Sisters doing it for themselves

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:19

Sixth seed Venus defeated defending champion Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Thursday while world number one Serena ousted eighth seed Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-4.

The sisters are currently tied at 9-9, with Venus having won their last meeting at the WTA Tour Championships at the end of last season.

They have met seven times in grand slam finals, Serena leading the way with five victories.

Venus was in impressive form against Dementieva, breaking in the Russian’s first service game and holding firm to take the set.

Another break in the second put the American firmly in pole position and, when Dementieva was unable to hold her serve at 3-5, Venus sealed victory.

Serena began in similar fashion, breaking Ivanovic immediately. The Serb, with new coach Craig Kardon watching from the stands, hit back to level but Serena was not to be denied and forged ahead again to take the first set.

Ivanovic, who has endured a largely miserable time since winning the French Open and briefly becoming world number one, insisted before the start of the tournament she was almost back to her best.

And the 21-year-old opened the second set in fine style, breaking her opponent and moving out to a 4-1 lead. The Australian Open champion was not prepared to settle for a decider, however, and reeled off five games in a row to record a straight-sets victory.

The other semi-final will pit giant-killers Kaia Kanepi and Virginie Razzano against each other.

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