Williams sisters to meet in fourth Wimbledon Final

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – VENUS and Serena Williams beat a pair of Russian opponents to advance to their second straight match-up in the Wimbledon Ladies’ Final.

In last year’s meeting, Venus beat her younger sister Serena 7-5, 6-4. Saturday’s (July 4) championship marks the fourth time the sisters have met in the Wimbledon Final, with each holding two wins apiece.

The sisters had contrasting victories in yesterday’s (July 2) Semifinals; one sister struggled against a hungry opponent, while the other completely overwhelmed her challenger.

Venus had her way with world number one Dinara Safina, finishing in just 51 minutes with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. With 17 winners and just one unforced error, Venus was never in danger against the Russian player, who won 20 points in the entire match. It was one of the most lopsided semifinal matches in Wimbledon history.

On the other hand, Serena had to dig deep for a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 victory against Elena Dementieva. The two-hour 49-minute match was the longest ladies’ semifinal ever recorded at Wimbledon.

After winning the first set, Dementieva held a match point with Serena serving at 4-5 in the second. The American fired one of her 20 aces to get out of that hole, and it was her serving that brought her back into the match. She went down a break in the third set, but was able to break back and eventually break Dementieva again to serve for a place in Saturday’s title match.

Afterwards, Serena said she was displeased with how she played but was looking forward to facing her sister on Saturday.

“The more we play, the better it gets. When we play our match on Saturday, it’s for everything. This is what we dreamed of when we were growing up...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.”

“I’m happy for her to be in the Final, but I have to face her and defeat her. I don’t necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win,” Venus said.

The sisters have 17 Grand Slam titles between them (Venus – seven, Serena – 10), with number 18 a definite to come on Saturday. The sisters have dominated at Wimbledon in this century, with Venus winning five titles and Serena two. Only in two years did either sister fail to win the championship.