Venus Williams defied age and a passionate home crowd as she powered to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Britain’s Johanna Konta. She will now face Garbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final after the Spaniard thrashed Magdalena Rybarikova’s 6-1 6-1.

Venus, 37, found a high level of tennis straight away, serving powerfully and accurately and hitting her groundstrokes deep into the court. But Konta matched her for eight games as they each held serve comfortably to make the score 4-4. The Brit also hit some superb winners in that period, including two excellent cross-court forehands in game two. However, she was not the only one producing eye-catching shots as the American came up with a superb forehand pass and an equally good backhand return winner.

The home crowd dared to dream when Konta had the first break points of the match in game nine. She earned them by hitting an excellent forehand winner down the line after Venus double-faulted and missed an easy volley to make it 15-30. But the American seemed totally unfazed by this development as she cracked a backhand cross-court winner, then powered down an unreturnable serve to save the break points. She then hit a forehand winner into the corner to earn game point, and Konta made an unforced error to end it. Those two break points would turn out to be the only ones the Brit would have in the entire match.

After missing her chance to break, Konta played an appalling game as she made four unforced errors to hand Venus the break and the set 6-4. It proved to be the beginning of the end for the Brit as her American opponent stepped up a gear in set two. First, Venus hit two forehand winners during a love hold in game one. Then, in game four, she produced a brilliant backhand down the line which forced an error from Konta and earned her a break and a 3-1 lead.

The Brit served well and hit a couple of excellent backhands to hold in game six, but she was unable to do the same in game eight. She hit an ace and a forehand winner, along with a couple of errors, on the way to deuce, then made a sloppy unforced error on her forehand side to gift Venus her first match point. The American missed a relatively easy forehand and looked as if she could barely believe she had made the error. But she got a second match point after another forehand error from Konta, and this time she took it with a superb forehand passing shot.

Venus said, “This year has been amazing in terms of my play, going deep into the big events. I'm excited about being in another final and I will try to take it a step further.” She continued, “I feel very focused. There's still a lot to be done. I have one more match that I'd like to be the winner of, so I have to go out there and play well. But I like to take courage from the fact that I've been playing well this tournament and this year, and all these moments have led to this.”

Sister Serena took on Muguruza in the 2015 final, and Venus is keen to talk to her before she faces the Spaniard. She said, “I definitely will ask her. I'm sure she's going to give me hopefully some things that will make a difference for me in the match.” She continued, “I miss her so much, and even more yesterday and today. I try to take the same courage on the court that she would have and do the things she would do. I don't know that I play exactly the same way she does. But I really try to be inspired by it.”

Reflecting on the match, Konta said, “(Venus) did what she does well. She dictated the match from the very first ball till the very last. She showed her true qualities and that’s why she's a five-time champion here.” She continued, “It was very difficult for me to get a good foothold in the match. The few opportunities that I did get, she did incredibly well to take them away from me. I don't think I did too much wrong out there, so all credit to her.”

The Brit also commented on the support she has received at Wimbledon 2017. She said, “It's incredibly humbling. It's something that is greater than me and my focus on my match and performance and trying to improve. It brings it slightly out of context and makes me realize how special that is and how much people enjoy being a part of my journey.”

Konta is encouraged by her performances. She said, “I think I was in with just as much of a shot of winning this tournament (as Venus), but today she played better than me. I definitely have a lot more to improve on. There's a lot of exciting things that I can still get better at, which is exciting for me and for my team, and my own development. But I definitely feel like there's no reason why I would not be able to be in a position to win a title like this one day.”

The Brit also described the considerable challenge Muguruza will be up against when she plays Venus in Saturday’s final. She said, “(Venus) looks to dictate from the very first ball. When she puts herself in a position to do that, she plays with a lot of depth and a lot of speed, and you don't get much of a chance to get a grip on the points. So, when she is on the offensive, that's where she's at her best. If she makes it difficult for you to dictate, then you are often at her mercy.”