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Serena Williams cruises into Wimbledon final, still won't talk about 'Serena Slam'

Serena Williams has now beaten Maria Sharapova in 17 straight matches. (AP)
Serena Williams has now beaten Maria Sharapova in 17 straight matches. (AP)

Serena Williams will play for the Serena Slam on Saturday. The five-time Wimbledon champion cruised past No. 4 Maria Sharapova in an uneventful semifinal match, 6-2, 6-4.

The crowd at the All England Club seemed subdued throughout the match, almost as though the fans felt sorry for Sharapova as they watched the 2004 champion struggle. They finally started to show some life as Sharapova clawed her way back into the second set.

With Williams serving at 4-3, Sharapova built a 0-30 lead. Would she finally break? Would Williams let her into the match? No. Not this time. Williams was in too much of a rhythm. She quickly closed out the game and built a seemingly insurmountable 5-3 lead.

Her strong serve overpowered Sharapova throughout the match, while Williams took full advantage of Sharapova’s weak second serve. With Sharapova serving to stay alive at 3-5, Williams forced match point but failed to convert. Sharapova held to stay in the match, but that would be it for her.

Williams made a final statement at 5-4, serving three powerful aces before closing the match with another strong, unreturned serve.

“I think she played really well and when she stepped up her game I was able to step up mine as well,” Williams said after the match. “I’m really excited. I was a bundle of nerves out there. Semifinals at Wimbledon, it’s been a long time since I was this far here.

Williams has now beaten Sharapova 17 times in a row, dating back to 2004. The win puts her into her 25th Grand Slam final and opens the door to winning her second “Serena Slam,” having won last year’s U.S. Open (the last major of the year), and the first two majors of 2015.

Serena held all four majors at one time after winning the Australian Open in 2003.

As the BBC reporter attempted to ask about the Serena Slam, Williams once again held her hand to her throat and laughed at him, as she has every time a reporter mentions the feat.

To do it, Williams will have to defeat 21-year-old Garbine Muguruza, who will be playing in her first major final. Muguruza advanced with a three-set win over No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska earlier Thursday.

Williams didn’t answer the question, but it’s the only one on anyone’s mind. She’s already been tested tremendously in the past two weeks. She’s playing the best she’s played all year, leaving little doubt that she’s going to claim that 21st major title on Saturday.

Then again, Muguruza has already knocked Williams out of a major once before, doing so in the second round at the 2014 French Open. And it’s hardly unheard of for a newcomer to defeat Williams in the final at the All England Club: who can forget Sharapova doing exactly that in 2004, when she was only 17 years old? That was 11 years ago. Saturday, Muguruza will try to do it again.

“It’s great for her, it’s great for me. She actually beat me before, so she made me improve,” Williams said of Muguruza. “She has me on my toes...it’s not going to be an easy match.”

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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Find her onTwitter and Facebook.