Reporting from Wimbledon, England — With stunning precision and the gutsy survival of imprecision, respectively, Venus and Serena Williams roared into another all-Williams Wimbledon final today in semifinals that awed the Centre Court crowd for contrasting reasons.
Where Serena Williams fought through the longest women's semifinal since pros began playing at Wimbledon in her 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 marvel against Elena Dementieva, Venus Williams blasted through the most one-sided women's semifinal in 40 years in her 6-1, 6-0 demolition of No. 1 Dinara Safina.
"I have so much experience on this court," Venus said, a matter that will extend on Saturday when she plays her eighth Wimbledon final against her younger sister's fifth in their fourth final together and second in a row.
Her semifinal with Safina took 51 brisk minutes and featured such ferocious accuracy that Venus wound up with the dreamy ratio of 16 winners to one unforced error. She extended her consecutive-match win streak at Wimbledon to 20 and her consecutive-set streak to 34, just six behind the 40 Martina Navratilova strung together between the 1982 final and the 1985 final.
When Safina's last hopeless return plunked into the net, Venus pumped her left fist gently and trotted to the net, her understated demeanor reflecting the severity of the romp. She had spent most of her afternoon not playing but watching her sister's 2-hour, 49-minute tussle with the upgraded, 27-year-old Dementieva, the Beijing Olympic champion. Said Venus to the BBC immediately thereafter, "To watch all that drama was so difficult."
chuck.culpepper@yahoo.com
