Six-time champion Serena Williams reached her 10th Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The 34-year-old world No 1’s win sets up the enticing prospect of a final showdown with sister Venus, a five-time champion who is also through to the last four.
Serena, who is bidding for a record-equalling Open era 22nd grand slam title, goes on to face Russian world No 50 Elena Vesnina, who defeated Slovak 19th seed Dominika Cibulkova, for a place in Saturday’s title match.
Venus, 36, made the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 earlier Tuesday by beating Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
“They showed Venus’ score on court and I was like ‘yaaaay’. I want her to win so bad, but not in the final if I’m there,” said defending champion Serena who took her grand slam match win record to 302 – four behind Martina Navratilova’s all-time mark.
It is the 11th time that the sisters have advanced to the semi-final of the same grand slam event.
Serena took a 5-0 career lead over Russian 21st seed Pavlyuchenkova into Tuesday’s match, having not dropped a set to her opponent since their first meeting in 2010.
But the match was decided in the ninth game of both sets with Williams carving out the only breaks of the match against Pavlyuchenkova, playing in her first Wimbledon quarter-final.
The American finished the match with an 11th ace.
“It was good. I am excited to be able to win and get through, it felt really good,” she said before heading off to play doubles with her sister.
“I am just trying to win my match. I knew I had a tough opponent and one thing I have learnt this year is just to focus on the match.”
On the potential of an all-Williams final, Serena refused to get too far ahead of herself even though she has a 4-0 winning record over Vesnina.
“We don’t really talk too much about it but we are playing doubles later so we are just happy to be in the semi-finals,” she said.
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ARGYLLE
Honeymoonish
Most%20polluted%20cities%20in%20the%20Middle%20East
MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
Zayed Sustainability Prize
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
57%20Seconds
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
Teaching in coronavirus times
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The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Tomorrow 2021
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RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
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Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
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Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
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Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
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International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
25%20Days%20to%20Aden
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
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Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
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Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
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Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Kill%20
Combating coronavirus
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Dubai Bling season three
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')
Manchester City 0
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THE LIGHT
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Rating: 3/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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