Serena Williams battles Elena Dementieva for a place in the Ladies' final. Saving a match point along the way, Serena Williams battled through to the women's singles final by defeating Russia's Elena Dementieva 6-7 7-5 8-6. At two hours 49 minutes it was the longest women's semi-final at Wimbledon in the era of Open tennis. It was also, by some distance, the finest women's match at the 2009 Championships so far. Dementieva, the Olympic champion, went into the match a clear underdog, despite a superior recent record against the American. But her beefed-up serve, her relentlessly accurate groundstrokes and her fighting spirit extended Williams to the very limit. The difference between winning and the exit door was that Dementieva was found wanting at the key moments and on key points, plus the fact that luck, the net cord and the Hawk-Eye calling system were also generally in Serena's corner. Before the match Serena's father and coach, Richard Williams, had opined "Serena is hitting like a man", and his daughter proceeded to fulfil that comment with her every shot, her every serve and her astonishing stamina under pressure. The Russian applied pressure that Serena has certainly not seen in this tournament, or indeed for a long while. But, champion that she is, the response was there in the end, four games after she had fought off that match point with one of her more outrageous slices of good fortune, a forehand volley winner off the top of the net. Expectations of another straight-sets victory suffered an immediate setback when she was broken in the very first game, despite opening proceedings with the first of her 20 aces. The response, a capture of the Russian's serve, was instantaneous, but the 4th seed Dementieva demonstrated, in a doggedly contested first set lasting 50 minutes, that she is certainly no longer intimidated by facing a power hitter. Her serve has improved immeasurably since her semi-final appearance here last year, but the second serve remains a liability at such a level and was frequently punished. Dementieva fought off three break points at 3-4 and, encouraged by the occasional wild Williams error, took the set into a tiebreak, where more Serena mistakes offered Dementieva three set points. She fluffed the first with a double fault before Williams obliged by walloping a forehand service return wide. The Williams counter-attack was immediate. She broke in the opening game of the second set and appeared comfortably in command until inexplicably dropping serve to love in the sixth game and slid into peril of defeat in straight sets when she faced two break points which would have given the Russian a 5-3 lead and left her serving for the match. Good luck came Serena's way on the second of these when the Hawk-Eye machine called one of her shots in by a millimetre. With 10 Grand Slams already to her name, Serena did not need any more warnings. She broke , luckily once more, to lead 6-5 when a Dementieva net cord was ruled by Hawk-Eye to have dropped just out and even though she served out to level the match it was still only after Dementieva had failed to cash in on four more break points. If what had gone before was thrilling, the final set produced breathtaking tennis. Dementieva broke to lead 3-1, was pulled back at once to 3-2 and though Williams continued to thunder down the aces, Dementieva had her huge opportunity with that match point at 5-5. The moment was snatched away from her and the ruthless Williams guaranteed that there would be no more. The American broke to lead 7-6, reached match point with a forehand winner and screeched in jubilation on the next point as a Russian backhand landed long. After a tournament of largely quickfire wins for the leading ladies, this was a match which will go into the record books. The only previous women’s singles semi-final to have stretched past two-and-a-half hours was the 1994 battle between Conchita Martinez and Lori McNeil. But today, two competitors went toe-to-toe for 169 absorbing minutes, beating that previous mark by 14 minutes. The Centre Court's standing ovation for both women was fully merited.
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the legend
joyful rogger fedder
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Serena battles to win classic semi
Road to the final - Serena Williams
1st round: Stuttering Serena passes first test 2nd round Serena sweeps into third round 3rd round: Serena storms into fourth round 4th round: Serena scorches through Quarter-final: Serena gains crushing revenge Semi-final: Serena battles to win classic semi No 3. Seed Venus Williams has not dropped a single set on her road to the final. 1st Round: Venus off to a flyer 2nd Round: Venus power batters Bondarenko Venus William d. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-0, 6-4 Williams was untouchable on serve, conceding just two points, while each of Suarez Navarro's service games was a long deuce affair, especially the opening game, which went on for five minutes. Clearly, Venus was tiring of all this when, at set point, she settled it with an ace. 4th Round: Ivanovic injury sends Venus through Venus Williams d. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) (13), 6-1, 0-1, retired The 12th seed was all but blasted off No.1 Court in the first set by the tournament favourite and defending champion Venus Williams in their fourth round match. Feature: Venus sympathy over Ivanovic injury Quarter-final:Venus too hot for Radwanska Semi-final: Venus destroys Safina in 51 minutes |
Dementieva disappointed at missed chance
Elena Dementieva loses in the semi-final to Serena Williams. Elena Dementieva could not hide her disappointment as she pinpointed her biggest regret about losing an epic Wimbledon semi-final to Serena Williams after being match point up at one stage. The 27-year-old Russian, now a losing semi-finalist here two years running, was in reflective mood at her post-match press conference as she said: "Maybe I should have taken a bit more risk on the match point. I should have gone down the line on the match point. I'm disappointed with the shot because I'm very surprised I didn't go down the line. "[The] passing shot is my favourite shot to make. And maybe it was too quick, so I didn't see she was moving to cover [the] cross court. She was very close to the net. I mean, down the line or even lob would work.” Dementieva's deep sighs gave away her enormous disappointment but after all that self-berating, the 4th seed did find time to focus on the positives of playing such a huge part in Wimbledon's longest-ever ladies' singles semi-final, saying: “I think it was a very close match, and we both were playing very well today. It was a good fight.” Her assessment was that it had been her "best match on grass" and "the best match we ever played against each other". "I don't think it was the last chance."After such a solid performance, the Olympic gold medallist’s confidence seemed greater rather than dented. She said her fighting spirit was “still here” and added: "Last year, I was a little bit more nervous than today, and I couldn't really play my game against Venus [in last year’s semi-final]. "But today from the beginning I was very positive. I knew exactly what to expect from her. We played lots of matches before, so I was ready to play. And it was a good match.” It’s beholden on losing semi-finalists to be somewhat stoical, and Dementieva achieved this with notable elegance, saying: “The way I was playing is more important than the result.” But then she was quick to dismiss suggestions that she would have no better chance than this to win a Grand Slam: “I don't think that it was my best chance. I don't think it was the last chance.” In fact, she said, her game is very much on the up. “Only by playing these kind of matches can you improve. [These are] the players that I want to beat, to win a Grand Slam. You have this experience playing a very close match against Serena, I think it's very positive. I'm gonna watch this match again. I'm gonna take some positive things from it and go forward.” |
Serena forced into titanic scrap
It was the longest women’s semi-final in the Open era at Wimbledon and it was, according to all who saw it, a real belter. The women’s tournament had been fairly predictable until this point but when the former champion took on the former French and US Open finalist, they came up with a classic from first ball to last. Williams is used to this winning Grand Slam titles business – she has 10 of them, after all. There have been times when she has not been at her fittest or best prepared and yet still she has managed to win the title. With a champion’s spirit and unshakeable self-belief, she dares the opposition to beat her and usually, they take fright and run for the hills. But Williams when she is fit and ready is all but unstoppable. Dementieva, on the other hand, is one of the tour’s finest runners up. Hampered for most of her career by a first serve that could barely knock the skin off a custard, she has also been gripped by nerves at critical moments. When she lost the French Open final in 2004, winning just three games against Anastasia Myskina, she left in tears muttering, “I hate my serve.” The powder puff serve that invariably went to the forehand side had been replaced by a reliable and dependable shot that could earn a few cheap points and could dig her out of trouble. It could not compete with Williams’s 20 aces – and Dementieva did throw in eight double faults – but it was not longer a weakness. |
Serena takes epic in her stride
Serena William giving it her all on Centre Court. For a woman who had just come through the longest women’s semi-final on record, squeezing past Elena Dementieva, the world No.4, 8-6 in the third set, Serena Williams was looking remarkably relaxed. Dementieva had led by a set and had held a match point but Williams, in her own inimitable fashion, had found a way to survive. The effort of the afternoon’s work had not exhausted her and the thought of playing her sister for the 21st time did not seem to faze her. It was just another day in the life of a serial Grand Slam champion. “I think today she did well,” Williams said calmly of the Russian’s ferocious challenge. “I definitely think she played her best game. I've never seen her serve so well in my life. I think her second serves were in the upper 90s [mph], sometimes hundreds. To keep that up consistently for three sets is not very easy. I just think that she definitely played her best, personal best tennis today. “I think she's definitely always been a great player. Talk about consistent. She's had such a good year already this year and really improved her game. You have to really appreciate that and like that.” There were times when Williams did not appear to like anything that Dementieva had to offer, not at all. She had to scrap harder than she had anticipated to claim the second set and then was on the ropes in the third. Relying on her serve – she racked up 20 aces – she just about made up for the inconsistencies in her ground strokes. But she knows she needs to find her range again on her forehand if she is to challenge her sister on Saturday. “My forehand didn't show up today,” she said. “I think he went to Hawaii. But I've called him and asked her, I should say, to come back for the final. Hopefully she'll be back. I didn't hit my best today. But, you know, it's always good to win when one of your stroke's on vacation.” With or without a forehand, Williams was just happy to be back in the final. Whether she had won easily in straight sets or taken the scenic route as she did against Dementieva, having the chance to have another crack at the Wimbledon title was all that mattered. “As long as you come out with a big W, which can be Wilson, Williams or Wimbledon, I guess that's what matters,” she said. So now there is just the small matter of family honours to be sorted out before the Williams sisters’ work is done in SW19. Venus is attempting to win her sixth title – Serena has only won twice – but that does not make her the overwhelming favourite. Going into the final, the sisters are level on 10 matches apiece in their career rivalry and even when it comes to Wimbledon finals, they have played against each other four times and each won twice. “I feel like going into this final I have nothing to lose,” Serena said. “I feel like obviously she's playing the best tennis at this tournament. Start with that, and then just keep positive and go with it. So I think that if I can do that, then it will be good. “I’ll just play my game. You know, don't play like I did today, get caught too much near the Royal Box or in the Royal Box, saying ‘hi’ to the Duchess too much. Maybe that will help me out.” And given that the sisters share everything in life, would she like the two of them to end their careers with their match record even? Er, no. “Would I like it to end even?” she asked incredulously. “Of course not. Then I wouldn't win. I'm sure she feels the same.” Stand by for another cracking family showdown on Saturday. | |||||
Match analysis: Ladies' semi-finals
In the rounds leading up to the semi-finals, Serena Williams hit an incredible 40 aces and only nine double faults. In contrast, Elena Dementieva hit 14 aces and 33 double faults. These statistics alone give us good insight into how each player has battled through each round of the tournament. The American relies heavily on her serve and looks to be aggressive when she returns, whereas the Russian is happy to get the rallies going to make the most of her strong ground strokes. Williams had to come from a set down against the powerful baseliner, and survive one match point, using up every last drop of energy she had on a hot and humid day to overcome the Russian in the longest semi-final match in Wimbledon history. Williams is always prepared for the big occasion and despite losing three of her previous four encounters against Dementieva, she maintained her unbeaten record in Grand Slams against the Russian. The Russian won the first set in a tiebreak, relying on her powerful groundstrokes from behind the baseline, and looking to move up the court once she had Serena on the back foot. The fourth seed won one more point on her first serve than Serena, and hit three fewer unforced errors. The second set went to Williams, who won three more points than Dementieva to force a deciding set. The final set was the longest and most exciting of the match and lasted 62 minutes. Dementieva got 71% of her first serves in play, mixed up her game by coming to the net more. She was the first to break serve and also earned herself a match point. But what the statistics do not show is how she started to lose her grip on the match by getting overexcited and losing her focus towards the end of the match. The aggressive gameplan enabled the number two seed to play to her strengths as she was able to hit eight aces (the same number she hit in the second set), and win 22 out of 25 first service points, far more then in the previous set. The American also came to the net more in the third set then in the first two combined, putting her doubles experience with sister Venus to good use. Of the 10 times she ventured in, she won seven times. Keeping the points short with big first serves and returns followed by an early strike into the open spaces or back behind her opponent was Serena’s plan. Dementieva came within one point of the final by keeping the ball in play and driving Serena behind the baseline to stop her getting any power into her shots. Venus Williams went into the other semi-final having never lost in the final four at Wimbledon. In contrast, her opponent, Dinara Safina, who won their last encounter on clay in Rome, had never been past the third round here before. The eagerly awaited match turned out to be a one-sided contest lasting only 51 minutes, five minutes shorter then the average length of one of the sets in Serena’s semi-final victory. The 6-1, 6-0 scoreline against the current world number one demonstrated just how good the five-time champion is at the All England Club. Safina won 12 points in the first set and only eight in the second set, winning barely 30% of her first service points and 38% of her second serve points. Venus amazingly only hit one unforced error throughout the match, winning 80% of the points on her first serve and 77% on her second. The match consisted of 74 points, 163 fewer than Serena had to play in her semi-final. This match was by far Venus’s best Wimbledon performance as she used her height, reach, speed and power against the No.1 seed to edge closer to the possibility of three consecutive Wimbledon titles. |
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Preview: S. Williams v Dementieva
Serena Williams smiles after her quarter-final victory over Victoria Azarenka. However much the Williams sisters try to distance themselves from the theory, popular wisdom has it that Venus and Serena have been the locked-on favourites to reach the final from the moment the draw was made in SW19. Both are former world number ones, both are former champions and both, when they are fit and focused, are fearsome competitors. Now both sisters stand one match away from the family reunion. To make her date with her big sis, Serena must beat Elena Dementieva, a feat she has achieved five times in eight meetings over the years. And given her current form – improving round by round and yet to drop a set – all indications are that she is ready to do it again. Only Neuza Silva has managed to come close to stretching Williams and, even then, she could only do it for one set. But that was in the first round when Williams was not at her best – and nor did she expect to be; she was planning to hit her peak in the middle of the second week. Williams has the great advantage of knowing just how the business of winning major titles feels. Yes, there are nerves, but there is also the knowledge that she has done this 10 times before – and twice at Wimbledon. That can settle even the most jittery butterfly in the old tum. “I've played her a lot the past 12 months, so I definitely know Elena's game,” Williams said. “She gets a lot of balls back, and she's a power player. It will be a really good match-up to me. She's playing really well on the grass. She hasn't been stretched too much in any of her matches either, so she's kind of like going undercover, you know, and bam.” Dementieva is hoping that she finds the “bam” in her game to give her old rival the run around. Of her three career wins over Williams, two came last year on hard courts as she moved towards the greatest moment of her sporting life so far – Dementieva won Olympic gold for Russia. Since they hung the medal around her neck, she has never been the same. “I think last season winning the Olympic gold medal was a really big moment for me,” she said, “and gave me a lot of confidence. So I'm just trying to keep this confidence for my career.” She has also developed a new tactic when facing the biggest and the best on the show courts: concentrate on what you can do and leave your opponent to worry about her own game. So far, the strategy has worked like a dream and Dementieva, too, has barely broken a bead of perspiration on her way to the semi-finals. “I just trying to play very aggressive and trying not to think a lot about what I have to do against this player or that player, just trying to focus on my game,” she said. “I know it surprised a lot of people that I'm still working hard and trying to improve my game. But this is what is so interesting for me about tennis, that I'm still trying to learn a lot about my game. And I feel very open to change something in my game.” “I think I'm a better player now,” she said. “I was young, and I feel like I knew I could improve. I definitely think I'm a better player now.” That will not help Dementieva sleep easy on the eve of the semi-final. She lost that match 6-2, 6-2. And that was before Williams improved. | |||||
Dementieva destroys Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone during her quarter-final defeat by Elena Dementieva. Another year, another semi-final – Elena Dementieva is beginning to make a habit of appearing in the last four at Wimbledon. Given that she used to regard grass courts with suspicion, this is not a bad effort. The Russian eased into her appointed place – she is the fourth seed, after all – with a 66-minute rout of Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2. It puts Dementieva through to her sixth Grand Slam semi-final and also flags up a rather frustrating statistic for her. This is her 43rd appearance at a major tournament and, despite reaching two finals – the US and French Opens in 2004 – she has never come home with the trophy. Now she is in danger of breaking Jana Novotna’s unwanted record – the Czech won Wimbledon at her 45th challenge at a Grand Slam tournament. No one Grand Slam champion has ever had to wait as long for their first title. Certainly getting to the last four seemed simple enough. Dementieva has yet to drop a set as she has tripped lightly through the draw. No one has managed to stretch her, much less threaten her so far. Schiavone, then, never really had much of a chance. At the age of 29, Schiavone is what you might call a veteran campaigner. She has been living out of a suitcase for the past 12 years, travelling the world in pursuit of titles and ranking points. So far it has brought her nearly $4million in prize money but only the one, solitary title won back in 2007. Where Schiavone shines is in a team environment and as the linchpin of the Italian Fed Cup team. Her fighting spirit and simple refusal to give up on any cause, however forlorn, has helped her lead her country to three finals in four years. This year, she is gearing her season to be ready for the final in November – and that makes losing a Grand Slam quarter-final a little easier to bear. Schiavone has been coming to Wimbledon for nine years but, until now, had never got beyond the third round – and even then, she only got that far once. This year, though, she finally seems to have got the hang of this grass court mularky and reached the semi-finals in ‘S-Hertogenbosch. It was enough to give her confidence but not enough to trouble Dementieva. As the Russian moved swiftly to a 5-0 lead, the wheels fell off Schiavone’s game plan. Dementieva simply hit the ball harder, cleaner and more consistently than Schiavone. It took the Italian 24 minutes to win her first game – an achievement that brought a ripple of relieved applause from the crowd. But from that starting point, she could never really work up any head of steam. If an opportunity presented itself, she failed to take it and on the rare occasion that she did capitalise, she could not hang on to her advantage. Even Dementieva’s nine double faults did not give the Italian enough of a toehold from which to launch a serious assault on her rival. She did hold eight break points on the Russian’s serve but, converting only one of them, she could never catch Dementieva on her march through to the semi-final.
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Dementieva relishes Serena rematch
The answer is, yes, we did. Dementieva and Williams have been chasing each other around the world for the past six years and, these days, they have a habit of bumping into each other at the sharp end of the tournaments that matter. In Melbourne in January, it was Williams who won the semi-final battle. At the Beijing Olympics the previous year, it was Dementieva who won the quarter-final. On Thursday they will be at it again after Dementieva beat Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2 to set up the appointment. “I think it's always very interesting to play against someone like Serena,” Dementieva said. “She's a great champion, and it's going to be a good experience for me anyway. I just want to see how tough I can be out there against her. I’m just looking for a good fight.” In the past, fighting on grass was not the Russian’s forte. Almost any other surface was preferable to the green stuff and when she first played Williams here in 2003, she was clobbered in straight sets. This time around, she thinks it will be a different match. “It was a long time ago,” Dementieva said. “That was my first experience playing against her on grass on Centre Court. I feel like I had a good experience playing here in Wimbledon for so many years, and finally I can say that I like to play on grass. It's a big difference. And I think I improved as a player.” Certainly she had improved enough to take care of anything Schiavone had to throw at her. The playing surface was irrelevant – it was simply a matter of a serial semi-finalist doing what was necessary to book her ticket to the penultimate round of the competition. Last year, the Russian got to the semi-finals and was beaten by Venus Williams. This time, she will be hoping that while the situation is similar, the change in personnel will produce a better outcome. “It was a great experience being in the semis last year,” she said. “But this time I'm going to play a different player and it's going to be all new. The most important thing for the next round will be to stay focused and to stay playing aggressive.” For Schiavone, her first Wimbledon quarter-final had been a case of experience over age. She may be two years older than Dementieva but reaching the last eight here was new to her. So when she stepped out on to the huge No.1 Court, it must have been a lonely experience. “You are small over there [on the court],” she said with a wry smile. “But I think it is experience. If you do this all the time you feel better, you know everything that's going on. So today was tough in this kind of thing, so I take this experience for me. “I think is not easy to play always on the outside [courts]. It's not like Centre Court or Court No.1. I think I should play some more important matches on Centre Court or Court No.1. Today I couldn't play my best, but I can't say that was not good tournament, and I want to take these experiences for the next one.” |
Friday, June 26, 2009
Dementieva cruises into second week
Elena Dementieva required only three games over the minimum as she defeated Russian qualifier Regina Kulikova 6-1, 6-2 in less than an hour. The fourth seed combined her trademark flowing forehands with equally impressive backhands, while her famously fragile service now has the strength and variety – if not yet the consistency – for it to be a weapon on grass. Despite sharing a common nationality, the two Russians are worlds apart in all other respects. Dementieva is a relative veteran on the women’s circuit at 27 and along with Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina, will be seen as an under-achiever until she finally wins a Grand Slam. The closest she has come is near misses at the French and US Opens back in 2004. Indeed, she only has two Tier 1 titles in her trophy cabinet but took gold at the Olympics last year and has since worked her way back into the top five. While Dementieva has 100 career Slam victories to her name, Kulikova has just two, those wins coming on Monday and Wednesday as she became the only qualifier to reach the third round of this year’s women’s draw. Injuries have blighted the 20-year-old’s fledgling career, and despite support from the Swiss tennis federation due to her residency in Biel near the country’s capital, she stands at a lowly 191st in the world. Dementieva’s potted biography talks of her Grand Slam achievements: she has reached at least the semis at all four majors. Kulikova’s lists her favourite surface (hard), shot (forehand) and movie (Top Gun) – the dictionary definition of an unheralded player. The Kazakhstan native won the toss and elected to receive, hoping to capitalise on her opponent’s notoriously shaky service, and when the first ball nestled in the net, it appeared to be a canny move. This was as good as it was to get for Kulikova, however, as Dementieva ramped up her serve throughout the first game and indeed the set, alternating speed (up to 110 mph) with accuracy and excellent tactics. Her two aces came by fooling her novice opponent, one with a 90mph slice on first serve and the other with a 105mph offering straight down the middle on the second. Her running, full-stretch forehands were as impressive as ever – strong, fast, whippy and worthy of comparisons with Rafael Nadal’s – while her backhands were equally noteworthy, either of the one-handed defensive variety or the two-hander, which regularly left her opponent gasping for air as it flew right past her in a first set that was over and done before many people had settled into their seats after an early lunch. Dementieva saved the first break point against her at 1-0 in the second set, but Kulikova carved out another and took it, much to the delight of the crowd who were happy to support the underdog and were also hoping to get a longer set than the opener. This temporary blip was repeated after the 27-year-old had raced into a 4-1 lead, but again she followed up by breaking back to love, and then served out to pocket the match in less than an hour. For her to challenge the Williams sisters’ domination on grass, Dementieva will have to serve at 100% throughout and also add a little more variety of depth to her play, but on today’s showing, she is certainly at the forefront of the “best of the rest” category.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Dementieva shows no mercy to Rezai
Elena Dementieva has secured a third round place with 6-1, 6-3 defeat over France’s Aravane Rezai in fading light on No.2 Court. The Russian fourth seed, who has beaten Rezai on all four of their previous meetings, was on devastating form and showed little mercy with an array of explosive groundstrokes that picked out the deepest angles of the court. Rezai, who is ranked 50 in the world, captured her first career Tour singles title in Strasbourg this year, and whilst she matched her 27-year-old opponent in power, she could not compete in consistency. Within 27 minutes Dementieva had polished off the first set with a dazzling backhand winner. The second set promised to tell a different story when the Frenchwoman managed to break the Russian in the opening game and race to a 3-0 lead. As the baseline slog grew in intensity, so did the volume of grunts echoing around the new arena. However, there was no danger of a third set tussle. Dementieva, who reached the semi-finals last year before bowing out to eventual champion Venus Williams, recovered to win six games on the trot and claim the match in an hour and 11 minutes. |
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