Venus claims sister act No.19 in Dubai

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:27

The first sisters of tennis could only be separated by a tie-break as Venus beat Serena 6-1 2-6 7-6(3) to reach the final of the Dubai Open and take a 10-9 lead in their head-to-head record.

World No.6 Venus now faces world No.58 Virginie Razzano in the final after the Frenchwoman’s extraordinary run carried her to a 6-1 6-2 victory against Kaia Kanepi.

“Venus served really well which I think ultimately helped her win the match” – Serena Williams

World No.1 Serena got off to a wretched start, double-faulting twice as Venus broke in the opening game of the match and then twice more when Venus broke again to go 4-1 up. Elder sister Venus was virtually untouchable on serve, not dropping a point in her three service games.

The second set was a different affair. Serena began connecting with the ball, forcing errors instead of making them, and broke Venus’ serve in the third and seventh games to level the match.

In a high-octane final set, Serena took first blood, breaking to lead 2-1. But despite saving three break points with aces in game 6 before finally succumbing to a fourth break point.

It was Venus’ turn to serve her way out of trouble at 5-5, firing two aces on break points before going on to take the tiebreak 7-3.

“I didn’t serve that well and I thought Venus served really well which I think ultimately helped her win the match,” said a gracious Serena, who admitted experiencing problems with her left leg.

“I’m just playing every match as hard as I can whether I’m hurt or not. I’ve just been playing a lot of matches, more than I have in my career, and I’m a little tired.”

In the doubles semi-finals, Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska stunned the No.4 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Francesca Schiavone 2-6 6-3 10-8. They will face Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final, who saw off Australian No.3 seeds Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 6-4 6-4.

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