Sisters still set for Saturday showdown
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:38
Venus raced into the last four with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska on Court One, and was soon joined in the next round by younger sibling Serena, who was a 6-2 6-2 winner against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Both semi-finals on Thursday will be American-Russian affairs with Venus facing world number one Dinara Safina while Serena will take on Elena Dementieva.
Even before the tournament began, the Williams sisters were favourites to contest their fourth final on Wimbledon’s famous Centre Court. And few would bet against that happening again, after both players brushed aside seeded opposition on Tuesday with consummate ease.
Even Venus, who won the title last year by beating Serena, finds it hard to imagine anything other than another showdown with her sister.
“I just think the style of game Serena and I play, we play better than the other women,” said Venus. “We’re just very aggressive. I think that shows in our results.”
Safina faced the hardest test in the quarter-finals today, coming back from a set down against surprise package Sabine Lisicki to win 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 6-1 in almost two-and-a-half hours on a sweltering Centre Court.
Much has been made of Safina’s ranking and the fact she has yet to win a major, although she has finished as runner-up in three grand slam finals. But after reaching her first Wimbledon semi-final, the Russian hopes she has silenced her critics.
“I’ve never got so far here so whenever I win a match, I’m really happy,” she said. “But I’m enjoying it, taking one match at a time and at the moment it’s working. I hope people won’t say now I’m number one without a grand slam title. I’ve been in the semis at all four grand slams so I think that’s something impressive.”
Dementieva’s 6-2 6-2 victory over Italian Francesca Schiavone means the top four seeds are all through to the semi-finals.
Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here