FIVE TIME CHAMPION Venus Williams became the oldest Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 23 years today with an hour-long cruise against 19-year-old Ana Konjuh.
Granted showcourt billing while world number one Angelique Kerber was losing to Garbine Muguruza on court two, Williams didn’t hang around as she took just 64 minutes to see off the Croatian 6-3, 6-2.
Williams made her Grand Slam debut at the 1997 French Open, seven months before Konjuh was born. And at 37 years and 29 days, Venus is Wimbledon’s oldest female quarter-finalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
Seven-time major winner Venus, who clinched the last of her Wimbledon titles in 2008, will hope to emulate Navratilova, who went on to reach the final 23 years ago.
Williams plays French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the semi-finals.
Ostapenko advanced to her first Wimbledon quarter-final after finally converting her eighth match point to defeat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (8/6). The Latvian 13th seed had earlier squandered seven match points in the second set before eventually seeing off the Ukrainian world number five to make just her second last eight appearance at a major.
The 20-year-old’s triumph in Paris last month made her only the third player born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam.
British number one Johanna Konta became her nation’s first female quarter-finalist at Wimbledon since 1984 with a hard fought 7 – 6, 4 – 6, 6 – 4 win over Caroline Garcia.
Konta will now face Simona Halep in the last eight after the number two seed eased past Victoria Azarenka in two sets.
Over on court two, Angelique Kerber crashed out of Wimbledon and lost her hold on the world number one ranking, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Spanish 14th seed Garbine Muguruza as the German’s fourth round exit extended a miserable run for last year’s Wimbledon runner-up.
The 29-year-old, who lost to Serena Williams in the final 12 months ago, has failed to make the last eight at any of this year’s three Grand Slams.
Kerber had taken the top ranking from Serena in March, but her Wimbledon defeat leaves her with a dismal 0-9 record against top 20 opponents in 2017. She will be replaced at number one by either Karolina Pliskova or Simona Halep.
Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up, goes on to play Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the semi-finals.
With only two women’s matches scheduled for Wimbledon’s two main show-courts on Monday, Kerber was exiled to the less grand Court Two. It was a decision that brought criticism for Wimbledon chiefs and Kerber was visibly frustrated by the state of surface after she slipped on several barren patches of grass on the baseline.
Despite her complaints, Kerber managed to take the first set, but Muguruza hit her stride as she took the second.
Kerber twice led by a break in the final set, but couldn’t close out the victory as Muguruza showed she has been absorbing the lessons of her coach Conchita Martinez, the only Spanish woman to win Wimbledon back in 1994.
Kuznetsova reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final in 10 years with 37 winners on the way to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Polish ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska. The 32-year-old has never made it to the Wimbledon semi-finals and last reached that stage at a Grand Slam in the 2009 French Open.
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