London, July 11 (IANS) Seven-time winner Serena Williams breezed past Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-2 to enter the Wimbledon final here on Thursday. Williams, who turns 38 in September, needed only 59 minutes to wrap up the contest.

The American has now become the oldest Grand Slam finalist in the Open era. She will fight for her 24th Grand Slam singles title against seventh seed Romanian Simona Halep, who beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 in the first semifinal, Xinhua news reports.

Williams, who won her first Wimbledon title in 2002, will be playing her 11th final at the grass court Grand Slam. She had lost three previously, including last year's defeat to Germany's Angelique Kerber.

Halep, the French Open champion in 2018, entered the final at a Grand Slam event for the fifth time. Her previous best at the Wimbledon is a last-four finish in 2014.

--IANS rkm/arm