Williams sister reach semis alongwith Vesnin, Kerber in Wimbledon 2016: Day 8 As it happened

Bad day for Indian combinations as Rohan Bopanna crashes out of mixed doubles too. Bopanna and partner Rodionova lose 6-7, 3-6 to Cabal/Duque-Mariano

2117 hrs IST: We may be done with the singles action for the day but we’ve still got Rohan Bopanna to come in mixed doubles on Court 18. Hold on!

2101 hrs IST: Unreturnable serve and Vesnina is into the semis! Her maiden Grand Slam semis with a 6-2, 6-2 win

2101 hrs IST: Ace out wide and three match points!

2101 hrs IST: And now Cibulkova with an error to make it 30-0

2100 hrs IST: Talk about a start! Vesnina with a lovely backhand winner down the line. 15-0

2058 hrs IST: Cibulkova holds and puts the onus on Vesnina to serve it out for a maiden semi spot in a Grand Slam.

2056 hrs IST: Cibulkova’s forehand goes long and Vesnina holds. She leads 5-1 and alarm bells ringing for Cibulkova now

2055 hrs IST: You’ve got to love the sibling rivalry these two share

Serena on Venus’ win;

“They showed the score on court and I was like ‘yaaaay’. I want her to win so bad, but not in the final if I’m there”

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2016

2049 hrs IST: Cibulkova finally gets on the board in the second with an ace down the tee. Still 1-4 down though.

2048 hrs IST: A 10th semi-final for Serena then. And she is likely to face another Russian there – her third in a row.

2045 hrs IST: No problem now. Serena with an ace to seal semis berth 6-4, 6-4 vs Pavlyuchenkova

2044 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova with a deep backhand return, almost off the line and Serena can’t help but hit it into the net.

2044 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova sends serve long. 40-15 and two match points

2044 hrs IST: Double fault by Serena. 30-15

2043 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova sends her volley wide after a puttable backhand is hit straight at the World No 1 to return back and force another shot

2042 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova with a backhand into the net. Serena 15-0

2042 hrs IST: On the other court, Vesnina has raced off to a 3-0 lead over Cibulkova.

2041 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova with an error and that’s a crucial break of serve for Serena at opportune time. American to serve for the match at 5-4

2033 hrs IST: Pavlyuchenkova holds and she’s 4-3 up in the second. On serve there.

2027 hrs IST: Some Venus Williams love from Kim Clijsters and she deserves it!

My respect for @Venuseswilliams just keeps growing ! So happy to see her in the semi-finals again. 🎾👏🏻

— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) July 5, 2016

2022 hrs IST: Cibulkova’s return is into the net and Vesnina wins the first set 6-2.

2007 hrs IST: UPSET! Top seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig crash out in the second round to British pairing Neal Skupski and Anna Smith 6-4, 3-6, 5-7

2005 hrs IST: Serena wins the first set 6-4 vs Pavlyuchenkova

1945 hrs IST: Serena and Pavlyuchenkova are locked at 3-3 in the opening set. Semis spot at stake

1922 hrs IST: 36-year-old Venus Williams is up and roaring! She dumps Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5 6-2 in the quarter-finals and reach semi-final

“Never ever write off Venus Williams”

The five-time #Wimbledon champion is all smiles after beating Shvedova https://t.co/6G3xamhUSb

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 5 July 2016

1906 hrs IST: Venus Williams leads Shvedova 3-1 in the second set

1904 hrs IST: Elsewhere, Mirza-Dodig lose the second set 3-6 against Smith-Skupski. They won the first. We are into the decider now

1903 hrs IST: Angelique Kerber seals semis berth with 7-5 7(7)-6(2) win over Halep

1900 hrs IST: Kerber takes two crucial points at an important stage in the break to go 4-1 up

1857 hrs IST: Fine passing shot, and Halep’s impressive hold takes the second set into the tie-break

1854 hrs IST: Game, Ms Kerber! Halep, 5-6 down, serves for survival now

1850 hrs IST: The break follows the hold, and Halep fights back to make it 5-5 against Kerber

1846 hrs IST: Halep produces a break to keep her Wimbledon campaign alive. She’ll now serve at 4-5

1844 hrs IST: Kerber, at 5-3, is in complete control of the match. She will now serve for a place in the semis

1842 hrs IST: MARATHON! After one hour and three minutes, Venus takes 1st set 7(7)-6 (5) against Shvedova

1839 hrs IST: From 2-5 down, Venus fights back to make it 5-5 in the tie-break against Shvedova

1833 hrs IST: First set between Venus and Shvedova enters tie-break. Engaging battle between the two

1832 hrs IST: Kerber noses ahead of Halep with a clinical serving game. She’s up 3-2 now

1830 hrs IST: Poor miss! Kerber was perfectly positioned and all she had to do was place it in the court. It’s hit wide and Halep manages to hold serve. It’s 2-2

1829 hrs IST: Story of Halep’s serves so far. She is up advantage and serves two double faults to make it deuce

1826 hrs IST: Tomas Berdych beats Jiri Vesely 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-7 6-3 in marathon five-setter

1824 hrs IST: We are over 45 minutes in the 1st set between Venus and Shvedova, and it’s locked at 5-5

1823 hrs IST: Sania Mirza and her partner Ivan Dodig take the 1st set 6-4 vs Skupski-Smith

1820 hrs IST: And Halep with a hold – only her second of the match. It’s locked at 1-1 in the first set

1814 hrs IST: Halep needs to up her serving game to push Kerber in the second set. Both are matching each other with their shots, but it’s the serve which is making the difference

1812 hrs IST: Kerber seals the first set 7-5. A poor serving set for Halep who only held once

1809 hrs IST: Kerber continues to put pressure on Halep. A hold, and she finds herself a break away from pocketing the first set

1806 hrs IST: It comes late but Halep’s first hold makes it 5-5 in the 1st set against Kerber

1803 hrs IST: Elsewhere, Venus Williams trails Yaroslava Shvedova 2-3 in the opening set

1801 hrs IST: Kerber’s forehand is long and Halep produces a timely break to stay alive in the first set. It’s 5-4

1800 hrs IST: Halep’s search for first holding game continues as Kerber breaks her again to go 5-3 up

1755 hrs IST: Take that! Kerber has no answer to Halep’s angled return to her serve. She points at the line but decides against reviewing the line call. It still is 4-3 in her favour

1753 hrs IST: Kerber’s combination of powerful forehands and precise drops is testing Halep in the middle

1751 hrs IST: Game, Kerber! She breaks Halep again to go 4-2 up in the 1st set

1750 hrs IST: Kerber catches Halep by surprise with the drop shot which followed a powerful, angled, forehand which pushed Halep behind the baseline. Quality tennis!

1747 hrs IST: Halep with the break to make it 2-3 in the 1st set

1746 hrs IST: Kerber rushes to the net but her forehand, on the run, finds the net. Could have been another winner for her, from the net

1745 hrs IST: In the four games so far, there has been only one hold and three breaks. Both Kerber and Halep are playing out long, really long rallies

1744 hrs IST: Kerber holds her ground near the net and Halep’s passing shot is hit wide. It’s 3-1 in Kerber’s favour now

1742 hrs IST: Point of the tournament? Engaging rally and Kerber seals it as Halep’s shot finds the net

1739 hrs IST: Halep breaks back! The two exchange breaks very early in their quarters clash

1737 hrs IST: Kerber breaks Halep early in the 1st set to go 2-0 up. She’s using the angles well today

1732 hrs IST: And, a comfortable serving game for Kerber as she goes 1-0 up in 1st set

At 36, Venus Williams is the oldest ladies quarter-finalist @ the #Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova who was 37 in 1994 QFs#Wimbledon2016

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) 5 July 2016

1730 hrs IST: Venus, 36, starts her warm-up for the quarters clash against Yaroslava Shvedova

Welcome to Ladies’ quarter-finals day…

First up on Centre Court: Simona Halep v Angelique Kerber#Wimbledon https://t.co/ynm84GmiIK

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 5 July 2016

1728 hrs IST: If both Serena and Venus manage to win their next two matches, we can well have an all-Williams final

Are Venus and Serena on course for an all-Williams final? #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/IrIjtA9q3m

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 5 July 2016

1727 hrs IST: Halep and Kerber walk out to the middle for their quarters clash on Centre Court

1722 hrs IST: Almost match time! Venus vs Yaroslava Shvedova and Halep vs Kerber to get underway shortly

1720 hrs IST: It’s almost match time now. Two mouth-watering quarters clash lined up for the 17:30 start

1640 hrs IST: Euro fever grips the courts in London too. Here’s what a trio of tennis legends were up to, not on the field but on the court

A trio of tennis legends show off their #wimbleskills…

Can you do better? Get involved.#Wimbledonhttps://t.co/VPIubk2pWE

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 5 July 2016

1630 hrs IST: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova warms up ahead of her quarter-final against Serena Williams

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova warms up ahead of her first #Wimbledon quarter-final… https://t.co/PLa5e0swvQ

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 5 July 2016

The Build-up

Cibulkova wedding plans uncertain after win over Agnieszka Radwanska

Dominika Cibulkova is supposed to get married on Saturday but now she is planning to postpone the wedding. (Source: Reuters)

Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova may have to postpone her wedding on Saturday after reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon with a rip-roaring victory over third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Ruthless Simona Halep hits back to beat hobbling Madison Keys

Simona Halep will play Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the last eight.(Source: Reuters)

Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep recovered to beat an emotional and hobbling Madison Keys 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second time in her career on Monday.

Serena Williams powers into quarter-finals

Serena Williams defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova. (Source: Reuters)

Serena Williams overpowered Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the last eight at Wimbledon on Monday, keeping her bid to equal Steffi Graf’s professional-era record of grand slam titles on track.