Five time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams eliminated the last home hope yesterday but then predicted that beaten opponent Johanna Konta will become a winner on the big stage.

Konta’s form throughout the tournament had raised hopes that even following defending men’s champion Andy Murray’s exit in the quarter-final there could be British glory at the spiritual home of tennis.

Williams ended that, the 37-year-old rolling back the years in her bid to ensure that her family’s domination of the tournament continues as she seeks to reclaim the title won by sister Serena for a seventh time last year.

However she was full of praise for the way Konta, who had only won one previous match at Wimbledon before her run to this year’s semi-finals, had handled herself under the pressure of expectation from the home support.

“She played an amazing tournament,” said Williams.

“She showed a lot of courage, played in tough situations against players who were in form.”

And she suggested that she has seen more than enough to suggest that the 26-year-old can go further in future.

“I feel like she wants these majors… she'll have an opportunity,” Williams reckoned.

“She's played some amazing matches against me, as well. They were all well-contested and today was, too.”

Konta admitted that she had been dictated to in the course of a 73 minute in which she was beaten 6-4, 6-2 and paid a tongue in cheek tribute to her opponent’s longevity with Williams having reached her ninth Wimbledon final 17 years after winning the tournament for the first time.

“This was my second Grand Slam semi-final, it was her 202nd, I bet, so she definitely came into the match with a lot more experience than I did,” she said with a chuckle.

“But in terms of how comfortable I felt out there and how focused I was on what I wanted to try and achieve out there, I felt really comfortable. I felt good in that. In terms of that, I'm definitely happy with how I dealt with today.”

There was clearly no shortage of self-belief as she assessed her prospects on the back of a second Grand Slam semi-final appearance, having reached the same stage at the Australian Open last year.

“Quite honestly, I think I was in with just as much of a shot of winning this tournament here,” she claimed.

“I think today it came down on the day and Venus played better than me. That's really all I can say.

“I mean, I think I definitely have a lot more to improve on.

“There's a lot of exciting things that I can still get better at, which is exciting for me and exciting for my team, and my own development, but I definitely feel like there's no reason why I would not be able to be in a position to win a title like this one day.”

With that target in mind she feels that this run has stood her in good stead.

“It definitely helps my case, I think,” said Konta.

“I'm very happy with how I was physically and mentally able to hold up this past grass court season. I did play every week, I stayed healthy and I stayed actually mentally quite fresh and ready to keep getting challenged and embracing those challenges along the way.

“I think that only strengthens my belief that if I'm ever in a position to be involved in a slam for the full fortnight, that I will be able to keep myself in that mental and physical state to be able to deal with hopefully one day playing for a title.”

And she reinforced that message when asked what she thought the highlights of this event would be when she looked back on it in years to come.

“Well, in years to come, hopefully I've gone further, as well,” she replied with a smile.

“How about we talk about that in years to come?”

Williams will meanwhile face another much younger woman in the final who does not lack belief in her ability, Garbine Muguruza already having become a Grand Slam champion when she beat Serena in last year’s French Open final.

Also a finalist her two years ago when she was beaten by Serena she believes she simply has to stick to what she has been doing after trouncing Magdalena Ryarikova in an even more one-sided semi-final, 6-1, 6-1.

“I'm just going to keep doing the same thing,” he said.

“Probably two years ago it was just a surprise because, you know, grass was something new for me, but now I’m just going to keep doing the same because it's going well. That's what I do always. So there is no reason to change in this match.”