Garbine sets up Serena date

Sharapova falls to her nemesis once again; Radwanska ousted

Garbine Muguruza became the first Spanish woman in 19 years to reach the Wimbledon final on Thursday with a rollercoaster 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario was the last Spanish woman to make the final at the All England Club while Conchita Martinez was the last champion in 1994.

Muguruza had to endure some nervy moments before she secured her maiden Grand Slam final spot, seeing a 3-1 lead in the second disappear against the three-time semifinalist. Muguruza, who has only one tour title to her name, then took victory with a power-packed flowing forehand, her 39th winner of the contest.

Muguruza said she was hoping for the best when the shot which took her to match point was called out — possibly by a member of Radwanska's team in the player's box.

The Spanish player had knocked out fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki and 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber to make the last four. That battle-hardeed edge shone through on Centre Court as the 6ft (1.83m) Muguruza unleashed 12 winners to Radwanska's four in the opening set.

Two breaks of serve in the first and fifth games gave her the opener in just 33 minutes with the Pole only managing to claim four points of the Spaniard's serve.

Muguruza broke again in the opening game of the second set and it wasn't until the sixth game that the 26-year-old Radwanska carved out and converted a first break point to level at 3-3. Radwanska then raced through the second set, having collected five games on the trot.

That became six on the bounce with a break in the first game of the decider before the Spaniard stopped the rot with a break back for 1-1.

In a tense conclusion, Muguruza broke for 4-2, rediscovering the raw power of her earlier dominance and survived being called for two foot faults in the closing stages before she secured a famous win. 

Serena in cruise mode

Serena Williams, meanwhile, powered into her eighth Wimbledon final as the world number one maintained her 11-year mastery of Maria Sharapova with a 6-2, 6-4 demolition.

Williams took just 79 minutes to blitz Sharapova off Centre Court with 13 aces and 29 winners as the five-time Wimbledon champion secured her 18th career win in 20 meetings with her bitter rival.

Sharapova struggled to even get her service action right in the first game of the match. With her ball toss causing problems, the Russian served three double faults to hand Williams a crucial early break.

The American hardly needed the gift, but she gratefully accepted it anyway, turning to her lethal serve to batter down a succession of aces and establish a 3-1 lead.

Sharapova still hadn't shaken off the nerves on her serve and Serena made her pay in the fifth game, reading the Russian's deliveries perfectly and punishing them with ground-strokes too deep and powerful to stop.

The five-time Grand Slam champion seemed to meekly accept her fate and the usually demonstrative Serena, who muscled her way to the decisive break in the fifth game of the second set, was tested so little that she barely bothered to celebrate once the job was done.