Serena and Venus set up fourth final
DEFENDING champion Venus Williams will face her sister Serena in tomorrow’s Wimbledon singles’ final after the siblings clinched their places in vastly different fashion.
Venus, vying for her third successive title and her fifth in total at SW19, obliterated top seed Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0. Earlier, Serena had to save a match point against another Russian, Elena Dementieva, before winning a marathon contest 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6.
It means one of the sisters will lift the plate for the eighth time in 10 years, after the all-American, Independence Day clash.
Venus has lost in two out of three previous Wimbledon finals against Serena, but will start as the favourite after making a mockery of Safina’s status as world No1.
The American, who has won 34 consecutive sets in a run stretching back to 2007, won the first nine points of the match, breaking Safina’s serve, and never looked back.
Within 51 minutes the brutal thrashing had been completed, and Venus was savouring the prospect of another family tussle.
“This is my eighth final. It’s a dream come true to be here again and to have the opportunity to hold the plate up,” said Venus. “But the hardest part is yet to come: to play Serena Williams.”
Serena, meanwhile, fought back from a set down in an exhausting but absorbing match against fourth seed Dementieva. Having lost the first on a tie-break Williams toughed out the second, saving several break points, and faced a match point before breaking the Russian at 7-6 and serving out.
“It was really, really tough,” said Serena. “She’s been playing so well.”
FAMILY TIE ALL-WILLIAMS FINALS
2002 Serena beat Venus 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
2003 Serena beat Venus 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
2008 Venus beat Serena 7-5, 6-4