Serena Williams will face Angelique Kerber, not sister Venus, in Wimbledon final

Venus Williams has gone from spectacular to spectator, as there won’t be a Williams-versus-Williams final at Wimbledon this year.

Serena Williams did her part, dispatching Russia’s Elena Vesnina in just 49 minutes, 6-2, 6-0, the quickest match in the history of the women’s singles semifinal.

“You have to admit, she was just better,” said Vesnina, who was more matter-of-fact than deeply disappointed. “She was stronger, faster. I couldn’t do anything today.”

But Williams’ older sister, Venus, one of the feel-good stories of the tournament, didn’t fare as well. On the Centre Court match that followed, she lost to Germany’s Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 6-4.

“You just step up and do the best you can,” Venus Williams said. “I ran into a better player, so next time.”

They won’t face each other for the singles championship, but Serena and Venus remain in the hunt for a doubles title. They beat the Russian team of Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2.

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In a doubles semifinal Friday, the Williams sisters, who were unseeded in doubles, play Germany’s Julia Goerges and the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova, seeded eighth.

The showcase matches Friday are the men’s singles semifinals, with Roger Federer playing Milos Raonic, and Andy Murray playing Tomas Berdych.

The women’s singles final is a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, when Kerber stunned Serena in three sets to win her first Grand Slam title, a match Williams called “remarkably fun” at the time.

“I made a lot of errors; she made little to no unforced errors,” Williams said at the time. She added that Kerber “came out swinging, ready to win. She was fearless.”

For her part, Williams continues to strike fear in the hearts of most opponents. The six-time Wimbledon singles winner has been ranked No. 1 in the world for the last 178 weeks, the longest streak of her career.

As dominant as she is, Williams has been stuck on 21 Grand Slam singles titles since winning Wimbledon last year. There’s certainly no shame in that, but it leaves her her one such win shy of Steffi Graf’s record 22.

After losing to Kerber in this year’s Australian final, Williams fell to Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza in the French Open final.

For any other player, reaching the finals of three Grand Slam events in the same year would be phenomenal. For Williams, it elicited a smile and a shrug.

“I think for anyone else on this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment,” she conceded. “For me, it’s about obviously holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me. For me, it’s not enough. But I think that’s what makes me different. That’s what makes me Serena.”

While Serena, 34, has stockpiled Grand Slam victories, the triumphs have been far less frequent for her sister in recent years. Venus, 36, who won five Wimbledon titles between 2000 and 2008, had gone the last five years without reaching the quarterfinals.

But Venus has spent the last five years battling Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease causing chronic fatigue and muscle soreness. Part of her treatment involved adopting a vegan and raw food diet to help reduce inflammation and the energy-draining symptoms of the ailment.

“She’s shown that she’s a wonderful champion,” Serena said of her sister. “She’s resilient. She’s an incredible fighter. She’s just a great person.”

The Williams sisters have met four times in the Wimbledon singles finals, with Venus winning in 2008, and Serena in ’02, ’03 and ’09. Serena said she was conflicted about the possibility of playing her sister again.

“It’s been very, very difficult for me, especially being the younger sister,” Serena said. “She’s always kind of protected me my whole life, always looked out for me both on and off the court.”

Serena said that when she’s playing her sister, “I don’t look at her. Literally. I only look at the ball. When we switch sides, I just look down. I just do not see her until the match is over.”

Follow Sam Farmer on Twitter @LATimesFarmer

UPDATES:

2:28 p.m.: This article was updated throughout.

7:52 a.m.: This post was updated with details on the semifinal match between Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams.

7:58 a.m.: This post was updated with a staff story.

This first version of this post was published at 6:31 a.m.