Serena Williams battered Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4 at Wimbledon on Tuesday to join sister Venus in the semi-finals and admited she was surprised and delighted the pair were still competing at the top of their sport.
The defending champion, seeking an elusive 22nd grand slam to equal Steffi Graf's open-era record, showed no sign of slowing down against 25-year-old Russian Pavlyuchenkova as they exchanged explosive groundstrokes.
Although Venus, 36, and Serena, 34, are the oldest women in the women's singles, the latter said they did not discuss retirement. They would know when the time came.
"I'm surprised at the longevity of it. That definitely took me by surprise," Serena said after the sisters also completed a 6-4 6-3 doubles victory over Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka following their singles matches.
"When you're younger and you have a dream and you say it and you believe it, that's one thing. But for it to really happen and to come true, it's just a completely different emotion."
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Serena's experience showed on Centre Court against Pavlyuchenkova, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at a grand slam.
The American simply bided her time until she was able to seize on moments of weakness from the Russian to ram home her advantage.
