LONDON, UK -- Between 2001 and 2003 the Williams sisters dominated the Grand Slam scene, playing each other in six of eight finals. Now, for the first time in five years, the all-Williams final will make a return, as Venus and Serena both moved into the 2008 Wimbledon final in straight sets Thursday.
Four-time champion Venus Williams was the first of the two to move into the final, holding off a late surge from Elena Dementieva with a solid showing in the tie-break, beating the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw, 61 76(3). Williams, the champion here in 2000, 2001, 2005 and last year and the No.7 seed this year, won eight of the first nine games to go up 61 20 before No.5 seed Dementieva got herself back into it, albeit temporarily.
"Being in the final, which is always exciting, started to set in," said Williams, who was visibly ecstatic during her post-match handshake with Dementieva. "When I'm excited I always jump. That will never change. But the tournament is definitely not over. I'm still in the doubles and still have the final to play. I would definitely like to celebrate even more if I'm good enough to take that title."
"In the beginning she really dominated, put a lot of pressure on my serve, served unbelievably well; it was really hard," Dementieva said. "I knew she probably couldn't play like that the whole match. I was feeling really ready to play. I was so ready. If she gave me a chance by not serving like that, like 121, 125 miles per hour the whole match, I would be able to do better than I did today."
While Dementieva was playing in her first ever Wimbledon singles semifinal, it was Williams' seventh, and she is now 7-0 in those. She is 4-2 in her first six finals, her only two losses coming in the 2002 and 2003 finals, to the very same opponent she will face in this year's final.
Two-time champion Serena Williams followed her big sister onto Centre Court in the second semifinal of the day -- which ended up being very similar to the first, but just a little bit tighter -- as she ended the historic run of Zheng Jie, 62 76(5).
Playing someone who had never been beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam, Williams blew through the first set handily; but when Zheng began feeling more comfortable on one of the biggest tennis stages there is things became a lot more complicated, as the Chinese began hitting the ball earlier and earlier and harder and harder, staying toe-to-toe with Williams from the baseline. She broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set and, although Williams got the set back on serve, Zheng had another break point -- which would be a set point -- leading 6-5. Williams, who leads all active players in Grand Slam titles won (with eight), hung tough and closed it out in a tie-break, a double fault sealing Zheng's fate.
"I definitely felt like I wanted to win it now, but at the same time I was ready for the third set," Williams said on the tight ending. "I'm really excited because I feel it's all coming together now. I'm serving and moving better, and my whole game is just coming together. And it's always exciting to be in a Grand Slam final."
Zheng's run was historic for several reasons. In the third round she became the first Chinese player ever to beat a reigning world No.1 when she took out Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, and with her No.133 ranking, she was also the equal-lowest-ranked to achieve the feat (Kim Clijsters had the exact same rank when she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Indian Wells final). She eventually became the first from her country to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam. This is the same Chinese who became the first to reach a Grand Slam second week (at the 2004 French Open) and to win a Grand Slam title of any kind (by winning the doubles at the 2006 Australian Open with Yan Zi).
"I was probably thinking too much on the set point," said Zheng on her missed opportunity on set point, where she netted a backhand down-the-line, a shot that had been working almost perfectly the entire set. "I knew there were millions and millions of people watching back home. I really wanted to win. But overall I'm quite satisfied with the performance I had today. Her serve was just too big."
The Williams sisters have faced each other 15 times previously, with Serena leading, 8-7. They split their first 14, which all came between 1998 and 2005, although in their six Grand Slam finals it was Serena who came out on top, 5-1 (including two finals here); and in their only meeting since 2005, at Bangalore earlier this year, Serena also came out on top, saving a match point in the third set en route to a 63 36 76(4) win; but Venus does hold the edge in Wimbledon titles, 4-2. It couldn't be harder to pick a favorite this Saturday.
"On the court she's always Serena Williams. She's tenacious. She's got every shot no matter what. You can't bet against her," Venus said. "I respect her as a player more than anyone else on the Tour. Our focus was for both of us to get to the final, then from there it's every Williams for themself."
"It has definitely been a while," Serena added. "Our rankings fell. We've been on the same side of the draw a few times. I, unfortunately, lost a lot. But now it's good. This is a new start for us. We'll just leave everything out on the court.
"This is the finals of Wimbledon. Who doesn't want it?"
-- Courtesy Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
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