Serena Williams made light work of Barbora Strycova to reach the Wimbledon final and stand one win away from a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

The American was just too powerful for the Czech in a 6-1 6-2 win that set up a final against Romania’s Simona Halep.

Williams, chasing an eighth singles title here, dominated throughout against Strycova, who at 33 was the oldest Grand Slam semi-final debutant.

The American wrapped up victory with just 59 minutes on the clock.

More to follow.

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Two-time Paralympic bronze medallist Lucy Shuker has called on Wimbledon organisers to consider increasing the draw sizes for wheelchair tournaments.

Shuker, 39, is ranked world number nine but will not compete at SW19 after missing out on a wildcard.

Only the top seven plus a wildcard compete in the men’s and women’s wheelchair events, and top three plus a wildcard in the quads event.

“We have been shouting for it for a long time,” Shuker told BBC Sport.

“Wimbledon have been so supportive of wheelchair tennis in showcasing it on some of the show courts and putting it on TV, which is fantastic, but could they get behind it even more?

“They were the first to announce the inclusion of quads, and then Roland Garros announced it and now the quads are in all four Grand Slams.”

Shuker said she believes wheelchair tennis in the UK is the “best it has ever been” with a promising junior division emerging. However, she added that depth is not being rewarded with the opportunity to play at the Grand Slam tournaments.

“The depth has grown so much that players who could be competing at Grand Slams are missing out because we are confined to an eight-person draw,” she said.

“This, in the past, has been where you have had the previous year’s finalists drawn together in the first round, it could be world number one versus world number three, for example.

“For many players, it doesn’t seem fair. We deserve to have more players, more seedings and then it will become more representative of what the level of tennis is.”

Jordanne Whiley – Shuker’s partner when winning both her Paralympic doubles medals – was awarded the wildcard despite being ranked below Shuker at the entry deadline; she had usurped Shuker as British number one prior to the meeting to determine wildcard places.

Shuker said she agreed with the decision despite being “disappointed” not to be at Wimbledon for the first time in a decade.

• Whiley returns to Wimbledon after having son

‘It would be a positive step forward’

In comparison to the smaller Grand Slam draws, next year’s Paralympics in Tokyo will see a 56-strong draw in the men’s events, 32 in the women’s events, and 16 in the quads.

Tournaments at Masters level, Super Series level and lower all have bigger draws but the most ranking points are available at Grand Slams.

The Wheelchair Tennis Tour is managed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), although the size of Grand Slam draws is a matter for individual tournaments.

“It would be a real positive step forwards, it would potentially lead to more Brits playing next year, which is a Paralympic year,” added Shuker, who is vice chair on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Player Council.

“I appreciate the implications on prize money, courts and the number of players that would then be there, but I also believe they would be able to cope with it. I also think the level of tennis would deserve it.”

A Wimbledon spokesperson (AELTC) told BBC Sport it recognised the increasing popularity of the sport and following the purchase of Wimbledon Park Golf Club would have more room for more courts.

“We are in the early stages of developing a new AELTC Master Plan for the entire 120-acre site, and it is absolutely one of our priorities to consider how the increased space for additional courts could assist us in expanding the size of the wheelchair draws,” said the spokesperson.

A spokesperson for the ITF told BBC Sport: “The size of the draw at the Grand Slams is a matter for individual tournaments but we are open to discussion with the Grand Slams, our Player Council and other stakeholders.”

Shuker said there had been a rumour among players that the French Open was considering a 12-player draw for 2020.

However, when approached by BBC Sport, Roland Garros said it could “not confirm” Shuker’s comments, adding: “It is not the case for the moment.”

In his regular BBC Sport column, Andy Murray talks about hitting the gym as he tries to move closer to a singles return, what he enjoyed most about playing again at Wimbledon and the complicated world of setting up doubles ‘dates’.

Now my Wimbledon is over, my focus will switch to doing a lot of physical work over the next four to six weeks to improve the strength in my hip.

That means a lot of heavy weightlifting in the gym, which is a part of training that I don’t particularly enjoy doing.

During a hip resurfacing operation, where the head of the femur is capped by metal, a lot of muscles are severed and stitched back up so it takes a lot of time and needs hard physical work to recover properly.

That strength is not going to come back in just three or four months, it could take nine or 12 months.

I need to get those muscles back to a certain level before I can go on a singles court and try to play best of five sets, otherwise I could do damage if the strength isn’t there.

I’m happy to be pain free and want to get my hip as good as it can be, then once it is strong again I can get back to competing.

That means doing lots of lifting exercises with a hex bar and an Olympic bar – they are the type of barbells you see in the weightlifting areas of your local gym and used for dead lifts, squats and other strength-building exercises.

The Olympic bar weighs 20kg with weights on either side so I do a lot of work with those, but I don’t do loads of machine-based work.

Weightlifting is something which I find quite easy to do psychologically because you can either lift the weight or you can’t.

Cardiovascular training is different because if you’re not strong enough then you can stop and give up. That’s what I like about it, you have to push yourself to do better, run a little bit further or go a little bit faster.

If you’re not quite into it mentally then you’re not going to get as good a result so that side of training helps you improve psychologically too.

Last year, before I had the hip surgery, I went to Philadelphia to do some reconditioning work and there aren’t any plans to go there again.

But if I’m going to be here in London for a few months, then I will try to break it up a little bit and go somewhere, because it can be boring doing the rehab in the same place every day for a few months.

I was just glad to play Wimbledon after tough year

Of course I wanted to go further than the second round in the men’s doubles and the third round in the mixed, but considering how tough the past year has been, it was good to just get out there and play.

As I reflect on my return to Wimbledon, my overriding emotion is enjoyment.

I was practising here about six or seven weeks ago, hitting on the clay courts and not knowing if I’d be playing during the grass-court season or not.

They were starting to paint the lines on the court, prepare all the backdrops around the grounds and put all the hospitality tents up – it left me thinking how disappointed I would be if I had to miss the tournament again.

I was excited to be back playing here and, although I felt nerves and I felt pressure, it was not to the same degree as I usually would playing in the singles.

What I particularly enjoyed was being around the locker room and having that camaraderie with the other players and the support staff.

I know a lot of them really well having been on the tour together for years and it was great to be part of that again.

Doubles was fun – but finding a partner can be awkward!

Doubles is a competitive environment and the players want to win, obviously, but I found it is little more sociable because the players are chatting and interacting that bit more.

It was also interesting to learn how doubles works – when you’re trying to find partners it can get a little complicated!

I ended up playing with Pierre-Hugues Herbert after he decided not to play with Nicolas Mahut and in the mixed doubles I asked a few players, including Ashleigh Barty and Kristina Mladenovic, who said ‘no’.

When I mentioned I had been turned down by some people I started getting messages from a number of different players and then you wonder how you’re going to decide who to play with.

That was tricky but luckily I got to play with one of the all-time greats in Serena and it was an amazing experience.

Being part of a duo again was great because I’ve always enjoyed playing doubles.

I’ve had the opportunity to play a few matches with my brother Jamie in great atmospheres at the Davis Cup and people enjoy watching it.

It is a different set of skills to singles and the communication between the two players is so important.

You can never have a perfect partner but you need to complement each other’s games well and that is the secret to having a good team.

When I played with my brother, he is brilliant at the net and I set him up when I return. You need to work together which is not what I’m used to as a singles player.

I’ve enjoyed it a lot and could play more doubles in the future but ultimately my goal is returning to singles if I’m able to – and that’s my focus over the next few months.

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Unseeded Barbora Strycova says she will have no fear when she bids to halt Serena Williams’ charge towards an 11th Wimbledon singles final on Thursday.

The Czech, at 33 the oldest first-time Grand Slam women’s semi-finalist, takes on the seven-time champion after Simona Halep plays Elina Svitolina.

“Of course, I don’t have as much power as Serena, but I have other weapons,” said Strycova, who beat Briton Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals.

“I have really nothing to lose.”

Among Strycova’s arsenal is an effective serve-and-volley game, honed in a way that will be familiar to many who loved the tennis of previous generations of players.

“I was playing at home against the wall, against the house, so I was kind of like playing with it,” she said.

“I love to play volleys, especially on grass. It’s working very well. When I’m confident, I like to play a lot of balls from the net. It’s my territory.”

• Federer to play Nadal in semi-finals
• Murray & Williams’ mixed doubles run ends
• Meet the Briton coaching a Wimbledon semi-finalist

Williams ‘feeling good’ after injury-hit season

Strycova is, though, the overwhelming underdog against Williams, who is chasing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title and her first as a mother.

And, ominously, the American declared after her quarter-final victory over Alison Riske that she is feeling the best she has since January after being troubled by injury in recent months.

“This is the first time since Australia that I actually felt good,” said the 37-year-old, whose high-profile mixed doubles partnership with Andy Murray ended with a last-16 defeat on Wednesday.

“It’s been a really, really long year for me already, and hard year, because I’m usually not typically injured.

“I don’t know where I am. I do know I feel good. Now that I feel good, I can actually focus on training and technique and practice, something that I just literally haven’t been able to do a lot of.”

The pair have met three times before, with Williams winning every time including in the first round at Wimbledon in 2012.

But Strycova, who says her granddad took her to see the Wimbledon trophies in the museum as a two-year-old, is not dwelling on that record or Williams’ success here.

“When you go out there, you just focus on yourself and you focus how to beat that opponent, the way you want to beat her,” she said. “So I am not really scared to play her. I just really will try my best and I will fight as much as I can.”

Svitolina chasing first Grand Slam final

Ukrainian eighth seed Svitolina will be seeking to forget about the only other time she has met Halep, 27, at a Grand Slam.

The Romanian triumphed in three sets – taking the third 6-0 – in the French Open quarter-finals in 2017 with Svitolina having held match point in the second.

Svitolina, who is coached by Briton Andy Bettles, says a lot has changed since then.

“I think I’m a little bit different player now,” said the 24-year-old, who is appearing in her first Grand Slam semi-final after a major breakthrough last year when she won the prestigious end-of-season WTA Tour Finals.

“I’m playing free, I’m playing decent tennis. It’s the first time that we play in a semi-final, it’s going to be interesting for both of us.”

Halep, meanwhile, is banishing memories of her own, having lost her only other Wimbledon semi-final in straight sets to Eugenie Bouchard in 2014.

“I’m a different person,” said the 2018 French Open champion and former world number one.

“Everything changed. I have a lot of experience now. I’m more confident. I love grass – it’s first time that I have said that.

“I think it’s a big challenge for me, the next match. But I will take it like I took every match since I’m here. I’m relaxed. I’m happy. I’m motivated to win.

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