Venus to take on Garbine in final

London: Five-time champion Venus Williams rolled back the years to reach her first Wimbledon final since 2009 with a clinically-executed 6-4, 6-2 victory over home hope Johanna Konta on Thursday.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza reached her second final in three years with a thumping 6-1 6-1 win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.

Konta was looking to become the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon final since Virginia Wade lifted the trophy in 1977, but she was picked off at crucial times by Williams, who claimed the last of her Wimbledon titles nine years ago.

Williams, who will face Garbine Muguruza in Saturday's final, broke in the 10th game to clinch the first set and then turned the screw on her sixth-seeded opponent, breaking twice more to wrap up the match.

Konta saved two match points before Williams crunched a forehand past the Briton and then twirled in celebration on Centre Court.

A visibly confident Muguruza needed just 64 minutes to beat the 87th-ranked Rybarikova, who had beaten third seed Karolina Pliskova and American Coco Vanderweghe on her unexpected run to the last four.

Muguruza, who lost to Serena Williams in the 2015 final, will face the winner of Thursday's other semi between Venus Williams and Britain's Johanna Konta.

The Spaniard was 3-0 up after just 10 minutes, her aggressive approach paying dividends against an opponent who looked nervous in what was the biggest game of her career to date.

"I think I stepped on the court super-confident and I played well," said Muguruza, who is being coached by Conchita Martinez, the only Spanish woman to win at the All England Club.