Murray beaten in mixed doubles semi

Jamie Murray and Liezel Huber In the wake of Andy Murray's defeat in the men's singles, his elder brother Jamie exited the mixed doubles tournament at the semi-final stage as he and partner Liezel Huber lost in straight sets to 9th seeds Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-2, 7-5. Both ladies lost their serves in the opening set, which meant the match was level-pegging. The subsequent loss of both Murray’s and Huber’s service games left Groenefeld serving for the first set 5-2. It was all looking rather easy for the Bahamas/Germany pairing. They bagged the set with an instinctive net response by Knowles which looped to the baseline before Huber could race back to retrieve. The second set was more of a battle, though Murray continued to make heavy weather of his service. Knowles became increasingly predatory at the net, working another break point after a rat-a-tat volley. The unseeded pair had a chance on the Groenefeld serve, but supreme defending by the ninth seeds kept the pretenders at bay. Murray and Huber drew level at 4-4 with a strong game, and this might have been a turning point in the match for them. But it wasn’t. A searing, splitting service return down the centre line gave the seeds the opportunity to serve out the match. It took a couple of games more, but the result was never really in question. In the other semi-final, it was formbook all the way as top seeds Leander Paes of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe saw off the competition from 12th seeds Stephen Huss and Virginia Ruano Pascual in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The first set went entirely as expected with the dominant Paes and Black needing just 35 minutes to wrap it up. The second set took just one minute longer in a match that was played with friendly humour not detracting from the competitive nature one iota. Australian Huss and Spaniard Ruano Pascual have been showing exceptional form here, having knocked out the 4th seeds in the last round. But they weren’t able to make further progress. A break in the seventh game of the second set gave their opponents an unassailably strong position. Paes was aggressive and quick, all over the net, poaching anything that moved, whilst Black mopped up the long shots. Huss served well at 3-5 to keep the 12th seeds in the match, the pair taking their time and making good shots, despite the best lobbing and angular efforts of the favourites. But Paes was not to be so generous on his own service game; not even a neat reflexive pick-up by Huss off his ankles into space was enough. The No.1 seeds earned two match points, and Paes took the first with an ace down the line.

Williamses power into doubles final

Serena and Venus team up The Williams sisters’ domination of the ladies events continues after they destroyed top seeds Liezel Huber and Cara Black 6-1, 6-2, with an exhibition of poise and power to reach the doubles final. Venus and Serena will defend their crown just hours after facing each other in the singles final for the second year running. And Aussie pair Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs who beat Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual will not look forward to playing the Americans on this form. The Williamses did have a rather slow start to the match with Venus fortunate to hold serve in the first game of the match. But after that they never looked back with some terrific returns from Serena allowing the sisters to break the Huber serve at the first time of asking. Some fine volleying from Serena allowed her to hold serve before powerful play from both sisters led to them breaking Black in the next game. At 5-0, Huber did finally manage to hold and that prompted the No.1 Court crowd’s largest cheer of the match. But Serena closed out the first set and the Williams’ big-hitting continued in the second as they raced to a 4-0 lead. Black and Huber both managed to hold serve as the Zimbabwean/American pair, the highest ranked doubles players in the world, tried desperately to make the match a contest. But Venus held serve to see out the match in an hour and a minute and later confirmed they have taken the doubles just as seriously as the singles. “We've been so focused, and that's really been the key word this Championship,” the elder sister said. “Our focus has paid off so far.” Serena agreed: “We've been playing doubles a lot, even though we don't play every tournament. We actually have that team camaraderie. We've been getting a lot of experience, and we know what to do doubles wise.” Court 1 - Ladies' Doubles - Semifinals Cara Black ZIM (1)/ Liezel Huber USA (1) 1 2 Serena Williams USA (4)/ Venus Williams USA (4) 6 6

Top four seeds in ladies' doubles semis

Cara Black and Liezel Huber The ladies’ quarter-finals went entirely with the form-book today, with all of the top four partnerships through to the semis. After a bit of a scare, it was the number one seeds, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who eventually won through their match against 11th seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, both of Spain, in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. An early break in the first set by the Spaniards was not relinquished as the 11th seeds outplayed the top seeds, who seemed out of sorts early on, failing to make much of an impact. Not even a new set could break the pattern of play as Martinez Sanchez and Llagostera Vives raced to a 3-1 lead in the second. But this was to be the lowest point for the Zimbabwean and American pair. Black and Huber saw the chances of reclaiming their 2007 doubles crown disappearing and began to fight back, dominating the court. They came back from the brink in a style befitting their first seed status, winning the next 11 games on the trot. By the third set, they looked a completely different pair from the one that had begun the match. By now they were dancing around on court between points, with high fives and punching the air. They raced through the set without losing a game and Huber served out the match. (She returned to the same court later in the day for her mixed doubles match with Jamie Murray). Black and Huber will now face the Williams sisters in the semi-finals after the American pair beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Vania King in straight sets. Spain took the chance to redeem itself in the form of experienced number two seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. In a closely-fought tussle, they got the better of Russian pairing 19-year-old Alisa Kleybanova and 21-year-old Ekaterina Makarova, winning 6-4, 7-5. The second seeds bided their time in the first set, waiting until the ninth game to make the break of service that counted, enabling the Spaniards to close the set out on 26-year-old Medina Garrigues’s serve. The Russian pair played confidently in the second set and looked as though they might take it to a final set, as 35-year-old Ruano Pascual served to stay in the set at 4-5. But, having held to level the set, agile all-court play by the second seeds worked a break point. It was the only one they needed for a 6-5 lead. The Spaniards had to save three break points on the Medina Garrigues serve, which they did with some aplomb, before claiming the match. In the other quarter-final match, third-seeded Aussie pair Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs eventually came through against unseeded opponents Kristina Barrois and Tathiana Garbin, winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In part, the match followed a similar pattern to that of the first seeds. The number three seeds appeared lacklustre in the first set, quickly losing the first three games and only managing to win a Stubbs serve in the entire set. The pairing of Germany’s Barrois and Italy’s Garbin looked much the stronger. Fortunes changed in the second set. The third seeds started serving in a more focused and determined manner, preventing their European opponents from getting a true foothold in the set. The Australian pair broke in the fourth game and kept up the pressure. By the time 25-year-old Stosur served out the second set to love, they were back in the ascendancy. But it was short-lived as the final set turned into a mini-thriller, full of tight tennis, short shots, long lobs and spinning serves. A medical time-out after the third game for 31-year-old Tathiana Garbin for left thigh pain only heightened the tension. The third seeds finally made the critical break in the nine game, leaving Stosur to serve out to love, much as she had done in the second set.

Liezel Huber ponders her next shot