Wimbledon 2016: Results, Highlights, Tuesday Scores Recap from London

Top seed and defending champion Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams both advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships with victories Tuesday, leaving them one win apiece from a showdown in Saturday's title match. 

The Williams sisters will be joined in the penultimate round by No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber and surprise semifinalist Elena Vesnina. Tuesday also saw the conclusion of the men's round of 16 as Tomas Berdych punched his ticket to the quarterfinals.

Let's check out a complete set of scores from Day 8 at the All England Club. That's followed by a recap of the day's top storylines as the season's third major begins to near its conclusion.

Tuesday's Singles Results

Round	Result	Score
Women's QF	(1) Serena Williams d. (21) Ana Pavlyuchenkova	6-4, 6-4
Women's QF	(4) Angelique Kerber d. (5) Simona Halep	7-5, 7-6
Women's QF	(8) Venus Williams d. Yaroslava Shvedova	7-6, 6-2
Women's QF	Elena Vesnina d. (19) Dominika Cibulkova	6-2, 6-2
Men's 4th	(10) Tomas Berdych d. Jiri Vesely	4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3

Day 8 Recap

For quite a while, it appeared the days of the Williams sisters battling for major titles were a thing of the past. While Venus never stopped fighting despite health issues, she hadn't reached a Grand Slam semifinal since 2010, reaching the quarterfinals just twice in her previous 19 major appearances.

It makes her current journey at Wimbledon all the more impressive. The elder Williams sister looks rejuvenated at the age of 36. She played smart, efficient tennis to eliminate Yaroslava Shvedova in the quarters with 15 winners and just 12 unforced errors.

Afterward, she joked about how good it feels to reach this stage of a marquee event, even though it's merely routine for her sister, per Greg Garber of ESPN:

"

I love playing the game. I always have. Of course, winning matches it makes it much sweeter. The wins and the losses always lead to these big moments, unless you're Serena Williams. But as Venus Williams, this is an awesome day.

"

Meanwhile, Serena continued her recent run of terrific play with a straight-sets triumph over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The top-ranked player in the world began the tournament a bit sluggishly, but she's established herself as the clear favorite once again over the past few rounds.

Pavlyuchenkova actually played quite well in the loss. She tallied 16 winners with only nine unforced errors, but she simply didn't have a consistent answer for the American's power. Williams had 29 winners and 11 aces in the win.

ESPN Stats and Info provided the details from past Wimbledon tournaments when both Williams sisters reach the semifinals:

They have some work to do before one of them potentially claims another title, though. Serena faces the easier matchup on paper as she goes up against Vesnina, who came into the event unseeded and is currently ranked No. 50 in the world.

The unheralded Russian looked like a legitimate title contender in the quarterfinals, though. She had 22 winners and created 13 break-point opportunities while facing none on her own serve against Dominika Cibulkova, who had previously knocked out Eugenie Bouchard and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Wimbledon highlighted the moment she clinched her first berth in a Grand Slam singles semifinal:

Of course, it's going to take the performance of a lifetime to pull off an upset of Serena. Williams has won all four of their previous meetings without losing more than four games in any set.

Kerber, meanwhile, represents a tough matchup for Venus because of her power off both wings. It's likely going to give her a fair amount of looks on the five-time champion's serve. Williams will need to do a much better job on those key points than Halep did, with Kerber converting seven of her 11 break chances.

That success on the return is one of the main reasons Kerber is gaining confidence, as relayed by Alan Tyers of the Telegraph:

"

I think we are both really good returners. Tough to play against Simona, she moves so good and she is always fighting. I think this is the best I have played, I am feeling so good.

"

Ultimately, Serena will be the heavy favorite in her semifinal, but the matchup between Venus and Kerber is a toss-up. Expect plenty of twists and turns, and probably a third set, before a winner emerges.

On the men's side, Berdych and Jirí Vesely had to return Tuesday after being unable to finish their five-set marathon during "Manic Monday." The fifth set didn't feature nearly as much drama as yesterday's first four as the 10th seed earned three breaks to cruise to the finish line.

Now he'll need to turn the page quickly with the quarterfinals set for Wednesday. His no-frills approach spotlighted by the ATP World Tour should make that easier:

"

I'm going to try to stick with my game, try to play with what I know the best, try to dictate. That's it. I mean, there are not many secrets behind it. Just being very focused from the first point till the last.

"

Looking ahead, Berdych will take on Lucas Pouille in the next round. He's a long shot to make the final from the bottom half of the draw, which also features Andy Murray. The 2013 champion is slated to take on the always entertaining Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his quarterfinal.

The other half of the bracket was blown wide open by the early exit of Novak Djokovic. Sam Querrey, who knocked off the top seed in Round 3, will look to pull off another massive upset against Milos Raonic. The winner of that match will take on either Roger Federer or Marin Cilic.

It's a strong group of quarterfinal matches that will likely see at least one upset. Pouille and Querrey are the players with the best chance to pull it off.

All match statistics courtesy of the tournament's official site.