Serena thrashes Vesnina to reach Wimbledon final

WIMBLEDON - Serena Williams thrashed unseeded Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-0 to reach a ninth Wimbledon final on Thursday. The top seed and defending champion was totally dominant from the outset, sealing victory against the world number 50 in 49 minutes on a sunny Centre Court. She could face sister Venus for the ninth time in a grand slam final if her elder sibling defeats Germany's Angelique Kerber in the day's second semi-final. "It's never easy out there and every point you have to fight for," the 34-year-old, who lost three points on serve, said in a courtside interview. "It's weird, I can't believe I'm in the finals again. I'm zero and two for (grand slam finals) this year so I want to get at least one." Victory on Saturday would see the world number one draw level with Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 grand slam titles. -Reuters