Venus Williams Moves Towards First Title at Key Biscayne

By ESPN

Venus Williams whacked a winner on her fifth match point, then spun and threw a celebratory fist toward her father, who watched from the front row while munching popcorn.

The taste of victory never gets old.

Williams and her dad have been coming together to Key Biscayne for 20 years, and she moved a step closer to her first title in the event since 2001 by beating top-ranked Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday night in the Miami Open quarterfinals.

It was Williams' 15th career win against a No. 1 player, but her first since 2014.

The tournament was once known as the Williams Open because of the way Venus and sister Serena dominated. Now Venus, seeded 11th and 36 years old, is in the semifinals for the first time in seven years.

Serena, an eight-time Key Biscayne champion, is out this time around with a knee injury. But their father and coach, Richard, is attending a tournament for the first time in nearly a year after battling health issues.

He watched the quarterfinal in the photo pit along the baseline.

"My dad is one of the loves of my life and the reason I'm here in this game," Venus told the fans, who responded with cheers.

Later she added, "He has always loved popcorn. We always ate popcorn together when I was a child. That's a great childhood memory."

Venus said she could hear her father on the sidelines.

"He really wanted it for me. So it's a happy moment when you come off the court," she said. "Even if I lose, he's still very happy. But to see the joy and the pride and the excitement, I could win the match just for that."

She also addressed Richard Williams' comments a while back that he hadn't anticipated her playing much beyond her mid-20s.

"I feel that his greatest accomplishment was for Serena and I to be whole people and to not be statistics," she said. "He just wanted us to not see tennis as the whole thing in our life.

"At this point, I think he never wants us to retire, so it's a joy for him to see us out here."

Venus' opponent Thursday night will be No. 10 Johanna Konta, who became the first British woman to reach a semifinal at Key Biscayne by beating No. 3 Simona Halep 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2.

"She's living the dream," Williams said. "I've got a dream, too."

No. 2 Karolina Pliskova will play No. 12 Caroline Wozniacki in the other semifinal.