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Venus, Serena Williams reach Wimbledon semifinals

Published - Jun 30 2009 02:20PM EDT

By STEPHEN WILSON - AP Sports Writer


Venus Williams of U.S. plays a return to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, during their quarterfinal match at Wimbledon, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Venus and Serena Williams are one round away from meeting in another Wimbledon final.

Five-time champion Venus overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday, and two-time winner Serena followed her into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka.

No. 3-seeded Venus will next face top-ranked Dinara Safina, who overcame 15 double-faults and beat German teenager Sabine Lisicki 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Wimbledon semis for the first time.

In the bottom half of the draw, No. 4 Elena Dementieva defeated Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2 to set up a semifinal encounter with No. 2 Serena Williams.

It's the first time since 2006 that all four top-seeded women reached the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament.

The Williams sisters overwhelmed their opponents Tuesday with breathtaking displays of power tennis, showing why they have dominated on the grass of the All England Club for most of the past decade.

"We definitely upped our levels of game today," Serena said.

Venus, seeking her third straight Wimbledon title, outhit the 14th-ranked Pole from all parts of the court and proved again that she is the dominant female player on grass.

"Do I feel invincible?" Williams said. "I'd like to say yes, but I really do work at it."

Williams had her left leg taped up again but showed no weakness at all as she ripped 29 winners _ compared to six for Radwanska _ in a match that lasted just 68 minutes on a sunbaked Court 1.

"I can't complain," Williams said. "I'm in the semifinals of Wimbledon, right where I want to be. I just need to take another step forward."

With Venus looking on from the guest box, Serena swept through the first set against the eighth-ranked Azarenka in 26 minutes. After being broken to go down 3-2 in the second, she won four straight games and held serve at love to finish the match in commanding fashion. Serena had nine aces and 26 winners, with only seven unforced errors.

Azarenka had beaten Serena in straight sets in their last match in the final at Key Biscayne, Fla., in April.

"I really wanted to do well today," Serena said. "I didn't do well the last time we played. I was not feeling great. I felt like I really wanted to show up today."

Asked whether she also felt unbeatable at Wimbledon, Serena said: "I don't feel invincible, but I definitely should have the same attitude. I'm going to try to feel that way, too."

Only once in the last nine years has there been a Wimbledon women's final that didn't feature at least one of the Williams sisters. The sisters were the only two Grand Slam winners in the women's quarterfinals _ Serena has 10 major titles and Venus seven.

The sisters have met in three Wimbledon finals, including last year. Serena has won two of the three, in 2002 and '03. They are 10-10 in career meetings.

"I would love it to be a Williams final, and so would she," Venus said. "That would be great."

The sisters' father, Richard Williams, said he is certain his daughters will be in the final again.

"I think they are both playing super well," he said. "They're playing the Williams way. And when you're playing the Williams way, it's very difficult for anyone to touch you."

Venus is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three Wimbledon titles in a row.

Venus Williams raced to a 5-0 lead against Radwanska, and finished off the first set with back-to-back aces. Williams dropped only two of 18 points on serve in the set.

"That first set for me was almost perfect," Williams said.

Safina, who has risen to No. 1 in the world despite never having won a Grand Slam title, struggled against the 19-year-old Lisicki. The Russian had to come from behind after double-faulting to lose the first set tiebreaker, smashing her racket to the turf and drawing a warning from the chair umpire.

"I was Santa Claus on the court, serving so many double-faults," Safina said.

Safina was down 3-2 on serve in the second set, but got the one break in the seventh game to force a third set. The 41st-ranked Lisicki received treatment on her right calf after going down 4-1 in the third. In the next game, Safina was up 40-0 before serving three straight double-faults. She still managed to hold and then broke for the match.

"I was tough mentally, that was the key today," Safina said.

The men's quarterfinals are set for Wednesday with five-time champion Roger Federer against 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic; No. 3 Andy Murray vs. Spanish wild card Juan Carlos Ferrero; 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt vs. two-time finalist Andy Roddick; and No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Tommy Haas.

Temperatures topped 90 degrees on Tuesday, with no need to close the roof on Centre Court.

Medical officials on site said they treated more than 130 people, mostly for heat-related problems. One person was taken to a hospital.

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Serena, Venus reach Wimbledon final again

Published - Jul 02 2009 02:27PM EDT

By STEPHEN WILSON - AP Sports Writer


Venus Williams of U.S. reacts as she defeats Dinara Safina of Russia, in their women's singles semifinal on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Thursday, July 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Venus and Serena Williams won in contrasting fashion Thursday to set up their fourth all-sister Wimbledon final and eighth meeting in a Grand Slam title match.

Two-time champion Serena saved a match point and overcame Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 in 2 hours, 49 minutes _ the longest women's semifinal at Wimbledon in at least 40 years. Five-time winner Venus, meanwhile, needed only 51 minutes to demolish Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 and reach her eighth Wimbledon final.

"Oh, my God, this is my eighth final, and it's a dream come to true to be here again and have the opportunity to hold the plate up," Venus said.

The sisters _ with 17 Grand Slam titles between them _ will face each other Saturday in a Fourth of July final.

"A fourth final _ it's so exciting. It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama," Venus said, referring to Serena's semifinal. "It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams."

One Williams or the other has won seven of the past nine championships at the All England Club. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals, and Venus came out on top against her younger sister last year.

"All I know is a Williams is going to win," said the sisters' father, Richard.

Venus is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.

There have been seven previous all-Williams championship matches at majors, with Serena holding a 5-2 lead. Overall, the sisters are 10-10.

"The more we play, the better it gets," Serena said. "Wen we play our match on Saturday, you know, it's for everything. This is what we dreamed of when we were growing up in Compton (Calif.) 20-something years ago. This is what we worked for, and this is what we want. Like I wanted her to win today and she wanted me to win today. It's all come down to this."

Venus said she was rooting for Serena to win Thursday, but will now do all she can to stop her sister and win her eighth major title.

"I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and defeat her," Venus said. "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win. I don't want to see myself disappointed. I need to get my titles, too. I'm still the big sister, but I'm still going to play great tennis."

The difference in the two semifinals couldn't have been more striking.

The Serena-Dementieva match was the longest women's Wimbledon semifinal by time since 1969; records are incomplete before then. Venus' win was the most one-sided women's semifinal since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals by the same score in 1969. The last time a semifinal ended 6-0, 6-0 was in 1925.

After Serena's tense, drama-filled escape against Dementieva, Venus barely broke a sweat against Safina. The Russian is ranked and seeded No. 1 despite never having won a Grand Slam tournament. Safina won only 20 points and was completely outclassed by the third-seeded Venus, who has been playing some of her best grass-court tennis at this tournament.

"She's just too good on grass," Safina said. "It's not my favorite surface, and it's her favorite surface. I think she gave me a pretty good lesson today."

One remarkable statistic summed it up: Venus was credited with just one unforced error in the match. She had 16 winners, while Safina had 16 unforced errors and six winners.

"I don't know if there's such a thing as perfect for an athlete, but I felt happy with it," Venus said. "And I felt like my performance has been building each round better and better. ... I think the score just showed my level of play. I was just dictating on every point."

Serena, meanwhile, was pushed to the limit by the fourth-seeded Dementieva but raised her game when needed.

"It's definitely one of my more dramatic victories, for sure," Serena said.

Dementieva, who has never won a Grand Slam title, played one of the best matches of her career and nearly eliminated a player who has won 10 majors.

After Dementieva sailed a backhand wide to end the match, Serena threw her head back, pumped her arms and hopped up and down.

"Elena played so well, and we gave the crowd a wonderful match," Serena said. "It was really, really tough."

In the 10th game of the final set, Serena faced match point on her serve with Dementieva ahead 5-4. Serena chose to attack, coming forward and hitting a backhand volley that skipped off the net cord and into the open court for a winner.

"I thought ace," Serena said. "It's my serve, if I can just stay calm. I was just trying to think positive."

Dementieva said: "The only regret I have, maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line."

It was Serena's eighth straight win in a Grand Slam semifinal going back to the 2003 French Open. She is 14-2 overall in Grand Slam semifinals.

It was almost too much to handle for father Richard, who watched with other family members and friends in the guest box.

"Serena nearly gave me a heart attack," he said. "Venus played as if she had some place to go and she was in a major league hurry to get a great dinner."

Serena served 20 aces _ the most for a woman at Wimbledon since 2000 _ and had 45 winners and 28 unforced errors. Dementieva produced 27 winners, 26 errors and eight double-faults.

"That was the best match we ever played against each other," Dementieva said. "It was a real fight from the beginning until the end. I feel like I finally played some good tennis here. It was not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion. She was serving very well today. I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side."

The men's semifinals are Friday, with two-time finalist Roddick playing Andy Murray and five-time champion Roger Federer facing Germany's Tommy Haas. Federer is closing in on a record 15th Grand Slam championship, while Murray is seeking to become the first British men's winner in 73 years.

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Tough one but I think Venus will win.

Serena tops Venus again for third Wimbledon title

Published - Jul 04 2009 11:10AM EDT

By STEPHEN WILSON - AP Sports Writer


First blood: Serena Williams took the opening set of the 2009 women's Wimbledon final against sister Venus on Centre Court Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Serena Williams beat her sister Venus 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Saturday for her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam championship.

In the fourth all-Williams final at Wimbledon, Serena came out on top for the third time by out-serving her big sister, lifting her game in the tiebreaker and dictating play throughout the second set.

By taking the title for the first time in six years, Serena stopped five-time champion Venus from becoming the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row. The Williams sisters have won eight of the 10 Wimbledon singles titles this decade.

When Venus slapped a backhand into the net on the fourth match point, Serena fell to her knees on the grass, eyes closed, arms raised, and threw back her head. As always with Williams vs. Williams matches, the celebrations were relatively muted. The two sisters embraced at the net, with the 29-year-old Venus patting 27-year-old Serena on the back.

It was Serena's turn to hold up the women's trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish.

"It feels so amazing," she said. "I'm so blessed. I feel like I shouldn't be holding the trophy. I can't believe I'm holding it. It's named for Venus and she always wins. It hasn't settled in that I won yet."

Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals, before Venus prevailed in last year's championship match.

"Today she was too good," Venus said. "She had an answer for everything. She played the best tennis today, so congratulations."

The sisters were due back on Centre Court later for the women's doubles final, where they will face Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs of Australia. They are seeking their fourth Wimbledon doubles title and 10th Grand Slam crown.

Venus had come into the final as the favorite after playing some of the best grass-court tennis of her career. She hadn't dropped a set in 17 straight matches at Wimbledon, but couldn't cope on this day with the fierce competitive drive and relentless power game of her sister.

Serena now has an 11-10 edge overall and 6-2 in Grand Slam finals against her sister.

The men's final is Sunday, with Roger Federer seeking his record 15th Grand Slam title in a matchup with two-time runner-up Andy Roddick. Federer, a five-time Wimbledon champion, has an 18-2 record against the American. It's the seventh straight Wimbledon final and 20th major championship match overall for Federer.

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