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Venus, Serena take very different paths to final
by Richard Evans, Tennis Week, Special to FOXSports.com
In the women's match that The Championships had been craving, Serena defeated Elena Dementieva in an enthralling battle, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 that lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes — the longest recorded women's semifinal in Wimbledon history — and required the younger Williams to save match point at 4-5. That she did so with a backhand volley winner that clipped the tape only added more drama to a duel that had the Centre Court spectators on the edge of their seats, practically from the first ball struck.
Then came Venus, and she was back in the locker room in 51 minutes, having slaughtered poor Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 — the shortest women's semifinal at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King annihilated her good friend Rosie Casals 6-1, 6-0 exactly 40 years ago.
So there you have the long and the short of it. A day of total contrast that somehow ended up with the expected result — two Williamses in the final for the fourth time.
2009 Wimbledon
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Analysis:
- Cronin: Is Federer the greatest ever?
- Whitlock: Serena could've been the best
- Pierce: Roddick a threat once again
- Rosenberg: Tiger, Federer two of a kind
- Cronin: Serena chasing the greats
Multimedia:
- Video: Federer talks about his win
- Photos: Gentlemen's final | Ladies' final
- Photos: Late rounds | Early rounds
Partners:
Over the last 10 years, there has been at least one sister in the final every year except for 2006, when Amelie Mauresmo beat Justin Henin. No wonder Richard Williams sat up on the players' balcony, basking in the late afternoon sunshine, receiving congratulatory handshakes from everyone who passed, including Virginia Wade. His daughters' continuing domination of this game is quite extraordinary.
But it could have been different had Dementieva done what, for her, would have been the natural thing and tried to pass Serena down the line at 30-40, 4-5 in the third set. A semifinalist last year, the Olympic gold medal winner was about to go one better and reach her third Grand Slam final. She had her opponent just where she wanted her.
"I'm very disappointed with the shot," Dementieva replied when asked about the match point. "I'm surprised I didn't go down the line. Because, I mean, passing shot, this is my favorite shot to make. Maybe it was too quick so I didn't see that she was moving to cover cross court, you know. She was very close to the net. Down the line or even lob would work. But it was too quick."
Decisions, decisions. That one surely cost Dementieva her fourth victory over Serena in nine meetings and ruined her chance of a place in the Wimbledon final — something which, frankly, she deserved. Earlier there had been two crucial challenges that had gone Serena's way — poetic justice, one could say, because it had been some atrocious line calling at the U.S. Open five years ago (almost all of which went against Williams) that had set the move towards HawkEye in motion. The replays this time gave both calls to Serena by millimeters.
The second one today gave Serena the vital break at the end of the second set. A return from Dementieva clipped the net and fell over. It was called good — a call that would have got the Russian back to deuce. But Serena's challenge showed that the ball had missed the line by that tiny margin which decides who wins and who loses on a tennis court, and the American was able to serve out for 7-5.
It was the Serena serve that won her the match because her forehand was awful and she made plentiful errors on the backhand side, too.
"My forehand didn't show up today," she admitted. "I think she went to Hawaii. But I've called her and asked to come back for the final."
Miss Forehand had better put in an appearance on Saturday because Venus will not need to be told how to deal with Serena if she is still searching for that potent stroke. But 20 aces filled in the gaps and just about made up for the fact that it was frequently Dementieva who got the better of the fantastic rallies that brought roars from the crowd as both players covered acres of scarred grass under a blazing sun. Serena called it one of her more dramatic victories.
"Felt good," she said. "Because I felt I was down pretty much the whole match. To come out on top was, you know, a great feeling. I definitely think she played her best game against me. I've never seen her serve so well in my life."
The serve was once, of course, Elena's biggest problem, and a whole host of top coaches despaired of ever getting her to do anything effective with it. But on this evidence the problem has been solved, and if she goes on playing at this standard, the 27-year-old will fulfill that dream and win a Grand Slam in the not too distant future.
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| Elena Dementieva missed a costly opportunity in her match against Serena Williams. (Anja Niedringhaus / Associated Press) |
One would like to say the same thing about her compatriot, but Safina still seems miles away from winning the Slam she needs to validate her position as No. 1 in the world. It is tough for her to go on answering questions about the ranking but she made a pretty good stab at it in her press conference.
"Well, in the last four Grand Slams, I reach at least the semifinal. They (the Williamses) haven't been in the semifinal of the French Open," Safina said. "I think this is the result of how you play the whole year. It's not about one, two tournaments. I won Rome. I won Madrid. I have been in the final of the French Open. I have been in the final of Australia. Yes, I haven't won it, but this is not the end of the world."
That great philosopher, Marat Safin, who happens to be her brother, would have been proud.
As for Venus, now on the cusp of her sixth Wimbledon crown, she felt the score merely reflected her level of play.
"I was just dictating every point," she said.
If that sounds a touch boastful, Venus quickly rounded on a reporter who suggested the ease of her victory was an embarrassment for women's tennis.
Venus: Why do you put it like that? Are you trying to be down on women's tennis?
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Reporter: I'm trying to be down on the way that Safina is the World No. 1 representing women's tennis.
Venus: So you're trying to be down, basically.
Reporter: Not on women's tennis, no.
Venus: OK, because I don't deal with down at all.
Reporter: It's not down.
Venus: I'm just making sure you're not trying to be down. Because I respect Dinara Safina immensely and I think you should, too.
Just what you would expect from Venus who is a proud, fair champion and should validate her own position as the Queen of Wimbledon on Saturday.
But with Serena on the other side of the net, you never know.
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