Venus and Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova

 Venus and Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova to reach Wimbledon doubles semi-finals

•     Williams sisters beat Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in doubles

•     Serena Williams had earlier beaten Vesnina to reach singles final

•     The American siblings have won the doubles at SW19 five times together

By Richard Arrowsmith for MailOnline

A few hours after playing in separate matches on Centre Court at Wimbledon, Serena and Venus Williams teamed up to reach the semifinals in the women's doubles tournament.

The American sisters beat Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2 on No. 2 Court.

Serena also beat Vesnina in the singles tournament, advancing to the final at the All England Club for the ninth time. Venus, however, lost her semifinal match to Angelique Kerber. 

 Unseeded Venus and Serena Williams celebrate en route to reaching the ladies doubles semi-finals

 The sisters were stretched to three sets before beating Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova

 The American siblings have won the Wimbledon ladies doubles title five times together

 Serena Williams had already beaten Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 earlier in the day for place in the ladies singles final

The Williams sisters have combined for 11 singles titles at Wimbledon and five as a doubles team - the last coming in 2012.

Overall, Serena and Venus have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles.

 Vesnina and her Russian partner Makarova pump each other up after winning the second set

 Venus Williams splits the Russians with a volley during the quarter final clash on No 2 court

Venus Williams recovered from losing her earlier ladies singles semi-final to Angelique Kerber