Another year. Another all-Williams women’s singles final at Wimbledon. However, yesterday’s semis were not quite as predictable as you may have read.
Serena needed to dig deeper than ever before to produce a fighting victory. In the end only a greater will and desire separated her from Elena Dementieva – and the 20 aces she boomed down.
However, the twice champion was given a major fright by the Russian fourth seed, who had a match point and will reflect long and hard on what might have been following her 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6 defeat.
This was the first classic women's match of the tournament and so nearly its first real shock result.
Timed 2hr 59min, it was also the longest women's semi-final in the open era at Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, Venus simply brushed aside top seed Dinara Safina with a brutal 6-1, 6-0 win that bordered on bullying.
It will be the fourth time the sisters have played in a Wimbledon final. Serena has won two and Venus one.
It will also be their 20th career meeting and the head-to-head is deadlocked at 10 wins each. The stage is set, although their previous matches have rarely lived up to expectation.
“Serena is such a fighter, that is the hardest thing to get past when you play her,” said Venus.
“I’m happy she’s in the final but now I have to prepare to face her and beat her. I don’t really want her to lose but I sure want me to win.
“I don’t like to see her disappointed in any way but I want my titles, too. However, I’m still the big sister.”
No quarter was asked or given as the powerful Serena and the wiry Dementieva slugged away like two prize fighters.
Emotions ran high as both players seemed determined to throw away the chances they were given.
Frequently they howled in despair as shots missed by millimetres. It was not always pretty but it was certainly watchable.
Serena had dropped just 25 games in her first five matches, progressing through the draw in double-quick time without losing a set.
Dementieva has become something of a bogy opponent and had won four of their last five meetings, including a quarter-final victory on her way to gold at last year's Beijing Olympics.
“I was down pretty much the entire match, that’s why it felt so good to win,” said Serena. “She was playing personal-best tennis and to keep that up for three sets is not very easy.
“I’m going into the final with nothing to lose. Venus is playing her best tennis at this tournament but I’m just staying positive.”
Dementieva, who lost to Venus in the semi-finals last year, spurned a match point at 5-4 in the final set but insisted she had no regrets.
“It was a good fight but I didn't have quite enough," she said. “I'm very satisfied with the way that I played but maybe I could have taken a bigger risk on match point.
“That was the best match I've played against Serena but it's so hard to fight against her.
“Her serve is so big. I thought it was Andy Roddick across the net at one point.
“The way she has served throughout the tournament has been pretty impressive. It's the big advantage of her game."
Meanwhile, Safina has major issues to address. While top of the world rankings, she continues to struggle when it matters in big matches.
This defeat was every bit as humbling as her loss to Serena at the Australian Open this year.
Williams took the first set in just 27 minutes and wrapped up the match in less than an hour.
Safina looked as though she wanted Wimbledon's new £80million roof to fall in on her as a succession of booming aces sailed by.
The second set was even worse than the first. She won just a handful of points and made 15 unforced errors, while Venus made just one.
“She is just too good on grass,” said Safina.
“It is disappointing to finish in less than an hour and win only one game. She gave me a good lesson.”
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