beautifully. Konta 1-4.

:10:42.:10:48.

She will certainly not give up, Johanna Konta, you can guarantee

:10:49.:10:56.

that. No, but she must organise the forehand, it left the building a few

:10:57.:11:01.

games ago. She needs to get it back in here. She's missed too many of

:11:02.:11:02.

those. The backhand is still very much in

:11:03.:11:29.

the building. It's always been the big weapon, and it's the forehand

:11:30.:11:34.

that has improved so much from Konta so much in the last couple of years.

:11:35.:11:39.

But still, not quite matching the backhand quite yet.

:11:40.:12:11.

Sitting up for Williams to put it away. From a position of some

:12:12.:13:15.

comfort in this game at 40-0, Williams fighting her way back into

:13:16.:13:16.

it. And again on the forehand. The

:13:17.:13:52.

forehand, because of the grip, you have to accelerate on the stroke. If

:13:53.:13:57.

you don't it will fly along because you have such a severe grip that the

:13:58.:14:02.

racket just has to come through and that's why that forehand goes a bit

:14:03.:14:07.

awry, also the bent elbow. It's more difficult to swing freely.

:14:08.:14:16.

Must hold for Jo Konta, needless to say. Good serve there.

:14:17.:14:37.

Must hold, and she does. She remains just one break behind. She keeps

:14:38.:14:46.

some hope alive in this match. They have spent a lot of time on

:14:47.:15:10.

those. Men and their crayons. Venus Williams, though, 4-2.

:15:11.:15:35.

That was very alert from Venus to get up there quickly to create that

:15:36.:15:45.

angle. Amazing speed, she's been covering the ball so well in this

:15:46.:15:48.

match. Konta is used to getting better payoff after her big shots

:15:49.:15:54.

Vinci has been getting today. Venus Williams has been covering the court

:15:55.:15:55.

beautifully today. The little change from Konta, just

:15:56.:16:42.

drop it a little shorter. Perhaps a change of rhythm. So far it has just

:16:43.:16:47.

been a slugfest and Venus Williams has been getting the better of it,

:16:48.:16:53.

but ball low and short. Cut to create your own pace.

:16:54.:17:11.

My goodness! I thought she was going to pull the trigger down the line

:17:12.:17:19.

with the backhand, she goes back a crosscourt. Venus Williams sitting

:17:20.:17:27.

on it. Again, that small window of opportunity, 30-15, getting into the

:17:28.:17:30.

rally will stop Williams holding steady.

:17:31.:17:37.

And then the game slips away and you can understand the frustration that

:17:38.:17:42.

we saw a moment ago from Johanna Konta. She doesn't show too much of

:17:43.:17:52.

it but she knows it is now or never. The margins are just so small, Konta

:17:53.:17:59.

getting broken in the tenth game, and getting broken again in the

:18:00.:18:04.

fourth game in this set, just a few errant forehands. Venus is playing

:18:05.:18:09.

at the peak of her powers, she is really driving through that

:18:10.:18:13.

forehand, serving with excellent pace and variety. Fantastic stuff

:18:14.:18:21.

from Venus Williams and goes to 4-4, 30-42nd serve, Venus goes for the

:18:22.:18:26.

brave shot, goes for the second serve. It has been all Venus

:18:27.:18:31.

Williams since then. If she misses that serve Konta would be serving

:18:32.:18:34.

for the set, a whole different ball game. Just that one shot is a big

:18:35.:18:42.

one. That ball dribbled off the racket. That's that second serve,

:18:43.:18:51.

body serve, extremely effective. We thought that would be the case.

:18:52.:18:56.

Second serve ace Mackem Jo Konta getting out of the way of the ball.

:18:57.:19:02.

I think it's been a different level of quality to most of the tennis we

:19:03.:19:05.

saw in the first semifinal but it has been pretty brief as well.

:19:06.:19:09.

Johanna Konta serving to stay in this match.

:19:10.:19:58.

Write to the corner. Ace number 57. This is about the only battle Jo has

:19:59.:20:13.

been winning today, the aces. Everything else, Williams has been

:20:14.:20:16.

having the upper hand That checked off the baseline right

:20:17.:21:08.

on the line, the ball slows down considerably when it hits the chalk.

:21:09.:21:15.

The chalk is more abrasive than the grass. She was way too aggressive.

:21:16.:21:33.

This time the net favours her, just. They want it to go on, this dream

:21:34.:21:46.

for Johanna Konta. While the second serve was good, the

:21:47.:22:12.

follow up not so. Just about the longest game of this

:22:13.:22:41.

match. The mistake drawn from Johanna

:22:42.:24:09.

Konta. Does it end here? What a run it has been. Match point, Venus

:24:10.:24:13.

Williams. Not yet.

:24:14.:24:32.

That was about the first nervous shock Venus Williams has hit this

:24:33.:24:37.

whole match. Too much time to think about it. That's probably true.

:24:38.:24:44.

Hitting the ball extremely hard and well.

:24:45.:24:52.

Again, the mistake on the forehand. Long it goes. And another

:24:53.:25:01.

opportunity for Venus Williams to make a Wimbledon final once again.

:25:02.:25:19.

Good time to find a great first serve.

:25:20.:25:54.

Double fault once again for Johanna Konta. It brings up a third match

:25:55.:26:07.

point here on Centre Court. There it is this time. The arms

:26:08.:26:24.

aloft and the celebration, it is Venus Williams who is back in the

:26:25.:26:29.

Wimbledon final after so many years. For Konta it ends here. It is a

:26:30.:26:37.

sight we have seen many times, but not for a very long time at

:26:38.:26:42.

Wimbledon. Celebrating a semifinal victory, and what they went it was,

:26:43.:26:47.

what a performance. Johanna Konta did not play badly. And what a run

:26:48.:26:51.

she has had, what excitement she has brought to so many here. But it is

:26:52.:26:54.

over now. Not hanging around at the end,

:26:55.:27:08.

Johanna Konta. I'd like to see her weight for Venus Williams. But she

:27:09.:27:13.

will sign a few autographs. She will be desperately disappointed that it

:27:14.:27:16.

is over now because it has been so good for so long. She will be up

:27:17.:27:21.

into the top five in the world but she desperately wanted to go all the

:27:22.:27:26.

way here. The match really did turn on that one break point at 4-4,

:27:27.:27:32.

break point down, Venus Williams, second serve, goes for broke, makes

:27:33.:27:35.

the serve and she never looked back after that point. It almost relaxed

:27:36.:27:39.

her, and then she breaks the very next game and ran away with it in

:27:40.:27:44.

the second set, too solid. Konta could not find the opening that she

:27:45.:27:48.

normally finds with her big hitting. What a nice site that is, she has

:27:49.:27:55.

had some difficult times off the court but she is back to enjoying

:27:56.:28:01.

her play. She will face Garbine Muguruza of Spain. Of all the talk

:28:02.:28:07.

of Konta, for Venus Williams this place has always felt like home.

:28:08.:28:13.

Through in straight sets, not long over an hour, straight sets win over

:28:14.:28:18.

Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-2. Venus Williams is now talking to Richard

:28:19.:28:21.

Purcell. Venus, congratulations, your 20th

:28:22.:28:26.

year at Wimbledon and your first final since 2009. What does that

:28:27.:28:30.

mean to you? I've played a lot of finals here, it is a blessing for

:28:31.:28:33.

sub I couldn't have asked for more but I will ask for a little more,

:28:34.:28:38.

one more win would be amazing, it would be given but I will give it my

:28:39.:28:41.

all. You were up against the great British hope with the crowd behind

:28:42.:28:45.

her, how well did you have to play to win? I thought the crowd was very

:28:46.:28:49.

nice to me, they could have been even more boisterous. I thought the

:28:50.:29:00.

crowd was so fair and I know that they love Jo and she gave it all

:29:01.:29:04.

today and it's a lot of pressure. I thought she handled it well. I think

:29:05.:29:06.

my experienced just helped a lot. You had a lovely smile on your face

:29:07.:29:09.

when the match was over, what were your feelings when it was over? She

:29:10.:29:12.

played so well, no point was easy. I just tried to climb on top each time

:29:13.:29:15.

to get another point and then it was done. I was just so happy. Garbine

:29:16.:29:19.

Muguruza waits for you in the final on Saturday. What can we look

:29:20.:29:23.

forward to? We both play well on grass. The last time she played

:29:24.:29:29.

Serena so I will have to ask her for some pointers. Serena is always in

:29:30.:29:33.

my corner, and usually it is usually hurt in the final so I'm trying to

:29:34.:29:39.

represent the Williams as best I can. Have you missed her? Terribly,

:29:40.:29:43.

I wish she was here and I wish she could do this for me. But this time,

:29:44.:29:49.

she said, this time you can do it for yourself. You certainly did it

:29:50.:29:53.

for yourself, well done, Venus. That is how a great champion deals

:29:54.:29:57.

with a difficult opponent. She played the big points so well and

:29:58.:30:00.

raised the level of her play when it mattered and it was an awesome power

:30:01.:30:04.

display in every department of her game. She is back in the final and

:30:05.:30:09.

looking to be back to her best. She mentioned the crowd and the

:30:10.:30:12.

appreciation of the crowd. They certainly appreciate everything that

:30:13.:30:16.

Venus has achieved here at these championships. Big smile from Venus,

:30:17.:30:20.

she's back in the final for the first time since 2009.

:30:21.:30:26.

Well, Virginia Wade is here. We thought maybe we would be

:30:27.:30:30.

celebrating a British player in the final for the first time in 40

:30:31.:30:34.

years. Virginia, you can't take anything away from Venus. What a

:30:35.:30:39.

match she played. Venus absolutely loves Wimbledon. She adores

:30:40.:30:43.

Wimbledon, she likes being here and playing on the Centre Court, she

:30:44.:30:46.

feels at home. I think what's happened in the last few days with

:30:47.:30:50.

all of the excitement on the anniversary, you know, it would have

:30:51.:30:55.

been so much fun to have a British player win on an anniversary year.

:30:56.:31:00.

But, you know, we noted Jo up with all of this pressure and the others

:31:01.:31:05.

have just gone under the radar. Nobody has given Venus too much

:31:06.:31:10.

strife, too much pressure. I think, you know, she said how she missed

:31:11.:31:14.

three. But frankly I think it's when Serena is not here that she comes

:31:15.:31:19.

into her own -- she missed Serena. You were watching that match

:31:20.:31:22.

courtside. Could you feel the tension and think that Jo reacted to

:31:23.:31:27.

it? I thought she played really well. Every time she had a little

:31:28.:31:32.

bit of an edge, Venus came up with something better. What we were

:31:33.:31:40.

saying is that we have been watching Jo beating everybody by taking the

:31:41.:31:42.

ball early, changing direction so well, just pounding it. But actually

:31:43.:31:46.

it was Venus he was absorbing the pace and hitting even harder. That

:31:47.:31:49.

was something that was interesting to observe. I frankly have thought

:31:50.:31:56.

that Venus has been playing very well this year. You know, her serve

:31:57.:31:59.

has improved no end. Her Tost used to wander all over the place but now

:32:00.:32:04.

she is being very consistent. I said to Billie Jean, may be Serena was

:32:05.:32:10.

giving her some tips. She said, no, she's been out there practising it

:32:11.:32:14.

herself. The server was immaculate. In the end I thought what Venus also

:32:15.:32:19.

did really well was she took away the ability of Jo to push her around

:32:20.:32:23.

by hitting more up the middle. I tell you what, why speak to one

:32:24.:32:29.

multiple Grand Slam champion when you have got another two waiting in

:32:30.:32:33.

the commentary box! Martina, we talked about the body serve and what

:32:34.:32:37.

Venus would do. She served incredibly well. Particularly the

:32:38.:32:41.

second serve on big points. Really handcuffed Jo Konta, she didn't know

:32:42.:32:45.

what was coming her way. Conversely, Jo Konta lost, only won 3% of the

:32:46.:32:52.

points. Venus was really attacking the points. I thought the defence

:32:53.:32:56.

would be the return of serve, and in the end that's what did it. Venus

:32:57.:33:05.

serving, how well she served, these were the body blows, not giving Joe

:33:06.:33:12.

any chance to make a swing on it. She respects Jo so much. She had to

:33:13.:33:17.

come out and play attacking tennis and go for her service. It was that

:33:18.:33:22.

106 mph second serve that she saved a break point and really turned the

:33:23.:33:27.

first set around. She changed this a bit. 52% in the deuce court, but 68%

:33:28.:33:36.

going down the centre. Johanna really started to miscue in the

:33:37.:33:39.

forehand return in the first set and Venus picked up on that and started

:33:40.:33:43.

to target beforehand in some of the longer rallies. That was one of the

:33:44.:33:47.

aspects that made the difference. Venus felt she could go to that

:33:48.:33:53.

side. Konta is so solid on the backhand, the contact point is so

:33:54.:33:57.

repeatable on the backhand. These are really small criticisms but they

:33:58.:34:00.

make a difference in a match like this where they are both playing so

:34:01.:34:04.

well. You've really got to hand it to Venus for playing this well at

:34:05.:34:11.

this highly -- at this highly of a level at 37. Virginia? I want to ask

:34:12.:34:18.

the girls, don't you think in the last couple of years the return of

:34:19.:34:21.

serve on the women's game has just improved so dramatically that what

:34:22.:34:26.

that's done is of course made the second serve very vulnerable. And

:34:27.:34:30.

what's happened with the guys, I mean, I feel that the girls game is

:34:31.:34:34.

just a few years behind. But the guys are still throwing in some slow

:34:35.:34:38.

second service but they got so much action on it that the ball is

:34:39.:34:44.

kicking way up and the girls haven't quite got that much spin on the

:34:45.:34:47.

second serve. I couldn't agree more, Virginia. That's when nerves come in

:34:48.:34:51.

and there are double faults because the women do not have enough spin,

:34:52.:34:54.

and I'm speaking very generally here, they need to use their hand

:34:55.:34:58.

more on the second serve to get the second spend, to get the safety.

:34:59.:35:02.

They had an swing harder, and you will get a Greek reply. -- they can

:35:03.:35:09.

swing harder. -- you will get a reply. The same at the end of the

:35:10.:35:14.

match, they need to do it earlier so that you are confident with it and

:35:15.:35:17.

you can hit it on the big points. That's what made all the difference

:35:18.:35:22.

for Venus Williams today, she had that serve and it paid off. 106 mph

:35:23.:35:27.

on the second serve from Venus. When it on a break point. When you say

:35:28.:35:34.

the best servers in the world, it's not just about pace and location,

:35:35.:35:38.

it's about when they are able to serve those service at clutch

:35:39.:35:42.

moments, Venus took a big chance and she was brave there. Brave on her

:35:43.:35:46.

serve but also one higher forehand. So often it is the forehand that is

:35:47.:35:50.

the barometer of how confident Venus is. She was really hitting through

:35:51.:35:54.

that forehand and really committing to it coming into the net, which she

:35:55.:35:58.

needed to. It is that first strike tennis that she loves grass. The

:35:59.:36:06.

points are shorter, and it really works well for her. As Martina

:36:07.:36:09.

pointed out, Venus moves really well today. She held her ground, hiding

:36:10.:36:11.

the baseline. Konta just absorbing the power, she wasn't able to get in

:36:12.:36:14.

the angle that she needed to us frequently. With the Venus Williams

:36:15.:36:20.

forehand, she broke down the Konta week Owen, her forehand. Forehand to

:36:21.:36:25.

forehand, Venus won those exchanges -- weaker wing. Jo lost confidence

:36:26.:36:31.

in the forehand, and it cost her. Let's relive some of Venus's great

:36:32.:36:36.

moments, there were so many of them. She is moving well and hitting the

:36:37.:36:40.

ball so hard. The first game that Konta was serving already Venus was

:36:41.:36:44.

three feet inside the baseline. That was sending a message to Konta, look

:36:45.:36:49.

at that, just attacking the serve. Konta throwing in quite a double

:36:50.:36:52.

faults today, feeling a bit of stress, under stress, under attack.

:36:53.:36:58.

-- throwing in four double faults. By cumulative pressure gets too. It

:36:59.:37:03.

takes 1.2 but a seed of doubt and Europe on a's game sometimes, and

:37:04.:37:06.

that is what Venus did with the big return of serve -- it takes one

:37:07.:37:14.

point to put a seed of doubt. Just enough to sway the match. Targeting

:37:15.:37:18.

the Konta forehand, Venus three in a row and goes behind her. She can see

:37:19.:37:23.

the backhand was so solid from Konta. This is the break point from

:37:24.:37:27.

Venus, the fourth game of the second set. Virginia, she was so good,

:37:28.:37:33.

wasn't she? I mean, even when she was running wide, the Anglesey was

:37:34.:37:39.

producing, Venus. Venus has got such an incredible wingspan -- the angles

:37:40.:37:43.

she was producing. She isn't quite as quick as she was ten years ago,

:37:44.:37:46.

but she sure makes up with that wingspan. What I was impressed with

:37:47.:37:50.

today was her forehand down the line. Traditionally we've always

:37:51.:37:55.

thought of both Serena and Venus being so brilliant crosscourt. With

:37:56.:37:59.

maybe the backhand down the line. But her forehand, she just looked so

:38:00.:38:03.

natural and easy down the line. Let's talk about how the match was

:38:04.:38:08.

won. Martina, that game when Jo came out to serve at 5-4, I was saying,

:38:09.:38:12.

don't think of the score. But it seems like she did think of the

:38:13.:38:16.

score. Maybe she was thinking of the chance that she had. That is where

:38:17.:38:21.

you have to forget that and get in the moment. Great opportunity, I'm

:38:22.:38:25.

only down 5-4 and on serve. She would have been better off not

:38:26.:38:30.

having had that opportunity at 4-4. You say, OK, I'm in good shape. But

:38:31.:38:37.

it's hard to not think about it. Just a couple of loose errors there,

:38:38.:38:40.

down 0-30, and she never could recover. You just can't do that.

:38:41.:38:44.

This is the thing she is going to learn from it, Tracy. Absolutely.

:38:45.:38:47.

One thing we have to remember is that Jo Konta had never been past

:38:48.:38:50.

the second round of Wimbledon and told this year. And then match after

:38:51.:38:56.

match she came through it and played such clutch tennis, particularly

:38:57.:38:58.

against Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, she was two points

:38:59.:39:02.

away from victory. The improvement rate is just a nominal from Jo

:39:03.:39:07.

Konta. She is young, 26, in tennis terms she is very young. She has

:39:08.:39:12.

only been in the elite of the past year or two. She is a hard worker

:39:13.:39:15.

and happy with the support team she has come at the set and all of the

:39:16.:39:19.

others. Still there is room for improvement and the ceiling is much,

:39:20.:39:23.

much higher, which is very promising. And you have got to

:39:24.:39:26.

learn, Virginia, from these big occasions, and this was a huge

:39:27.:39:30.

occasion, everyone does, do you feel that she is a Grand Slam champion in

:39:31.:39:35.

the making? Yes, as I said right at the beginning, we sort of said that

:39:36.:39:38.

she didn't come through on an anniversary year, it has been so

:39:39.:39:42.

long since we had a winner. But, you know, I think next year she could

:39:43.:39:47.

make it. Or she could make it to the final. And just progress a little

:39:48.:39:53.

bit more. I mean, when you look at Rybarikova, how tense she was in her

:39:54.:39:58.

first semifinal, that didn't happen to Jo, she didn't fall apart at all.

:39:59.:40:03.

She actually was just beaten by somebody who, as Venus said in her

:40:04.:40:07.

interview, has a lot of experience, loves being out there, loves playing

:40:08.:40:12.

on grass, and has been playing well and confident all tournament.

:40:13.:40:16.

Martina and Tracy, we'll let you go. I promised I wouldn't lock you in

:40:17.:40:20.

that box any longer! Looking forward to the final between Venus and

:40:21.:40:23.

Garbine Muguruza. What a glorious match that could be. What's so

:40:24.:40:29.

interesting about that is that both players played so well in the

:40:30.:40:32.

semifinal and they have been playing better with each match. The build-up

:40:33.:40:35.

is tremendous. They are ultra-aggressive and they have been

:40:36.:40:38.

serving extremely well. That is going to be power tennis at the

:40:39.:40:44.

maximum. They both like to stand inside the baseline of the returns

:40:45.:40:48.

of serve. Who is going to give there? They both have good first

:40:49.:40:51.

serves, very big second serves, they are playing their best tennis right

:40:52.:40:55.

now. I think we are in for a treat. I think it's going to go three sets,

:40:56.:40:59.

and I've no idea who is going to win. Thank you both so much for

:41:00.:41:03.

wonderful commentary, great to listen to you. Virginia, as far as

:41:04.:41:14.

Jo is concerned, she's got to pick herself up. We know this is going to

:41:15.:41:17.

hurt. We've been there and we know, you know, it's going to take a long

:41:18.:41:20.

time to get over this, the memory of it. Yes, I mean it's hard to know

:41:21.:41:23.

what's going on in her head. In all of our heads we gave her a little

:41:24.:41:26.

bit over the edge. Nobody predicted that she would have an easy win. But

:41:27.:41:29.

I think everybody thought that she might just be the better player,

:41:30.:41:33.

especially if she could make it go to three sets. I don't know, I mean

:41:34.:41:38.

obviously her head has been so good, her mindset has been excellent. We

:41:39.:41:42.

know she plays every point is if it's the most important point. But

:41:43.:41:47.

she did sort of start brushing it. The second set, she did. You could

:41:48.:41:51.

see her head was going too fast -- start rushing it. She couldn't quite

:41:52.:42:00.

label is. That's what she has worked on before they sport psychologist.

:42:01.:42:02.

That is what she used to do before, she tended to panic in a match. It

:42:03.:42:05.

is easy to panic when Venus is playing that well. I don't think she

:42:06.:42:09.

can blame has offered all. If you play the best that you can, -- she

:42:10.:42:14.

should lay herself at all. She was very smart. I would like to see a

:42:15.:42:20.

little more variety coming to her again. Her serve is superb, but

:42:21.:42:25.

maybe as we were talking about with Martina, I'm so glad that she agreed

:42:26.:42:29.

with me, is that a little bit more spin action on the second serve, not

:42:30.:42:35.

just always going for broke. What we found yesterday, two days ago, with

:42:36.:42:40.

her match against Halep, they were very Matrin mix, both of them. They

:42:41.:42:46.

were always giving the same pace off and the Saint Jude actuary off both

:42:47.:42:52.

sides. -- the same trajectory. Today's game, everybody is so good

:42:53.:42:56.

that you've got to be able to shove and some spins and some eggs and

:42:57.:43:00.

some silly shots to mess the other person up. It's what they called

:43:01.:43:05.

junk shots. Just to mess up the nurse's rhythm. Venus got into a

:43:06.:43:10.

rhythm, didn't she? -- Venus's rhythm. I found it curious that

:43:11.:43:15.

Venus tried to slice the ball on the and failed. She persevered and tried

:43:16.:43:19.

another time, and then it was perfect and then she could utilise

:43:20.:43:23.

it. Martin also said, you've got to also try things early in the match.

:43:24.:43:27.

-- Martina. Otherwise you going to your default mode when push comes to

:43:28.:43:32.

shove, and it's very hard to do anything different. Jo has a good

:43:33.:43:37.

volley. Let's see her trying to set the ball up and down in a little

:43:38.:43:42.

bit. I think she will do that. -- come in a little bit. I think she

:43:43.:43:46.

will be adding to her again. I think she will be very soon trying to do a

:43:47.:43:49.

few different things, I just feel that about her. Maybe 41 years will

:43:50.:43:56.

be her number! She is like a sponge, she does that. I'm sure we will see

:43:57.:44:00.

her competing at the latter stages of Grand Slams for many years to

:44:01.:44:03.

come. Virginia, we cannot let you go by without going back 40 years. Your

:44:04.:44:08.

big celebration, take you back to that lovely match there. I know this

:44:09.:44:13.

story, this is the shot that you are practising with your coach, and it

:44:14.:44:17.

was the winning shot on the day, while. I know, I was trying so hard!

:44:18.:44:22.

Don't laugh at my hair, everybody! It took weeks! We couldn't believe

:44:23.:44:31.

you had had it cut just before the tournament! I've always had long

:44:32.:44:36.

has. Such special memories. Do you still get goose bumps and the

:44:37.:44:39.

memories come flooding back? Well, I have to say yes. More than that

:44:40.:44:45.

forehand return, which as you say, it is something I was being told to

:44:46.:44:50.

hit a percentage return, that was a percentage return and I got it just

:44:51.:44:54.

at the right moment. But I liked the shot before when I was flying across

:44:55.:44:58.

the court on the other side hitting a forehand, because, you know, a

:44:59.:45:01.

game looks so slow with wooden rackets. But I used to look like I

:45:02.:45:07.

was fairly athletic! You won other Grand Slams, obviously, but this

:45:08.:45:11.

one, because of being British, you can understand what Andy Murray has

:45:12.:45:16.

gone through. Absolutely. It's interesting, the sevens all seem to

:45:17.:45:21.

work for everybody, right? It was 77, he was 77 years... So, 41, seven

:45:22.:45:29.

doesn't go into 41... Never might! No, I mean to win Wimbledon is

:45:30.:45:34.

absolutely superb. You know, last night we had such a lovely time.

:45:35.:45:38.

Because the chairman had invited the Grand Slam people and the special

:45:39.:45:45.

guests this year and they gave me some momentum is. They gave me a

:45:46.:45:49.

beautiful book, gorgeous book, with my name engraved on it and all of

:45:50.:45:54.

the pictures from 77, something I will treasure. All of the guys who

:45:55.:45:57.

were special guests, they were almost choked up, we were all choked

:45:58.:46:01.

up, it was so emotional. Who were the others there? Well, the invited

:46:02.:46:17.

guests were I guess from 67,... Fred was a little choked up, said a few

:46:18.:46:26.

words. Rod Laver, obviously. He couldn't make it last night. Really,

:46:27.:46:34.

I mean people really do get very emotionally involved in Wimbledon.

:46:35.:46:40.

They love it. It is, you know, then you start telling these stories and

:46:41.:46:43.

people remember matches that they've played that either they won or they

:46:44.:46:48.

lost. It's fascinating. I mean, I had another evening with all, Rosa,

:46:49.:46:55.

who beat me in the semifinal in 1974, which I never forgave her for!

:46:56.:46:57.

-- with all go. You know, I just love hearing other

:46:58.:47:05.

people is stories. Basically you live in the present. You get an

:47:06.:47:11.

opportunity to hark back to some memorable times. In your

:47:12.:47:16.

documentary, you know, I wasn't worried about what I said, but I

:47:17.:47:21.

loved listening to Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver and what everybody else

:47:22.:47:26.

said, Pete Sampras, I mean, it was fabulous. Because everybody grew up

:47:27.:47:30.

watching, that's where they saw the champions that inspired them there.

:47:31.:47:36.

I mean, who inspired you? You know, I mean, I was born in England, I

:47:37.:47:41.

have to stress that I am 100% British! I was born here, but my

:47:42.:47:45.

family went out to South Africa when I was one-year-old. It was a great

:47:46.:47:50.

place to play tennis. We came back when I was 15. In those days, we

:47:51.:47:54.

didn't have television in South Africa. So we would listen to the

:47:55.:47:58.

radio. And it would be Maria Bueno or South African players of great

:47:59.:48:07.

calibre, Sandra Reynolds. You know, Wimbledon was everything. From the

:48:08.:48:11.

first lessons I took when I was about, just before my tenth

:48:12.:48:15.

birthday, the person who taught me had played at Wimbledon. So that was

:48:16.:48:21.

like... You played at Wimbledon! So it grows. And when I first came back

:48:22.:48:26.

to England at 15, we were living in a house up in, just up the road, up

:48:27.:48:31.

in the village. It was just circumstantial that was where we

:48:32.:48:36.

lived for six months. The first day, I came and poked my head through the

:48:37.:48:40.

bars of the gate which was closed. You know, Wimbledon does that to

:48:41.:48:46.

you. It's just ingrained. Indelibly. And when you were on Centre Court

:48:47.:48:51.

today, the crowd cheered Jo, did it take you back to 77 and be of age

:48:52.:48:55.

and that you got? Absolutely. I think they were a bit more out of

:48:56.:49:00.

control. -- and the ovation that you got. Poor Betty didn't like it. You

:49:01.:49:06.

sensed it was going the right way. There was no stopping them. You

:49:07.:49:12.

know, lots of things, the 70s were famous for lots of things. I mean,

:49:13.:49:16.

it wasn't a great time economic league and this country. But with

:49:17.:49:22.

the Queen'sCubelli, the Centenary of Wimbledon -- the Queen'sJubilee. It

:49:23.:49:28.

was such an elevated atmosphere. Golly, there were so many good

:49:29.:49:33.

players. Sue Barker was playing! Martina Navratilova... You were

:49:34.:49:36.

playing at your best. I am first on the list! You know, everybody... I'm

:49:37.:49:45.

not sure that Billie Jean actually played that year, but lots of great

:49:46.:49:51.

players. Absolutely. The wonderful line at the end of your match,

:49:52.:49:54.

Virginia will take tea with the Queen, did you? No, Max Robinson...

:49:55.:50:02.

No, because I think I was... She was otherwise occupied! But I did take

:50:03.:50:09.

tea with her several times afterwards. Lovely to see you back

:50:10.:50:13.

here and back on Centre Court in during the tennis. And it's always a

:50:14.:50:17.

pleasure being with you. And Wimbledon beats everything.

:50:18.:50:20.

Absolutely, even when you lose in the semis, it's pretty battle, I can

:50:21.:50:25.

tell you! Thanks to Virginia. We are heading off to Centre Court for a

:50:26.:50:28.

moment -- it is produced by Shaw. We are going to take you back to last

:50:29.:50:36.

night. -- it is pretty special. Ken Skupski and Jocelyn Rae are

:50:37.:50:40.

defeating Max Mirnyi and Ekaterina Makarova, putting out the seeded

:50:41.:50:46.

team. Wonderful scenes in Court One. I am staying in a house about one

:50:47.:50:50.

mile away, and I could hear the roar from Court Number One! They are

:50:51.:50:55.

taking their place in the fourth round here at Wimbledon. Well done

:50:56.:51:02.

to Ken and Jocelyn. Because of that victory, it means they have bought

:51:03.:51:05.

themselves a place on Centre Court right now to take on the number one

:51:06.:51:10.

seeds. And it is Britain's Jamie Murray. He is playing with Martina

:51:11.:51:14.

Hingis, who won 17 Grand Slam doubles titles. That's just doubles,

:51:15.:51:19.

not even singles. They are in the first game. Let's drawing this live

:51:20.:51:21.

with Sam Smith and John Inverdale. JOHN INVERDALE: An eventful first

:51:22.:51:37.

game. A mis-hit winner, a sensational let court. Some very

:51:38.:51:47.

astute work at the net from both players. And that's just an four

:51:48.:51:48.

point! Three of these players had very

:51:49.:52:10.

eventful Wednesdays. And we'll talk about that in just a moment or two.

:52:11.:52:42.

And they may not have had much sleep last night, Skupski and Rae, because

:52:43.:52:58.

that match finished not far short of nine o'clock last night. That was a

:52:59.:53:05.

very eventful match, finishing 9-7 in the third. Meanwhile, Martina

:53:06.:53:11.

Hingis was involved in a very acrimonious ladies doubles match.

:53:12.:53:14.

She really threw every toy she possessed out of the pram, and lost.

:53:15.:53:20.

This is a bit of a redemption mission in the mixed doubles for

:53:21.:53:23.

Hingis today, with Jamie Murray, who is serving now.

:53:24.:53:32.

This combination are made to play mixed doubles. They innately

:53:33.:53:43.

understand where to position themselves, how to close down the

:53:44.:53:48.

spaces. Just watch where Martina's standing. They've got a great man in

:53:49.:53:53.

their corner, as well. What Murray and Hingis are going to

:53:54.:54:18.

look for is trying to find the space and win Skupski and Rae, splitting

:54:19.:54:22.

them up, moving them to all sides of the court and just finding space.

:54:23.:54:46.

This is Jamie Murray's last hope of a title at Wimbledon this year as

:54:47.:54:54.

well. He and Bruno Soares exited the men's doubles rather earlier than

:54:55.:54:54.

they would have wanted to have done. And from a British perspective we

:54:55.:55:16.

know Jamie Murray originally comes from Dunblane. Ken Skupski is a

:55:17.:55:21.

Scouse from Liverpool. And Jocelyn Rae is an Anglo Scottish, she

:55:22.:55:24.

represented Scotland and won a gold medal for Scotland.

:55:25.:55:35.

Oh! APPLAUSE

:55:36.:55:42.

She lives in Arnold in Nottinghamshire now. And with three

:55:43.:55:47.

British players on the court, I think they are all on a mission to

:55:48.:55:51.

try and perk up the British nation after what was a disappointment from

:55:52.:55:58.

Jo Konta earlier on today. With more rallies like that, we're going to

:55:59.:56:01.

have an entertaining couple of hours ahead.

:56:02.:56:09.

Well, if Skupski and Rae want to survive that, they do not serve that

:56:10.:56:17.

we do Martina Hingis so she can get that forehand. That is playing

:56:18.:56:22.

Martina 101. Kick it up to the backhand, make life difficult for

:56:23.:56:23.

her. This is a big outing for Jocelyn

:56:24.:57:56.

Rae. I always think of the words of a

:57:57.:58:02.

great doubles champion, told Woodward, he said, it is always

:58:03.:58:06.

about who is the strongest woman out there. On paper, it's clearly

:58:07.:58:11.

Martina Hingis. Jocelyn Rae has got to play levels above herself to be

:58:12.:58:13.

competitive out here. Not quite sure where that came off.

:58:14.:58:34.

It's not how, but how many. The most important thing is that Skupskis

:58:35.:58:39.

trying to dominate the middle, helping out Rae, not making too many

:58:40.:58:42.

first serves in this game, just trying to take some pressure off my

:58:43.:58:43.

car. -- off her. And it's a shame there and more

:58:44.:59:46.

people on Centre Court at the moment enjoying this, because this is

:59:47.:59:49.

richly entertaining. I'm sure they'll come back after tea. Talk

:59:50.:59:56.

about Hingis, she's younger, the reason we on so early, you know,

:59:57.:00:01.

barely 4:30pm, is because of Venus Williams beating Jo Konta. And

:00:02.:00:06.

Martina Hingis is younger than Venus Williams. So if she, and she's made

:00:07.:00:10.

it perfectly clear she has no desire to placing us again, but if she did,

:00:11.:00:14.

if she was actually back on the tour now -- to play singles again. What

:00:15.:00:18.

do you think she might be doing? In terms of a ranking in singles? Would

:00:19.:00:23.

she be competing like Venus still is? No, I don't think so. She

:00:24.:00:27.

doesn't have the power. Women's tennis now, you've got to be able to

:00:28.:00:36.

crack it from the back of the court. What is great is that Venus and

:00:37.:00:39.

Hingis are still going. Separate tours, but they still want to be

:00:40.:00:41.

playing in their mid-30s, which you wouldn't have thought 20 years ago.

:00:42.:00:44.

Hingis was winning here. In the singles. It is extraordinary, isn't

:00:45.:00:50.

it? As a 16-year-old. And here she is, 20 years on. Two matches away

:00:51.:00:54.

from another Grand Slam title. We are going to see an awful lot of

:00:55.:01:38.

planning from Jamie and Martina in this game. This is where they are

:01:39.:01:39.

more vulnerable to being broken. Martina struggles to get service

:01:40.:01:57.

above 100 miles power. You will see Jamie all over the net, he will make

:01:58.:02:02.

a step forward and across as they hit straight towards the centre. One

:02:03.:02:10.

thing to look out for when Martina hits the ball on first serve, you

:02:11.:02:16.

will see Jamie check and balance himself to get himself ready to

:02:17.:02:17.

move. I sometimes think Mixed Doubles is

:02:18.:02:35.

the most entertaining of all the doubles because there is so much

:02:36.:02:38.

contrast on the court and you are not going to have the power you have

:02:39.:02:42.

in the Men's Doubles game at the moment where you can have lots of

:02:43.:02:45.

matches go to five sets but every rally could be three or four shots

:02:46.:02:53.

at best. There is an awful lot of problem-solving going on in Mixed

:02:54.:02:56.

Doubles, particularly in this game web Martina doesn't get a lot of

:02:57.:02:59.

free points and they are having to find the best way to get through

:03:00.:03:07.

this game. Mr Skupski and Miss Wray are challenging the court, on the

:03:08.:03:10.

left service line the ball was called in. That was a seriously bad

:03:11.:03:20.

bounce. -- Rae. It was just on the back of the back of the line. Just

:03:21.:03:28.

going back to what we were saying at the break, serving at 95 mph, if

:03:29.:03:34.

that was Hingis's first serve on the single circuit people would be

:03:35.:03:35.

whacking it straight past her. Yes, Serena's average second serve

:03:36.:03:49.

speed is only a couple of clicks less than Martina's first serve

:03:50.:03:52.

speed. Played with his brother Neal in the

:03:53.:04:41.

Men's Doubles here. And talking about brothers in

:04:42.:04:59.

tennis... Just before Wimbledon this year Judy

:05:00.:05:14.

Murray did say, I think on Radio 5 live, she was absolutely sure that

:05:15.:05:19.

just wants before either or both retired, Andy and Jamie would play

:05:20.:05:22.

together at Wimbledon and that would be a great site. -- sight. More than

:05:23.:05:40.

holding their own. Talking about how important Grand Slam events like

:05:41.:05:45.

this are for the likes of Ken Skupski and Jocelyn Rae, from a

:05:46.:05:48.

money point of view, if nothing else, there is ?50,000 each to the

:05:49.:05:52.

winners of this Mixed Doubles championship on Sunday. Even

:05:53.:06:00.

quarterfinal losing money, semifinal losing money makes a massive

:06:01.:06:02.

difference to how they can live their lives as tennis players. You

:06:03.:06:08.

are probably talking about, both specialising doubles, at least

:06:09.:06:15.

?60,000, ?70,000 a year in basic expenses getting around the world,

:06:16.:06:21.

hotels and training, I think I have underestimated that, 100,000 to play

:06:22.:06:24.

in the singles. There is more money on the Men's Doubles tour these

:06:25.:06:31.

days. The slams are effectively keeping many players who are not in

:06:32.:06:41.

the top echelon in the sport. Just looking to see where it Jocelyn Rae

:06:42.:06:47.

has been in 2017. Monterey, Budapest, Hobart, Auckland,

:06:48.:06:54.

Surbiton. The Auckland to Surbiton express! Melbourne, Southsea,

:06:55.:07:00.

Ilkley, France. Not as extensive a traveller as a lot of other people

:07:01.:07:03.

but the costs are still there week in and week out.

:07:04.:07:51.

There is a lot of pressure on Centre Court to take the catch cleanly.

:07:52.:07:59.

There is, and it's all down to technique, you just cup, it's not

:08:00.:08:02.

about grabbing at it, because it might clip the end of your finger

:08:03.:08:13.

and you will look stupid. They will have a job with Jamie's serve. I was

:08:14.:08:18.

doing a match with Peter Fleming early in this tournament and he said

:08:19.:08:20.

he thinks Jamie Murray has sometimes almost the best hand eye

:08:21.:08:24.

coordination, the most wonderful touch at the net, in the entire

:08:25.:08:27.

game. It was certainly angry Hingis last

:08:28.:08:57.

night but it's happy Hingis at the moment. Everybody who is on Centre

:08:58.:09:03.

Court is enjoying this. All square after just about 20 minutes.

:09:04.:09:20.

The bottom left of your picture in the white top and grey hair, Louis

:09:21.:09:28.

Cayer, the best doubles coach in the world, he's worked with Jamie for a

:09:29.:09:31.

very long time. Talking about those quick reactions,

:09:32.:09:51.

they spent hours, firing balls at Jamie right on top of the net, very

:09:52.:09:56.

unusual coaching techniques. It's all about space and territory and

:09:57.:09:59.

closing it down. And self-preservation. As he is

:10:00.:10:04.

hammering those things straight at you.

:10:05.:10:29.

I think I would be quite confident to give you a pound every time

:10:30.:10:35.

Martina Hingis misses a volley or a smash in this match. That is how

:10:36.:10:40.

solid she is. I will start making a note now.

:10:41.:11:20.

Just finishing off that money subject, which I know may not demean

:11:21.:11:42.

the occasion, it's about the practicalities of getting around as

:11:43.:11:46.

a tennis player. Martina Hingis has earned tens of millions but looking

:11:47.:11:52.

at Ken Skupski's career earnings, at 35 now almost, $500,000 across 15

:11:53.:11:57.

years. When you do the maths which I am frantically doing here, whatever

:11:58.:12:01.

that is, it's not a lot in terms of living the life that you have to

:12:02.:12:06.

live to compete. The great thing about Ken and his brother Neal

:12:07.:12:10.

Skupski is they are graduates of Louisiana State University. They

:12:11.:12:14.

took that route, Ken made the quarterfinals of junior Wimbledon

:12:15.:12:16.

here. College tennis was a better route for him as he was not seen as

:12:17.:12:22.

one of the best and got a lot of backing. He has lived the life he

:12:23.:12:27.

wanted to live but he has something to fall back on. That is a smart

:12:28.:12:33.

move. It is becoming a popular route these days as players play longer

:12:34.:12:38.

and longer. Whereas in your day you were the exception that proved the

:12:39.:12:43.

rule, weren't you? That's why they used to call her the boffin.

:12:44.:13:21.

Some great Court craft and just some great skills. I can remember a few

:13:22.:13:30.

years ago I played Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova in the

:13:31.:13:34.

Invitational, and I always felt Martina, I always believed she is a

:13:35.:13:39.

tennis genius, I felt she always knew where I would hit the ball

:13:40.:13:43.

before I did, she seemed to have moved there. By the end of the

:13:44.:13:47.

match, I just said this is ridiculous, Martina should be

:13:48.:13:48.

playing in the main draw. Jamie saw that coming and he was off

:13:49.:14:03.

like a rabbit. See how quickly Jamie goes there.

:14:04.:14:20.

But he held and held. He went just before the strike. Just watch Jamie

:14:21.:14:31.

just check his feet as soon as Martina hits the ball.

:14:32.:14:39.

He offered the barn door and Jocelyn Rae took it.

:14:40.:15:28.

She couldn't do that again if she tried. Just watch where this goes.

:15:29.:15:39.

Almost took the post out by the roots. Bang.

:15:40.:15:49.

Top seeds in control as the clock ticks around to just past 5pm and we

:15:50.:16:23.

are almost at the end of the first set. Just a quick thought, a quick

:16:24.:16:28.

question, we are being richly entertained here, but at this time

:16:29.:16:31.

most of the Centre Court crowd would still wish the women's semifinals to

:16:32.:16:37.

still be going on. Should they be best of five? Yes. Because? There is

:16:38.:16:44.

no reason why the women can't play five sets the same as the men from

:16:45.:16:49.

that point of view. Physically it's not an issue any more. These to say

:16:50.:16:52.

women could only play best of three sets, it was because they were seen

:16:53.:16:56.

as they couldn't manage it. Lovely pink from Jamie Murray. Would

:16:57.:17:10.

you do that from the quarterfinal stage? I would do it from the

:17:11.:17:14.

quarterfinal stage and also to give the fans on semifinals day, it is a

:17:15.:17:18.

high tariff ticket, give them some more tennis. -- lovely pink. They

:17:19.:17:24.

are getting value for money with this.

:17:25.:17:30.

Grapeshot. That was just beautifully worked.

:17:31.:17:43.

So, less than half an hour and three set points for Murray and Hingis.

:17:44.:18:13.

That's about the first ball she has missed in this opening set. Is that

:18:14.:18:23.

the pound? No, it was a volley or a smash. Get your piggy bank ready.

:18:24.:18:42.

Great serve. Took Jamie by surprise there.

:18:43.:19:06.

They have fought back well from 0-40 down.

:19:07.:19:42.

I suppose it works two ways, if you have played a really long match the

:19:43.:19:57.

night before which went on for ever and ever, almost until dusk, so on

:19:58.:20:02.

the one hand you could be tired. But on the other hand you've really got

:20:03.:20:06.

your are right in, they've played a lot of tennis in the last couple of

:20:07.:20:09.

days. Sometimes when it is really liked by the time they have warmed

:20:10.:20:13.

down and done what they need to do these days, ice baths, Power gels

:20:14.:20:16.

and goodness knows what else, and you go to bed rather late it can

:20:17.:20:26.

take you the first set, you can feel a little flat. And then you have

:20:27.:20:29.

Hingis and Murray who are by far the favourites for the championship,

:20:30.:20:32.

they are so sharp, and coming at you, and they have done very well

:20:33.:20:40.

out here. The prize for the winners of this... It is not tickets for a

:20:41.:20:47.

Shirley Bassey concert, is it? Sorry, John. It's all right.

:20:48.:20:53.

Whenever I see Shirley Bassey, she sang at the opening ceremony of the

:20:54.:20:56.

Rugby World Cup at the millennium in Cardiff in 1999 and I had one of

:20:57.:21:02.

these things you never thought you would do, standing in a tunnel at a

:21:03.:21:06.

rugby stadium having a conversation with Shirley Bassey. One of those

:21:07.:21:10.

things you thought you'd never do and somehow or another you find

:21:11.:21:13.

yourself in that situation. She sang a duet with Bryn Terfel. Anyway, to

:21:14.:21:31.

tell you, the winners play either Marcelo Demoliner or Maria Jose

:21:32.:21:43.

Martinez Sanchez, or Mate Pavic or Lyudmyla Kichenok in the next round.

:21:44.:21:47.

They have yet to begin their match. I mention that because it's actually

:21:48.:21:50.

good, a stellar name like Martina Hingis, is playing in the doubles

:21:51.:21:54.

because it does give it that bit of stardust.

:21:55.:22:26.

That is superb from Jamie. I'm in Clyde to agree, his hand I caught

:22:27.:22:35.

the nation is unbelievable. He is a good golfer, and a good footballer,

:22:36.:22:43.

he is one of those multisport guys. -- I'm inclined to agree.

:22:44.:22:59.

Take that from Skupski. I'm not sure that was going to go back whether it

:23:00.:23:08.

hit the net cord or not. That was backed into a corner, three set

:23:09.:23:12.

points down, I'm just going to whack this.

:23:13.:23:41.

Martina looked around Ben and said, what was that? That was so wide.

:23:42.:23:48.

Brilliantly reached by Murray and the first set to the top seeds. --

:23:49.:24:08.

around then. You mentioned the instinctive nature Murray and Hingis

:24:09.:24:11.

have playing together, but it goes without saying, if you play with

:24:12.:24:17.

somebody a lot you will have that automatically. That was obviously

:24:18.:24:21.

kind of yours, OK, and then put away by Hingis in the end but you think

:24:22.:24:24.

about all the great doubles pairings, whoever they might have

:24:25.:24:28.

been, they eventually cultivated a complete understanding of who was

:24:29.:24:33.

going to beware at what point. This is what is so great about the Mixed

:24:34.:24:36.

Doubles because it's only at the slams so you don't get the chance to

:24:37.:24:42.

play a lot with that person from slam to slam. Super serving numbers

:24:43.:24:47.

from Murray and Hingis, that's what it is about, making almost every

:24:48.:24:51.

return, they looked comfortable all the way through, they could have

:24:52.:24:57.

broken another couple of times but super entertainment and well in

:24:58.:25:00.

control. They might want to knock in a couple more first serves, if you

:25:01.:25:04.

are going to be a little picky. What I have said about Hingis and Murray,

:25:05.:25:08.

they instinctively understand where the spaces are and they are so good

:25:09.:25:11.

technically, such good doubles players, that they will fit very

:25:12.:25:15.

nicely. Martina got it slightly right on the last one but she

:25:16.:25:18.

immediately moved on the space and they are constantly covering for

:25:19.:25:29.

each other. Great experience from Skupski and Rae to play on Centre

:25:30.:25:33.

Court against top seeds. Bit by bit more and more people are coming back

:25:34.:25:38.

after tea following the two semi-finals. Pretty nearly full now.

:25:39.:25:42.

Let's hope the second set is as good as the first.

:25:43.:26:03.

You heard Jocelyn Rae shout sorry to Ken Skupski there. Who should have

:26:04.:26:13.

taken this ball? It was on Kent's left side. Jocelyn for me. Anyway,

:26:14.:26:18.

she is taller. Were you one of those people playing

:26:19.:26:29.

doubles who banned the use of the word sorry? No. Sometimes, you

:26:30.:26:37.

think, you don't have to say sorry, we are in this thing together, kind

:26:38.:26:44.

of thing? Lovely shot. What an angle from Hingis. She is hitting it very

:26:45.:26:54.

sweetly. No one knows where that's going. I used to play with a

:26:55.:27:01.

Japanese player in doubles who would apologise if I made a mistake.

:27:02.:27:12.

Apologising to the crowd? No, to me! Sorry about that, sorry about my

:27:13.:27:18.

partner, I will be shot of her next time.

:27:19.:27:19.

She didn't teach me any Japanese swear words because she said there

:27:20.:27:25.

weren't any. What is the Japanese word for sorry? I don't know, she

:27:26.:27:27.

said it in English. Having lost the first set its always

:27:28.:27:42.

good to open the second with a service hold and Skupski now has the

:27:43.:27:44.

chance to do that. And he does. When you are playing doubles like

:27:45.:28:03.

this, in a singles match you can say, if plan a is not working, we

:28:04.:28:12.

will go to plan a and a bit, B, C and whatever. What can you change in

:28:13.:28:15.

this doubles match if you are on the wrong end of it? You have to break

:28:16.:28:22.

up the plans of your opponent, they are being picked off constantly at

:28:23.:28:26.

the net. It is easier said than done. That is what Martina is trying

:28:27.:28:28.

to do here. Then you will have a discussion

:28:29.:28:42.

about, alongside that, where is the best placed to serve to and then

:28:43.:28:47.

talk about doing the basics well, making first serves and making

:28:48.:28:48.

plenty of returns. The ball swinging in at Skupski's

:28:49.:29:06.

body. APPLAUSE

:29:07.:29:49.

It is a pretty consistent backhand, or this match. -- throughout this

:29:50.:29:57.

match. She would have known all about Joslin from their junior days.

:29:58.:30:16.

I think Hingis is six from six on the overheads so far. She is seeing

:30:17.:30:27.

the ball very, very cleanly. I'm not getting my purse open just yet!

:30:28.:30:39.

Just waited and waited and waited. We weren't sure where it was going,

:30:40.:30:43.

and then it went. Oh, that's a pitch, as somebody

:30:44.:31:03.

would have said in this commentary box many years ago. I think the

:31:04.:31:10.

tennis gods have sprinkled some fairy dust on Martina Hingis

:31:11.:31:14.

throughout his career. -- throughout her career. She can do some really

:31:15.:31:20.

special things on tennis court. -- out here on this tennis court.

:31:21.:31:23.

Athletic from Skupski. And again. We are eulogising,

:31:24.:31:45.

Martina Hingis, but it's easy to forget that she fell out of love

:31:46.:31:50.

with this sport in a big way at a very early age after having achieved

:31:51.:31:54.

so much. 22, she had already been on the tour of ten years.

:31:55.:32:03.

Great staff! Hugely entertaining. -- great stuff. A lovely touch from

:32:04.:32:20.

Murray too. Well, it was a beautiful shot.

:32:21.:32:49.

Didn't need the help of the net. A bit of a masterclass by the top

:32:50.:32:53.

seeds here at the moment. I mentioned about Hingis falling out

:32:54.:32:56.

of love with the sport, as you've been doing a lot of work over here

:32:57.:33:00.

for channel seven in Australia as well, they've been having endless

:33:01.:33:03.

discussions I would imagine until we're blue in the phrase in the

:33:04.:33:06.

early hours of the morning, not just about Nick Kyrgios but about Bernard

:33:07.:33:11.

Tomic, he said he was bored of playing here, he is falling in and

:33:12.:33:15.

out of love with the sport. At regular intervals. And she decided

:33:16.:33:20.

that to walk away from it. So it is understandable how young people can

:33:21.:33:23.

sometimes feel like that. Yes, I think with Martina, though, I think

:33:24.:33:29.

she did pretty much love the game. You've got to remember, she won the

:33:30.:33:32.

juniors at the French Open which it was 12. She won the juniors at 13,

:33:33.:33:38.

she played her first Wimbledon at 14. She beat Steffi Graf in the

:33:39.:33:46.

first round. By 22, she was jaded, weekend, week out. The Williams

:33:47.:33:50.

sisters were hitting the ball harder and harder, Lindsay Davenport came

:33:51.:33:54.

on the scene. Bernard Tomic, he has been forced to play when he didn't

:33:55.:33:59.

want to play. It's understandable, some of the statements he's coming

:34:00.:34:03.

up with. A set and a break for the top seeds.

:34:04.:34:09.

Jamie is going left. They haven't really got the hand signals worked

:34:10.:34:14.

out. When you've got somebody at the net

:34:15.:34:29.

who moves as much as Jamie Murray, you try being on the other side,

:34:30.:34:32.

it's so hard to make your return. Oh, that was a very clean strike

:34:33.:34:43.

from Skupski. Sitting at home, wherever you may be watching, it's

:34:44.:34:46.

almost worth, just don't watch the ball for this next point, just watch

:34:47.:34:51.

Jamie Murray's feet and his activity level, it's almost hyperactive,

:34:52.:34:52.

isn't it, he's just everywhere. Skupski auditioning for Goodison all

:34:53.:35:13.

and feel there! He is a big Liverpool supporter. Oh, I shouldn't

:35:14.:35:17.

have said the word Liverpool! I apologise! His dad was a goalkeeper

:35:18.:35:23.

for Aston Villa reserves. Really?! He played in Poland as well, didn't

:35:24.:35:29.

he? Ken Skupski Senior, a great football. Also the treasurer of a

:35:30.:35:32.

tennis club in Liverpool. Well, read quickly a 3-1 lead for

:35:33.:35:53.

Jamie and Martina. -- very quickly. And this match is in danger of going

:35:54.:36:09.

the way of the first two on Centre Court today. Rather more swiftly

:36:10.:36:11.

than I think anybody would have wanted.

:36:12.:37:14.

Are Oh! You were just willing somebody to win eight! -- is to win

:37:15.:37:25.

it. What a fantastic shot from Skupski. That one!

:37:26.:37:43.

No missed volleying from Hingis, noted.

:37:44.:38:10.

I've been very impressed, actually, how competitive Jocelyn Rae and Ken

:38:11.:38:26.

Skupski have been in this match. I mean, just that one break in the

:38:27.:38:29.

opening set, that's all it was, just the serve.

:38:30.:38:33.

Well, Skupski has banged down for a seat in this match so far, to keep

:38:34.:38:46.

them just in touch -- four aces. It's so easy to forget, actually,

:38:47.:38:59.

because the years go by, that actually the holders of this

:39:00.:39:05.

Championship are a British - finish combination of Henri Kontinen and

:39:06.:39:08.

Heather Watson. And they are still in the competition as well. They are

:39:09.:39:13.

playing Parma and the Brodsky in their quarterfinal match today. It's

:39:14.:39:20.

not in conceivable that we could have British involvement on both

:39:21.:39:23.

sides of the net late on Sunday evening. Even if we're not going to

:39:24.:39:26.

have any British involvement in either of the singles of the

:39:27.:39:31.

weekend, which is obviously a huge disappointment. You weren't part of

:39:32.:39:35.

the Jo Konta commentary for us on the BBC. What was your take on how

:39:36.:39:39.

that much planned out? I thought it would be tighter. I thought that Jo

:39:40.:39:45.

tried to hard and pushed it too much, she had to go to the edge

:39:46.:39:49.

against Venus Williams, who I thought struck the ball beautifully.

:39:50.:39:54.

So much pressure from Venus. And Jo was right to push but the forehand

:39:55.:39:57.

broke down a little more than I thought it would. Just not quite

:39:58.:39:59.

ready. As comfortable as Murray and Hingis

:40:00.:41:37.

are making this, they've done a very nice job of just keeping the tempo

:41:38.:41:40.

up here, keeping the pace of the match running along.

:41:41.:42:13.

That's a big weapon to have! Especially in this game.

:42:14.:42:25.

Murray and Hingis are just about to receive, and Jamie is the

:42:26.:42:30.

left-hander is standing on the right-hand side of the court. I'm

:42:31.:42:33.

sure most club players watching this and listening all over the world, if

:42:34.:42:38.

they are playing a right-hander and the left-hander, the natural

:42:39.:42:41.

instinct is to always have the left-hander on the left. Why are

:42:42.:42:45.

they doing it like this? Because Martina always plays on the left in

:42:46.:42:49.

women's doubles. And she's much more comfortable there. And you've also

:42:50.:42:53.

got a woman playing on the left. I think in club tennis that would very

:42:54.:42:59.

rally happened. -- that would very rarely happen. You just go with your

:43:00.:43:04.

strengths are and where you feel the most comfortable, and we were used

:43:05.:43:10.

to week in, week out. -- where you used to. That's a very good point.

:43:11.:43:15.

There's always the feeling that the pressure points are going to be the

:43:16.:43:18.

advantage called. So, club tennis, you know, the man tends to go there.

:43:19.:43:38.

It's a very crisp striking of the ball from Jamie Murray today. Just

:43:39.:43:46.

have a look at this. He's got such a short take back, he hardly takes the

:43:47.:43:50.

racket. It's all forward motion, just clicked it. Very tough to read.

:43:51.:43:52.

He takes its super early. She will not be happy with that. Her

:43:53.:45:19.

favourite return. There's a kind of tone that we get

:45:20.:45:56.

given before every match of that's about all of the players and

:45:57.:46:00.

everybody involved. There is war and peace about Martina Hingis! There's

:46:01.:46:04.

just so much to say about all of her career wins and career titles. 43

:46:05.:46:11.

tour singles successes for Martina Hingis in her career. 60 women's

:46:12.:46:16.

doubles titles. Five mixed doubles titles. And so it goes on, almost

:46:17.:46:21.

every country in the world she's won an event in somewhere or other. Most

:46:22.:46:26.

remarkably, really, in terms of the longevity, albeit with a slight

:46:27.:46:28.

hiatus in the muddle, she's been an Olympian twice. In Atlanta and Rio.

:46:29.:46:36.

You know, spanning 20 years, from 1996 until last year. She first

:46:37.:46:42.

represented Switzerland in the Federation cup 22 years ago. And is

:46:43.:46:47.

still doing it now. Just extraordinary.

:46:48.:46:58.

And she will serve now, and if she holds, Murray and Hingis will just

:46:59.:47:05.

about be there. Oh! How did he see that? And if he

:47:06.:48:09.

hadn't seen it, he'd have got it in the eye. But look at him, he's

:48:10.:48:17.

always moving forward, he's always active.

:48:18.:48:27.

That caught the thinnest of slivers of Rae's racket. But it means, after

:48:28.:48:39.

almost an hour, Murray and Hingis are one game away from the

:48:40.:48:40.

semifinals. I wouldn't mind seeing that again.

:48:41.:50:19.

Was that an air shot by Skupski? Or did he leave it at the last minute?

:50:20.:50:25.

He managed to earn a shot it but he still won the point! Great vision

:50:26.:50:27.

from Rae. -- to air shot it. Rae and Skupski, this is Avery tough

:50:28.:50:40.

assignment for them in terms of the class of Hingis and Murray. -- a

:50:41.:50:45.

very tough assignment. But they have competed brilliantly.

:50:46.:50:52.

And a tough occasion also in terms of the setting, the stage.

:50:53.:50:58.

Everything else that has set this matchup.

:50:59.:51:22.

Well played, Jocelyn Rae. Hanging on in there.

:51:23.:51:36.

But it's Jamie to serve. So there'll be some big swinging serves out of

:51:37.:51:42.

the advantage court. I suppose you've just got to make them play,

:51:43.:51:47.

if you possibly can. It's not that easy. I mean, both teams have played

:51:48.:51:52.

pretty smart. They've stop to what many think is the golden rule of

:51:53.:51:55.

mixed doubles, if you can play on the woman, that's what you do most

:51:56.:51:59.

of the time. They've both done that well. Jamie and Martina just have a

:52:00.:52:04.

little extra pizzazz at the net, and it is just small things that have

:52:05.:52:08.

divided them out here. A few more returns of serve in, clean on the

:52:09.:52:13.

follies, not missing any at all. And just work a little better together

:52:14.:52:18.

-- clean-up on the volleys. Skupski and Rae, they won't be used to

:52:19.:52:23.

having the ball coming at them. It is all split, split, split seconds,

:52:24.:52:27.

isn't it? But the fraction that you have got less time to move the ball

:52:28.:52:31.

and move your feed, if you are not used about on a regular basis, you

:52:32.:52:35.

will get found out. Everything is just coming up a little quicker here

:52:36.:52:36.

this afternoon. So, here is Jamie Murray de polish

:52:37.:52:41.

things. -- to polish things off. Another big swinging serve. If you

:52:42.:53:37.

weren't with us one hour ago when this match started, Sam did promise

:53:38.:53:44.

to give me ?1 for every error that Martina Hingis made at the net

:53:45.:53:50.

during the course of this match. And her purse has remained, and looks

:53:51.:53:52.

like remaining, resolutely shut. Of course, she hasn't made a single

:53:53.:54:03.

error at the net. And so, one final bit of whispering,

:54:04.:54:19.

and here we are, Jamie Murray, three set points. Three match points.

:54:20.:54:27.

Done, dusted! In one hour and four minutes. But that was richly

:54:28.:54:34.

entertaining stuff. Well played Ken Skupski and Jocelyn Rae. But Jamie

:54:35.:54:37.

Murray Martina Hingis just a little bit too much class.

:54:38.:54:45.

SUE BARKER: Well done to Jamie and Martina, the big favourites to take

:54:46.:54:52.

the title here at Wimbledon. And the crowd certainly enjoying that match

:54:53.:54:58.

an centre. Well done to them. Today is Lady semifinals day. First on

:54:59.:55:02.

court was Garbine Muguruza, if final two years to go. She was on court

:55:03.:55:07.

for only one hour and four minutes against Magdalene -- Magdalena

:55:08.:55:16.

Rybarikova. The former champion is getting better and better with every

:55:17.:55:19.

match. She is a big hitter with a big serve, and that the end of this

:55:20.:55:23.

match she had a big smile as well. She is the root of the Wimbledon

:55:24.:55:27.

final once again. And playing possibly the best tennis of her life

:55:28.:55:30.

-- she is through to the Wimbledon final. And she is there to face

:55:31.:55:34.

Venus Williams, who crushed Jo Konta's dreams of becoming the first

:55:35.:55:41.

British woman through to final since 1977. And you can't take anything

:55:42.:55:45.

away from Jo. She played a good match. But Venus was just better.

:55:46.:55:49.

She served well, the tactics were right, and she just hit winner of

:55:50.:55:53.

the winner. It's incredible that Venus was last in the final here

:55:54.:55:58.

back in 2009. At the age of 37 she looks as though she's moving and

:55:59.:56:01.

hitting the ball better than ever. Venus against Muguruza in the final.

:56:02.:56:07.

During the day, we've heard from so many great champions here. And on

:56:08.:56:12.

ladies semi final day, I thought we'd hear from another one, winner

:56:13.:56:17.

of 18 Grand Slam titles it's Chris Everett. She popped into the studio

:56:18.:56:21.

to talk about the semifinals, and a lot more. It's lovely to see my good

:56:22.:56:26.

friend, multiple Grand Slam winner, Wimbledon darling here, Chris

:56:27.:56:31.

Everett. You are the Wimbledon darling! I so wish that I was! Great

:56:32.:56:35.

to see Jo Konta doing so well here, isn't it? But today, just couldn't

:56:36.:56:41.

find the answers, could she? Oh, she came up against the Venus Williams

:56:42.:56:45.

in top form. I mean, I don't think I'd ever seen Venus play that well

:56:46.:56:51.

on a grass court. I mean, she had so much power, but she was so

:56:52.:56:55.

consistent. I mean, even when she won it, and she was number one in

:56:56.:56:58.

the world, she made a lot more areas. She's much more consistent

:56:59.:57:02.

now, she's moving well. That served as unbelievable -- she made more

:57:03.:57:07.

errors. She is stepping in on the second serve returns. She looks just

:57:08.:57:13.

so, up there. Her facade and composure -- so calm out there. It

:57:14.:57:17.

is unmatched by anybody in this tournament. What you make of Jo's

:57:18.:57:22.

game? I'm a big fan, I think she had a great tournament. I hope, you

:57:23.:57:27.

know, I hope the press goes easy on her. She had three really tough

:57:28.:57:31.

emotional 3-set matches, starting with Donna Vekic. You know, she got

:57:32.:57:37.

out of trouble. She played her best tennis and oppression. She managed

:57:38.:57:42.

to get herself calm and, you know, it really work for her. But at some

:57:43.:57:45.

point it's going to catch up with you. I wonder if she ran out the

:57:46.:57:51.

little bid of steam at the end. But, no, I'm a big fan of her composure

:57:52.:57:56.

and maturity, her philosophy on life. I think she's just got to keep

:57:57.:58:01.

going. You know, it's her first Wimbledon semifinal. I know she's

:58:02.:58:04.

been in a Grand Slam semifinal of the Australian, is not the same

:58:05.:58:08.

thing as a home Grand Slam. Maybe the occasion was a bit much. She

:58:09.:58:12.

made a couple of uncharacteristic errors when she was serving at 5-

:58:13.:58:16.

for in that first set. I don't know, that could have been a bit of

:58:17.:58:19.

wariness, where entire, over the two week that she played, the

:58:20.:58:24.

accumulation of having played a lot of matches. I still think having

:58:25.:58:28.

been a player, and you know this and then, emotionally, you know, when

:58:29.:58:32.

you get through a big match, I mean, that match with Vekic, and then

:58:33.:58:38.

Caroline Garcia, another struggle, and then Simona Halep. Three matches

:58:39.:58:43.

like that has got to take something out of you. I think she's human and

:58:44.:58:47.

it took something out of her. Do you feel that she is a Grand Slam

:58:48.:58:52.

champion? Very much a possibility, very much. She plays great on the

:58:53.:58:57.

grass courts. Absolutely. I mean, the way that women's tennis has

:58:58.:59:01.

opened up, absolutely, she is a contender. Did you ever think you

:59:02.:59:04.

would see Venus play that well again? No, we were just talking

:59:05.:59:08.

about and actually in the ESPN Green Room. I mean, we thought maybe three

:59:09.:59:13.

or four years ago she had had it. Because she was really getting tired

:59:14.:59:20.

in her matches, she was making a lot of errors, she does didn't look

:59:21.:59:23.

happy out there. It's very much like a Roger Federer sort of centres,

:59:24.:59:27.

really, what's happened in the last year has happened to Venus. I mean,

:59:28.:59:31.

she's 37 years old, and she is playing better now than when choose

:59:32.:59:35.

number one in the world. And she just... She loved the pressure, she

:59:36.:59:38.

loves the big moments, the big matches. And she has such a passion.

:59:39.:59:47.

And I'd just, you know, I keep saying this, I'm a big fan of Hearst

:59:48.:59:50.

and yen. But it's incredible, the second serve on a break point. 106

:59:51.:59:54.

mph! A couple almost hit Konta, did you notice a couple of them?! What

:59:55.:59:59.

about the body serves. That almost won the match. Coming up with those

:00:00.:00:04.

big serves at key moments, right into the body. Jo and get out of the

:00:05.:00:09.

way. She was very smart. She definitely had clarity and a

:00:10.:00:13.

strategy going out there today -- Jo couldn't get out of the way.

:00:14.:00:16.

Everybody underestimates the body serve. Jo's serve pattern, she

:00:17.:00:21.

hardly puts any down the centre, maybe that's something she's got to

:00:22.:00:24.

add to her against a pillar in our day we didn't have a body serve

:00:25.:00:28.

because the ball was so soft will stop you just wanted to place it a

:00:29.:00:32.

little more. But nowadays the speed of the serve, it sometimes takes

:00:33.:00:36.

more effort to get out of the way of the ball than it is just a stretch

:00:37.:00:39.

wide and go for a forehand or a backhand return. It's a great play.

:00:40.:00:43.

I think the guys have used it a lot in men's tennis and the women are

:00:44.:00:48.

starting to use it more. What about Muguruza? We could be treated to a

:00:49.:00:50.

magnificent final, can we? I hope so, she has proven she can

:00:51.:00:59.

play on grass reaching the finals. I don't know what has happened, she is

:01:00.:01:02.

more relaxed this tournament, maybe Conchita Martinez is coaching her

:01:03.:01:06.

and Conchita Martinez is kind of laid-back. I think Muguruza needs

:01:07.:01:13.

somebody to help her relax more than put pressure on her and get her

:01:14.:01:17.

stressed out. She has just been very focused. Again, harnessing her power

:01:18.:01:22.

gun not making a lot of errors, reining in the areas -- harnessing

:01:23.:01:28.

her power, not making a lot of errors. Whistle at the French Open

:01:29.:01:32.

last summer, it seems like two years ago, but she won it a year ago and

:01:33.:01:39.

has not lived up to that, grandson champion. Maybe it is taking a

:01:40.:01:43.

little time for her to get used to getting the publicity and having all

:01:44.:01:47.

the attention. Maybe now she feels more comfortable in her own skin and

:01:48.:01:51.

playing better tennis. When she plays freely she is beautiful to

:01:52.:01:55.

watch and she will attack. And just as strong as Venus. She has a big

:01:56.:02:00.

first serve and cracks those ground strokes. I think in that Kerber

:02:01.:02:03.

match, I said whoever wins the match it could change their year around,

:02:04.:02:07.

if Kerber won they could have changed her year and I think that

:02:08.:02:12.

match was huge for Muguruza. When you have a match like that it frees

:02:13.:02:17.

you up and you feel more confident. She is a confidence player. That

:02:18.:02:21.

match was of the highest quality. We have a lot of great women's matches.

:02:22.:02:26.

Considering Serena Williams, the dominant player, is not here, it has

:02:27.:02:31.

opened the door to a lot of great matches and possibilities. Everyone

:02:32.:02:34.

trying to seize the opportunity that Serena Williams has left. As far as

:02:35.:02:37.

the men are concerned, the semi-finals have not worked out as

:02:38.:02:41.

we predicted. First of all, Andy Murray, we have all played with

:02:42.:02:44.

injuries and we know how tough it is and it was sad to see him limping

:02:45.:02:48.

around a Centre Court. I thought he was a real gentleman, the way he is

:02:49.:02:54.

not making excuses. But last year, 2016, Davis Cup, the Olympics, and

:02:55.:02:58.

playing a full schedule up until November trying to get the number

:02:59.:03:03.

one ranking over Novak, I just think he was a little burnt out coming

:03:04.:03:07.

into this year. He has never really got the fresh feeling. He needs a

:03:08.:03:12.

break. I briefly read in the newspaper he is talking about taking

:03:13.:03:17.

some time off. I think he does need to take time off, I think Djokovic

:03:18.:03:21.

needs to take time off. When you get to a certain point in your career,

:03:22.:03:25.

whether it is being 30 years old, or being on the tour for ten or 15

:03:26.:03:29.

years and you must re-evaluate your schedule and limit your tournaments

:03:30.:03:33.

because it is not humanly possible with how athletic this sport is and

:03:34.:03:37.

the wear and tear on your body that you can keep it up year after year

:03:38.:03:44.

after year. If you have an injury you have to get it right before

:03:45.:03:47.

coming back and he must listen to the doctors. Absolutely. You cannot

:03:48.:03:49.

really play at this top level nursing an injury. Again, the power

:03:50.:03:55.

in the game, just the way it affects your body and the athleticism is so

:03:56.:04:00.

much more than it was ten years ago at its highest level. There is a lot

:04:01.:04:07.

of pressure from tournaments, pressure for accumulating more

:04:08.:04:10.

points on the circuit, pressure from endorsements, I don't know. There

:04:11.:04:15.

are lots of outside pressures but at some point take a break and look

:04:16.:04:17.

what it did to Roger Federer. Exactly! It is a no-brainer, look

:04:18.:04:23.

what it did to him. We must have your thoughts on Sam Querrey. He is

:04:24.:04:28.

one of the sport's nice guys, isn't he? He took his chances, didn't he?

:04:29.:04:32.

He's surely playing his best tennis ever. Yes but he played his best

:04:33.:04:38.

tennis last year too when he had the upset. But Novak wasn't really in

:04:39.:04:45.

the ballpark that day. But also the manner in which he played, he seems

:04:46.:04:50.

to be moving better. 6-1, 6-1, fourth and fifth sets looked like he

:04:51.:04:53.

was a Wimbledon Championships where he played with the big serve. Big

:04:54.:04:57.

guys don't always move well but he was covering the court really well.

:04:58.:05:02.

I love his backhand, it was right on target with the backhand. He is the

:05:03.:05:10.

nicest most unassuming, humble guy. So, we Americans are really proud of

:05:11.:05:13.

him the way he has got this far and hope he can go further. Finally, in

:05:14.:05:19.

a Grand Slam semifinal. What about superhuman Roger Federer? The

:05:20.:05:24.

superhuman, yes. Some of the tennis he produced against Raonic took your

:05:25.:05:28.

breath away, didn't it? He is a shot maker, I feel like he saved his body

:05:29.:05:32.

because he doesn't need to go out there and work like Nadal and Andy

:05:33.:05:37.

Murray. They physically grind it out and they are defence as well as

:05:38.:05:41.

counterpuncher is as well as offence. Roger Federer only knows

:05:42.:05:44.

one way to play tennis and that is just to be aggressive. I feel like

:05:45.:05:49.

as hard as he works, and I know he works hard, he doesn't have the wear

:05:50.:05:53.

and tear over his body over the years that the other players have

:05:54.:05:59.

and all he needs to do is concentrate on the Majors. He needs

:06:00.:06:02.

to stay in shape and he needs to have that eagerness and hunger to

:06:03.:06:07.

win. He does not need to play 12 months of the year. I think that is

:06:08.:06:10.

something that the other players can look at also to, you know, get their

:06:11.:06:16.

career longer at the other end. We will see players playing until 38,

:06:17.:06:21.

40, I am sure, in the next few years. I cannot let you go without

:06:22.:06:25.

reminiscing. You mean the 77 when you should have won Wimbledon?

:06:26.:06:32.

Everybody has been reminding me. The crowd bothered me in that match.

:06:33.:06:41.

Debate? They were brutal. I thought they were. I never got upset and a

:06:42.:06:45.

match but in that match I was really upset. I let it bother me and I

:06:46.:06:50.

shouldn't have. That is not like you. I shouldn't have but in the

:06:51.:06:55.

last game I was ready to say, it's your match. But on the other side of

:06:56.:06:59.

the draw there was Sue Barker and Jenny. You could have won. I'm

:07:00.:07:09.

sorry. Look what you are doing now. Virginia swanning around the world

:07:10.:07:13.

having holidays and I'm working. In Portugal! We want to reminisce one

:07:14.:07:18.

of your finals. Pick your favourite final that you won. I don't have

:07:19.:07:22.

one, I'm sorry. I will pick one for you. Yvonne? Yes, 1976 because it

:07:23.:07:32.

was a wonderful final, ute two, very much like with Martina, the contrast

:07:33.:07:37.

of styles. She had the upper hand -- you two. She had the upper hand on

:07:38.:07:42.

me on grass courts up until that point. I love the hairstyle.

:07:43.:07:49.

Jeepers! The courts were playing hard that year, that was the hot

:07:50.:07:55.

year, right? Yes. It didn't rain and I didn't have to bend that no. I

:07:56.:08:00.

loved playing it on because she gave me a target coming into the net.

:08:01.:08:03.

Sometimes when I played Yvonne I watched her instead of the ball

:08:04.:08:07.

because she was so beautiful as an athlete, the way she hit the ball

:08:08.:08:11.

and glided. I had to say, don't look at her, look at the ball. That was a

:08:12.:08:16.

big win. Yvonne came to play in an exhibition at the Albert Hall a few

:08:17.:08:20.

years later and asked me to go and practice with her and I said I'd be

:08:21.:08:24.

delighted, and I to court for two arrows and I thought she might want

:08:25.:08:27.

a bit longer, she turned up at the front desk and said we got caught

:08:28.:08:33.

four for two hours and she said I have never practised more than 45

:08:34.:08:37.

minutes in my life and that is where I went wrong I played four hours a

:08:38.:08:43.

day. Roger is the same, he can put in two arrows the way Nadal can put

:08:44.:08:46.

in five hours because they are shot makers. -- two hours. They are so

:08:47.:08:53.

talented and gifted unlike us. We had to drench our way hitting ground

:08:54.:08:57.

shots. Drill after drill after pattern after Pat. How is your body?

:08:58.:09:02.

Mine is fine, is yours OK? You told me when I went to visit you that you

:09:03.:09:05.

are hitting York volleys better now than you were. With the new rackets

:09:06.:09:12.

and strings every old time is hitting the volleys better. Are

:09:13.:09:16.

playing every day. With ten or 12-year-olds. I exaggerate! You are

:09:17.:09:25.

not playing at all? I snapped my Achilles playing one time and the

:09:26.:09:28.

surgeon said I will see you here again if you carry on playing. I was

:09:29.:09:34.

lucky for you. Do you know what, when I was playing out there, when

:09:35.:09:38.

the ball was coming and it got short I thought I'm going to run up there

:09:39.:09:43.

and hit it across court and no, I was running up and barely getting to

:09:44.:09:46.

it. The brain remembered what to do but the body didn't follow. You

:09:47.:09:51.

think you are 18 again. By the way everybody, Sue Barker had the big De

:09:52.:09:55.

Maio biggest forehand in the game. Remember Steffi Graf in our era, she

:09:56.:10:03.

had it. Andy moved well. Stop! You've got the cheque in the post!

:10:04.:10:09.

You're welcome. So lovely to see you. Thank you for inviting me. We

:10:10.:10:18.

missed you in the studio last year. In the final will you join us for a

:10:19.:10:23.

bit? I will try. Breakfast at Wimbledon but I will do my utmost to

:10:24.:10:30.

try for you. Thank you so much. Good to see you. It is always great to

:10:31.:10:34.

hear from Chris and encouraging that she sees Jo Konta as a potential

:10:35.:10:37.

Grand Slam champion. She can be proud of the way she has played at

:10:38.:10:42.

Wimbledon. Let's hear from Jo who has been talking to Phil Jones.

:10:43.:10:47.

Commiserations on today but congratulations on a wonderful

:10:48.:10:52.

tournament as well. Thank you. We are not that far removed from the

:10:53.:10:55.

match but have you been able to process how it unfolded for you

:10:56.:10:57.

today? Definitely a little bit and I will

:10:58.:11:02.

keep working on it with my team. But overall I think all the credit has

:11:03.:11:07.

to go to Venus and the way she was able to play today. I don't think I

:11:08.:11:11.

did too much wrong. She really just dictated the match from the very

:11:12.:11:15.

beginning until the very end. I had very few chances to get a good

:11:16.:11:22.

foothold in the match. And again, when I did have those chances, she

:11:23.:11:25.

did very well to take them away from me. So all credit to her. I know

:11:26.:11:30.

that you said ahead of the match you would be humbled to share the court

:11:31.:11:33.

with somebody like Venus. When you see what she is able to do at the

:11:34.:11:37.

age of 37 with the illness she has, is there a sense of wonder as well?

:11:38.:11:41.

I think there is just a massive amount of respect for her and what

:11:42.:11:44.

she has achieved in our sport and what she has brought to our sport

:11:45.:11:49.

and what she has given it. I think it is more the fact that today shows

:11:50.:11:54.

why she is also a five-time champion here. And as for you, did you feel

:11:55.:11:59.

any extra nerves today because it was a Wimbledon semifinal and the

:12:00.:12:03.

occasion was such a big one? Actually, once I got out onto the

:12:04.:12:06.

court I felt very comfortable. I do love being on Centre Court here.

:12:07.:12:13.

It's both kind of big but also intimate at the same time. I think

:12:14.:12:19.

overall I enjoyed my tournament here, but definitely enjoyed today.

:12:20.:12:23.

Do you take away a sense of pride in the way you were able to not only

:12:24.:12:27.

played so well to get to this point but deal with all the attention that

:12:28.:12:32.

goes with it as a British player here at Wimbledon? Definitely. I

:12:33.:12:35.

think I dealt with it how I expected myself to deal with it, how I felt I

:12:36.:12:42.

was going to. But to be able to be involved until this stage of the

:12:43.:12:45.

tournament, I am very happy with that. Obviously I would have liked

:12:46.:12:49.

to go in little further but I'm definitely taking a lot of good

:12:50.:12:52.

things. The great thing is above all else you continue to show time after

:12:53.:12:57.

time you belong on this stage. Venus touched on it in her press

:12:58.:13:00.

conference about you are going to be challenging for majors for many

:13:01.:13:04.

years to come, we hope. I hope so too and that is very kind of her.

:13:05.:13:11.

Again, I am very humbled by that, I guess, by that from her. I will

:13:12.:13:17.

definitely do my best to do that. SUE BARKER: I'm sure she will be

:13:18.:13:20.

disappointed but has proved to herself she is right up there with

:13:21.:13:24.

the game's best and we look forward to following her in the years to

:13:25.:13:27.

come. I'm sure she will have learned a lot from that experience today. We

:13:28.:13:32.

look forward to the final, it is Venus Williams up against Garbine

:13:33.:13:36.

Muguruza. It will be a wonderful display of big serving and power

:13:37.:13:40.

from the back of the court. That is the final on Saturday on BBC One

:13:41.:13:52.

from 1pm. We have come to be end on BBC One but plenty of tennis still

:13:53.:13:55.

to come over on BBC Two and on Centre at the moment Britain's

:13:56.:13:59.

Heather Watson in her Mixed Doubles game with Henri Kontinen. That will

:14:00.:14:02.

be on BBC Two. For now, goodbye.

:14:03.:14:05.

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