Serena gets another shot at Kerber in final

Serena Williams defeated Angelique Kerber for her third
title in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2014.
Photo by Tri Nguyen/TriNguyenPhotography.com

   Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber have combined to win four of the last five singles titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   They will meet on Saturday for the Wimbledon title in a rematch of this year's Australian Open final, in which Kerber stunned Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Saturday's showdown will air live on ESPN at 6 a.m. PDT and on tape delay at noon on ABC.
   The top-ranked Williams demolished unseeded Elena Vesnina, a 29-year-old Russian playing in her first Grand Slam singles semifinal, 6-2, 6-0 today in 48 minutes.
   Kerber, seeded fourth, then beat 36-year-old Venus Williams, seeded eighth, 6-4, 6-4 to prevent the first all-Williams Grand Slam final since Serena triumphed 7-6 (3), 6-2 at Wimbledon in 2009.

Angelique Kerber rejoices after beating Karolina Pliskova
to win last year's Bank of the West Classic. Photo by
Mal Taam

   Venus Williams won the last of her five Wimbledon singles titles in 2008 and announced in 2011 that she had Sjogren's Syndrome, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes fatigue.
   Serena Williams, 34, will try for the fourth time to tie the 28-year-old Kerber's fellow German and mentor, Steffi Graf, for second place with 22 career Grand Slam singles titles. Margaret Court has 24.
   Serena Williams is 5-2 against Kerber, including a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory for the 2014 Bank of the West championship. Williams also won the title in 2011 and 2012.
   Kerber, a left-hander, defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in last year's final at Stanford.
   Neither Serena Williams, Kerber nor Pliskova is entered in this year's Bank of the West Classic, July 18-24 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Heading the field, pending the addition of four wild cards, are No. 3-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 9 Venus Williams.