Full News

It's Williams vs. Russians as Semifinals set at Wimbledon

By RobPeterson (TennisEarth.com), Submitted On

»See All 0 Comments | »Post Your Views

The All England Lawn Tennis Club could not have asked for a better semifinal line up as all four of the top seeds have made it the the last four of the Championships.

It's pretty hard to imagine Wimbledon without Williams as eight of the last nine finals have featured a Williams, with title glory coming on seven occasions. What is it that makes the Williams sisters so dangerous at WImbledon. Their competitors may have changed from time to time, from the  Belgians to the Serbians and now the Russians, but the sisters ensure that the competition ends with their names on the scoreboard. Take a look at this year's equations with Williamses pitted against the mighty Russians.

Dinara Safina vs. Venus Williams
Venus leads series 2-1
Last Meeting - 2009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Safina won 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4

Dinara Safina has been on an improvement trail from the last 14 months and it would not be an exaggeration to say that with every single match passing, the world number one is finding the exquisite form that may see her lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, which has been so dearly held by none other than the woman, who perhaps has been christened after the trophy itself, Venus Williams. Venus struggled during the entire claycourt season and saw her French Open dream fade away once again, but surprisingly, reached the semifinals here without even dropping a set. Her opponent on the other hand, had a wonderful claycourt season, coupled with the No.1 ranking. Unfortunately though, the Grand Slam shine is still far away from Safina's trophy case. The two met the last time on Clay in Rome where Safina registered an impressive come-from-behind win over Venus. But this is grass, and it's Wimbledon, equations changes so fast that it doesn't matter what form Venus has struggled through coming into the championships, once she is in, she is in for a title run that mostly ends in glory. Picking a winner from this match would be as tough a task as predicting the eventual winner, but with such swashbuckling form, Venus emerges with an edge over her higher ranked opponent.

Elena Dementieva vs. Serena Williams
Serena leads series 5-3
Last Meeting - 2009 Australian Open
Serena won 6-3, 6-4

When Serena Williams entered this year's championships, she came in with a high profile 10 Grand slam titles and a reigning Australian and U.S. Open queen status. And rightly so, if there is one player who can challenge the Venus hegemony on the green grass, it's Serena, who picked up her two wimbledon titles beating Venus in the final (2002, 2003). Following in the footsteps of her sister, Serena also struggled during the entire claycourt season and after some signs of brilliance in her quarterfial run at Roland Garros, looked forward to quench her Grand Slam thirst at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Serena is in a kind of form that has seen her literally destroy her opponents in her last five matches. Her semifinal opponent Elena Dementieva although seems much fitter and stronger, she still lacks the mental strength that has favoured Williams in most of their previous encounters. The Russian does have a strong baseline game, and if coupled with a consistent serve, she can very well take her chances against Serena. She is one of only five players who have beaten Serena three times in a row, and with a worthwhile experience to have toppled the fiesty American not once but thrice, she can not be left out of the contendorship. And perhaps that's one question, only Dementieva can answer.

With such high stakes made at the 'Super semifinals' it would be interesting to see the world number one Safina can prove her mettle. Although Venus is in the orbit of her own and taking her out of it is quite a task for anyone, whether it's Safina or Serena.