Venus Williams, Serena Williams will play for Wimbledon title
TENNIS
The sisters who grew up in Compton will meet for the seventh time in a Grand Slam event final.
WIMBLEDON, England -- Williams vs. Williams, the improbable show that toured six of eight Grand Slam tennis finals between 2001 and 2003, has launched a sudden revival near London.
It will rush back into view on Saturday at the All England Club, where Venus Williams and Serena Williams, sisters who grew up in Compton, will meet for the Wimbledon women's singles title for the third time overall, for the first time since 2003, for the seventh time in a Grand Slam final and for the first time in a Grand Slam event since the fourth round of the 2005 U.S. Open.
They'll do so from seeds and rankings No. 6 (Serena Williams) and No. 7 (Venus Williams), having served as the steady forces losing zero sets through a tournament in which higher-ranked stars kept toppling and the grounds once again resonated with the familiar sound from chair umpires, "Game, Miss Williams." They finally arranged the final by winning semifinals today by scores almost identical.
Venus Williams, defending her 2007 title at 28 years old by extending her Wimbledon win streak to 13, tore through No. 5 Elena Dementieva in the first set and withstood her in the second for a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win, climbing out of a 3-3 tie in the tiebreaker and clinching matters with rare screams as she crushed two groundstrokes on the last, eager point. Thereupon she began the trademark victory hop first spotted here in 2000, when she won the first of her four Wimbledon titles at 20.
"When I'm excited, I always jump," she said. "That, I guess, will never change."
Thereafter Serena Williams, at 26 trying to find her way to her first Wimbledon final since 2004, faced two rain delays and some truly thorny moments against Zheng Jie, the 133rd-ranked player from China who charmed the Centre Court audience with her power from her 5-foot-4 frame and a backhand that might just replace the retired Justine Henin's as the most picturesque shot in the game.
With Zheng seemingly shaky in her first Grand Slam semifinal -- and the first for any Chinese woman -- Williams pretty much romped through a first set, but faced a set point in the second of her 6-2, 7-6 (5) win. Taking an 80-mph serve while leading 6-5 and 30-40, with some Wimbledon drama brewing, Zheng promptly whacked a backhand into the net, then wheeled around in despair.
