Venus Rolls, Vaidisova Chokes at Wimbledon

No. 23 seed Venus Williams continued to turn back the clock to her Wimbledon-winning years Thursday at the All England Club, beating No. 5 seed and former US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4 to gain the semifinals.


"I've had a lot of success here -- five finals, which is a lot," Williams said. "Centre Court has just been good to Williams in the last seven years or so. So it's a good thing if your last name is Williams here...I'm really a big match player. I get up for these matches. I know what I'm doing."

Joining Williams in the semis was No. 6 seed Ana Ivanovic, who benefited from a choking No. 14 seed Nicole Vaidisova, who served for the match in the third, but upon being broken quickly folded in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss.

Ivanovic saved three match points to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal.

"Today I still probably haven't realized what happened," said Ivanovic, who won when Vaidisova double faulted on match point. "It was an unbelievable match. To win like this was amazing."

Vaidisova was constantly looking for help from her camp in the player's box as she threw away the match late in the third.

"I'm a very emotional player and person," Vaidisova said. "I think it can go both ways -- I think it can be my strength but it also can be my weakness. But of course there's a limit to it. Something you have to work on."

Ivanovic said she got her jitters out early.

"I was really intimidated when I first stepped on the court," Ivanovic. "But then as the match went on, I tried to focus on my game more...In the third set, even when I was a break down, I just knew I could do it. I had the feeling I could win this match."

Scheduled for Friday at Wimbledon are the women's semifinals in (6) Ana Ivanovic vs. (23) Venus Williams, and (1) Justine Henin vs. (18) Marion Bartoli.

"It's going to be very tough match. Venus is in a great shape," Ivanovic said.