Venus through to final

Venus Williams swept into her sixth Wimbledon singles final on sunny Centre Court today with a 6-2 6-4 victory over gutsy sixth seed Ana Ivanovic.

Williams ultimately proved too powerful for her opponent, who rallied in the second set to at least provide the crowd with some moments to savour.

Just as she had her in quarter-final match yesterday, Ivanovic started nervously and found herself 4-0 down before either player had broken sweat.

She saved seven break points to avoid dropping 5-0 down and face the embarrassment of losing a semi-final set to love, but Williams served out to take the advantage.

There seemed few signs early in the second set of an Ivanovic revival, in particular when Williams broke for a 2-1 lead and effectively wrapped up the match.

But much to the delight of a crowd who clearly made Ivanovic their favourite, she blasted straight back, a stunning forehand down the line earning her a break straight back.

But Williams is made of stern enough stuff not to fold in the same way as Nicole Vaidisova, against whom Ivanovic fought back from an identical position to claim her last four place.

Instead Williams broke again, and after squandering three match points on the Ivanovic serve, calmly served out to book her place in yet another Centre Court showpiece.