By Ashley Marshall, USTA.com
Day 8 at Wimbledon was a celebration of American siblings, and neither the brothers nor sisters representing the red, white and blue disappointed on the grass of the English capital.
Serena and Venus Williams remained on track for their finals collision course after each won their respective quarterfinal singles matchup. Afterward, they teamed up to book their place in the last eight of the women’s doubles.
Not to be outdone, Mike and Bob Bryan then kept the American flag flying high in the men’s doubles, punching their ticket to the quarters and capping a strong day for Team USA in London.
Serena got things started for the U.S. with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Centre Court.
Two wins away from securing her seventh Wimbledon title, the 34-year-old defending champion blitzed past the Russian, landing 11 aces and winning all but four points on her first serve. The world No. 1 recorded 29 winners to Pavlyuchenkova’s 16 and never faced a break point despite making more than twice as many unforced errors (19) as her opponent (nine).
Pavlyuchenkova certainly did not play badly, but as she has done so many times before, Serena found a way to win the important points. She broke once in each set, both times with Pavlyuchenkova serving at 4-4, before serving out first the set and then the match at the next opportunities.
Across the grounds on Court No. 1, big sister and No. 8 seed Venus was keeping up her end of the Williams sisters’ double act, dispatching Yaroslava Shvedova, 7-6(5), 6-2, in one hour and 42 minutes.
Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion herself, turned back the clock to book her place in the final four of a major for the first time since 2010, when she made the semifinals of the US Open. The 36-year-old played with controlled aggression, absorbing Shevedova’s biggest blows and relying on experience to let the first-time quarterfinalist punch herself out
The last time Venus made a run to the semis at Wimbledon came in 2009 when, as the two-time defending champion, she reached the final only to see her bid for a three-peat halted by Serena.
The sisters are now one win away from meeting for the 28th time overall, the 15th time at a Grand Slam and the ninth time in a Slam final. Serena owns the head-to-head advantage, 16-11, with seven wins in the past eight encounters and a 4-2 record at Wimbledon.
Serena will play unlikely semifinalist Elena Vesnina of Russia and Venus will match up against No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber in Thursday's semifinals. But regardless of the outcomes, the sisters (pictured above) could still walk away with silverware. They toppled No. 6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 6-3, in the women’s doubles third round and will now play fourth-seeded Russian duo of Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals.
While the Williams sisters are searching for their sixth Wimbledon doubles title together, their 14th as a tandem, the Bryan brothers are scaling even greater heights.
Mike and Bob Bryan are playing for their fourth Wimbledon doubles crown together and their 17th as a pair. The No. 2 mens’ seeds reached the quarterfinals or later at Wimbledon for the 12th consecutive year with a 7-5, 6-7(10), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Radek Stepanek and Nenad Zimonjic. They will now play fellow American Rajeev Ram and partner Raven Klaasen of South Africa for a spot in the semifinals.