Serena staves off Elena
American second seed Serena Williams exults after her absorbing Wimbledon semifinal triumph over a feisty Russian Elena Dementieva at the All England Club in London yesterday. Serena won the marathon three setter 6-7,7-6,8-6.Photo: AFP
Serena Williams reached her fifth Wimbledon final Thursday with an epic 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 win over Elena Dementieva where she saved a match point in the longest semifinal in the tournament's history.
The American second seed's 2hr 49min victory went halfway to guaranteeing a fourth title match here against sister Venus and restored some desperately-needed credibility to the women's game.
Defending champion Venus, who beat Serena in the 2008 final, was facing world number one and top seed Dinara Safina later where she'll be bidding to reach an eighth All England Club final.
"It was really tough. Elena has been playing so well," said two-time champion Serena who saved match point at 4-5 in the final set.
"At match point I just thought it's my serve, just stay calm and think positive."
Olympic champion Dementieva, who had won three of the pair's last four meetings, defied predictions of a one-sided encounter by breaking the American in the first game although Williams hit straight back.
The Russian bravely fought off three break points in the eighth game before going on to dominate the tie-break despite a nervous double fault on the first of three set points.
Williams, stung by the Russian's all-out assault, broke straightaway in the second set and was quickly 2-0 ahead. But Dementieva refused to yield and broke back to love in the sixth game for 3-3.
Williams, bidding to reach a fifth Wimbledon final, fought off two break points in the eighth game, but nipped ahead on a break to 6-5 when the American successfully challenged a ball which had been called good by the linesman.
Dementieva wasted four break points in the 12th game and was made to pay when Williams sent down a 12th ace to level the contest.
The Russian blonde broke a weary-looking Williams to lead 3-1 in the decider, but handed the advantage straight back with a tense service game.
Williams, with the experience of having won 10 Grand Slam titles in her career, saved a match point in the 10th game with a backhand volley.
The 2002 and 2003 champion capitalised on her escape by breaking to lead 7-6 and took the match when Dementieva pushed a return wide.
Five-time champion Venus goes into her semi-final having won 32 successive sets at Wimbledon, a run stretching back to the third round in 2007.
Venus, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, is bidding to reach her eighth Wimbledon final.
Safina, desperate for a maiden Grand Slam title to back-up her world number one status, has reached three finals in majors but has crumbled to defeat in each one.
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