Serena Williams reached her fourth Wimbledon final and her third against her sister Venus after wrestling aside the plucky challenge of China's Zheng Jie 6-2 7-6 (7/5) on Centre Court.

Williams produced another performance bristling with accuracy and intensity to fight past Zheng, the world number 133 who had already made history as the first player from her country to reach a grand slam semi-final.

And Williams will now get the chance to make it a hat-trick of Wimbledon victories in a family affair, having got the better of Venus in their two previous finals in 2002 and 2003.

Zheng had her moments, not least the searing backhand return winner which gave her a break for a 4-2 lead in the second set, and the fine return which fashioned a second set point at 6-5 on the Williams serve.

But Williams showed the heart of champion to battle through the problems posed by Zheng, holding her nerve as the Chinese girl battled back in the tie-breaker and ultimately progressing on an unfortunate Zheng double-fault.

For so long it had looked like the rain rather than the Chinese challenge which would detain Williams for so long, who served out through one interruption to take a painfully one-sided first set. But the second was a different story, as Zheng began with a competent service game and her athletic approach began to delight the crowd, who were desperate to see some semblance of a contest.

Zheng responded, a fine smash securing her first break point on the Williams serve at 3-2, and a searing backhand return giving her the break her increasingly adventurous play richly deserved. The break only served to wake up Williams, who immediately responded by breaking Zheng back to 15, but Zheng proved anything but intimidated.

The Chinese girl was on the point of serving out for a 6-5 lead in the set, with a 40-30 advantage, when a sudden downpour made finishing the game impossible and necessitated a second rain break.

When they returned Zheng saved two break points before closing out her crucial service game, then fashioned her set point on the Williams serve, wasting her opportunity by slamming a backhand return into the top of the net.

Williams held to force the tie-break, seizing control early with a succession of big serves and eventually seeing off the commendable spirit of her opponent, who double-faulted for a 6-2 7-6 (7/5) win.