Venus through to Zurich final

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:06

It marks a long awaited return to the final of this tournament for Williams – she has not played here on the final day since 1999 when – at the age of 19 – she topped then-number one Martina Hingis to claim the ninth of her 37 career titles.

The two-time reigning Wimbledon champion will go for another on Sunday when she faces Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) winner over Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in Saturday’s other semi-final.

Williams ranked ninth in the world and seeded third here, has now won five of her six meetings against Ivanovic, who has not played well during the second half of this season.

Since winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open and subsequently becoming the world number one, the 20-year-old Serb is just 7-7 and has dropped to fourth in the rankings.

While Williams is a former number one with seven Grand Slam titles to her credit, she has had problems with the 17th-ranked Pennetta in the past.

The 26-year-old lost her first meeting with Williams, but has since won three straight in the series, including victories this season at the French Open and Moscow.

Pennetta, seeking her third title this year and seventh overall, made a statement earlier in this tournament with a second-round upset of world number one Jelena Jankovic.

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