Serena Williams wins with so much more than serving, of course.


Her groundstrokes are intimidating. Her superb speed and anticipation fuel unparalleled court-covering defense. Her returns are outstanding, too.


When that serve is on-target, though, it sure is something special. Lashing a tournament-record 24 aces at up to 120 mph, and doing plenty of other things well, too, four-time Wimbledon champion Williams overpowered No. 2-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-6 (6) Thursday to reach her seventh final at the All England Club.


On Saturday, the 30-year-old Williams will try to become the first woman at least that age to win a major tournament since Martina Navratilova, who was 33 when she won Wimbledon in 1990.


“The older I get, the better I serve, I feel,” Williams said. “I don’t know how it got better. I really don’t know. It’s not like I go home and I work on baskets and baskets of serves. Maybe it’s a natural shot for me.”


Her next opponent will be No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who reached her first Grand Slam final at age 23 by playing steady as can be during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 8 Angelique Kerber of Germany.


“After a couple of games, I just relaxed a little bit,” said Radwanska, who made only six unforced errors, one in the second set. “I was really focusing on every point.”


Williams won 20 of her 24 service points in the first set, including 17 in a row during one stretch. She didn’t double-fault once, a real accomplishment, given how often she went for corners and lines. She finished with a 45-14 edge in total winners.


“I honestly didn’t feel great on my serve today. I really didn’t,” said Williams, who went back on court later Thursday with older sister Venus to reach the doubles semifinals. “I thought my serve was off, and apparently – clearly – it wasn’t, so maybe I should be off a little more.”


And this performance didn’t come against a slouch: Azarenka won the Australian Open in January as part of a 26-0 start to this season, was playing in her third semifinal in the past five major tournaments, and would have returned to No. 1 in the rankings if she had managed to beat Williams.


That was not about to happen.


Not the way Williams is playing, five weeks after a stunning exit at the French Open, her only first-round loss in 48 Grand Slam appearances.


“I’ve been working so hard,” the sixth-seeded American said, “and I really, I really wanted it.”


She’s now one win away from a fifth Wimbledon championship, adding to those in 2002-03 and 2009-10, and 14th Grand Slam singles trophy overall – but first in two years. For her, that’s a long gap. Less than a week after her 2010 title, Williams cut her feet on glass at a restaurant, leading to a series of health problems, including being hospitalized for clots in her lungs, then the removal of a pocket of blood under the skin on her stomach.


Never before even a semifinalist at any Grand Slam tournament, Radwanska is the first Polish woman to make it to a major title match since Jadwiga Jedrzejowska lost three finals in the 1930s.


“I don’t really have anything to lose, so just going to try my best,” said Radwanska, the junior champion at Wimbledon in 2005, and the French Open in 2006.


Radwanska, whose younger sister Ursula is ranked 54th, will rise to No. 1 for the first time if she wins Saturday.


“If she will play like today,” Kerber said, “I think she has a good chance.”


Williams won their two previous encounters in straight sets, but they haven’t played each other since a quarterfinal four years ago at Wimbledon.


“She’s going to get every ball back,” Williams said, “so I’ve got to look forward to that.”


It’ll be a substantial contrast in styles: Williams’ out-and-out power against Radwanska’s precision.


“I have every reason to believe she’ll win,” Richard Williams said about his daughter.


There’s no doubt who is favored, especially if Williams keeps serving the way she has been. The 24 aces that eluded the considerable wing span of the 6-foot Azarenka broke the tournament record of 23 in a match that Williams herself set last week in a three-set, third-round victory over 25th-seeded Zheng Jie.


She’s also up to 81 aces through six matches, eight shy of the tournament record she set in 2010.


It took until the second set for Azarenka to get the measure of Williams’ serves, and even then, she did so only briefly.


“I don’t see anybody else serving like this on the tour,” Azarenka said.


After some trying times, Williams is back at her best.


“I’m just happy. I’m so happy to be playing. I’m so happy to be on the court,” Williams said. “I feel like this is where I belong.”