Wimbledon 2015: Serena Williams advances to semis after beating Victoria Azarenka

Serena Williams’ latest Grand Slam match against Victoria Azarenka ended the same way as the previous nine – with Williams walking off as the winner.

The top-ranked Williams fought back from a set down Tuesday to beat Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Center Court to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and keep her bid alive for a fourth straight major title – a “Serena Slam.”

Coming up with big serves when she needed them and getting stronger as the match wore on, Williams put on a dominant performance in the final two sets, winning seven straight games at one stretch, to run her Grand Slam winning streak to 26 matches.

“It’s been up and down, up and down, but somehow I’m still alive,” Williams said. “I don’t know how. I’m just happy to be still here.”

Williams hit 17 aces, including three in each of her final two service games, to extend her career record against Azarenka to 17-3, including 10-0 in Grand Slam play.

“It was really fun out there,” Williams said. “I found myself smiling at one point, and I saw Victoria smiling as well. It’s such a great atmosphere to be out here and playing and doing the best that we can. I think we both really enjoyed it.”

It’s the first time Williams has reached the Wimbledon semifinals since 2012, when she won the last of her five titles at the All England Club.

Williams’ next opponent will be Maria Sharapova, who beat unseeded American CoCo Vandeweghe in three sets. Williams holds a career 17-2 advantage against the Russian, including 16 wins in a row.

Williams lost to Sharapova in the 2004 Wimbledon final, when the Russian won her first Grand Slam title at the age of 17. The last time they met at Wimbledon, Williams won in straight sets in the fourth round in 2010.

“We haven’t played each other at Wimbledon in a while but I look forward to it,” Williams said. ” I just really don’t have anything to lose.”

Williams is two wins away from winning her fourth consecutive major tournament, which would match the non-calendar Slam she last achieved in 2002-03. A victory in the U.S. Open would then be left to complete a true Grand Slam, which hasn’t been accomplished since Steffi Graf won all four in the same year in 1988.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press