Williams breaks own aces record, reaches 7th Wimbledon final

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams served her first ace in the first game of her Wimbledon semifinal match against second-seeded Victoria Azarenka. It was up the middle, and it raised a dust ball on Centre Court.

It also set a trend.

By the time Williams' 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory was complete, she had served 24 aces. That broke the Wimbledon record Williams set last week against Zheng Jie by one — and Williams played three sets against Zheng.

The 96-minute win sent Williams, 30, to her seventh Wimbledon final and her 18th Grand Slam final. On Saturday she will play first-time Wimbledon finalist and third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4."That's the best she ever had and the best I've ever seen," Richard Williams, Serena's father and coach, said of her serving prowess.

Williams' dominance Thursday was reminiscent of two years ago at Wimbledon, when she won her 13th Grand Slam title.

Shortly after that win, Williams suffered a foot injury that needed surgery, and during her recovery she had a pulmonary embolism. She missed more than a year of tennis and hasn't won a Grand Slam since her return. She lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, in the final of the 2011 U.S. Open, in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open and in the first round of the French Open in May.

But 1999 Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport, who was considered one of the best servers of her generation, said it would be nearly impossible to beat a woman who serves 24 aces in a grass-court match.

And Davenport and Martina Hingis, who won seven Grand Slams, including one Wimbledon title, agreed on one thing: Radwanska's chances of beating Williams are "not great."

Williams said she was unaware during the match that she was dominating her service games. "I thought, 'Gosh, I've got to get more first serves in.' It really didn't feel like I hit 24 aces at all."

But she is happy about where she is doing her job now. During her career Williams has dabbled in clothing design and acting. She has had romantic relationships with rap stars. Now, she said, it is all about the tennis.

"I'm so happy to be on the court," she said. "I feel like this is where I belong. Maybe I don't belong in a relationship. Maybe I don't belong somewhere else. But I know for a fact I do belong on this tennis court."