Serena Williams Beats Defending Champion Kvitova to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals

World No. 6 Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon, beating the defending champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

Williams served 13 aces on her way to the win, hitting 27 winners and just 10 unforced errors. Kvitova struggled more on her serve, winning more points on her second serve than on her first, as Williams won 40% of Kvitova’s service points.

“I feel like I’ve been returning really well in practice ‑ much better than any of my matches ‑ so I’m thinking one day it’s going to come through,” Williams said. “I can still return a lot better, but it just hasn’t quite clicked yet. But today was definitely better than the other matches.”

“I think it was great match from both of us, and I think that she just serve much better than me,” Kvitova said. “I think there were some really important points that I could play better. I think that was the difference.”

Williams will face either Victoria Azarenka or Tamira Paszek in the semifinals.