Wimbledon - Serena into final after epic

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 22:01:00 2009

Serena Williams recovered from match point down to beat Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-7 7-5 8-6 in a nail-biting semi-final at Wimbledon.

Serena Williams - Wimbledon 2009 - 0

The match lurched in fortunes continuously on the way to becoming the longest women's semi-final in the Open era at two hours and 49 minutes.

Williams's victory set up a fourth all-Williams final at the All England Club, after Serena's sister Venus thrashed world number one Dinara Safina 6-1 6-0 in the other semi-final.

After a low-key women's tournament to-date, the thrilling clash was played in energy-sapping conditions on Centre Court, with temperatures soaring to 34 degrees.

The opening two games saw both serves broken with neither player able to settle or find sufficient rhythm, but from then on the contest was of the highest quality.

Dementieva won the first set, having seized control of the tie break to win it 7-4 after 12 cagey games, with both players battling hard to gain the ascendency.

Williams hit back to take the second set, an incredibly tense affair in which two breaks of serve were exchanged before the crucial advantage was taken by the American in the 11th game.

Under intense pressure the twice Wimbledon champion closed out the set to level the match after Dementieva had squandered numerous opportunities to hit back.

The Russian edged closer to victory with a crucial break of serve in the fourth game of the deciding set, but she then imploded under the scrutiny of her opponent's advances, and Williams broke straight back in the following game.

Williams held her nerve impressively with a crisp volley to save a match point at 5-4 down, and the American battled her way through a gutsy service hold.

The final set was finely poised throughout, and it took until the 13th game for Williams to finally make the crucial breakthrough.

Having capitulated on her serve, Dementieva had nothing left to give as Williams stepped in to close the match out.

The American held her composure superbly in the final game with a controlled service hold, which prompted a shriek of delight from her at its conclusion.

Given Venus's serene progress in her semi-final, conceding just one game, the onus will be on Serena to recover her energy for Saturday's showpiece match.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

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  1. 3 million my arse..

    From Gavin F, on Thu 2 Jul 10:58PM

  2. @ LEE, or Bruce Lee or whatever u call yourself, you­ are too skinny to be broken by Serena,unless u want her­ to commit MURDER !!!!!

    From Flex, on Thu 2 Jul 10:46PM

  3. i get 3 million a year thanks, so stop being racist­ against me !!! just because am white you all racist­ against me am so upset!!

    From lee, on Thu 2 Jul 10:31PM

  4. lmfao all i said si they are ugly gorillas, your all­ thinking it, just scared to say so, i don't like­ them i have never liked them it don't make me­ racist for not liking them, they do have lots of money­ , thats fine they played
    yed the game and make money­ but they honestly do look like ugly gorillas , so sorry­ if you think they don't hey not my problem is it??

    From lee, on Thu 2 Jul 10:30PM

  5. RACISTS?JUST WATCH ON SAT.FINALS,OK...AFTER THAT­ FINALS,THEY WILL GET 2MILLION PUONDS,WOW!WAT A FEELING­ OF THE WILLIMSES FAMILY,THEY ARE ENJHOYING AGAIN THE­ PRIZE...HW ABT. U RACISTS,WHAT DID U GET,NOTHING­ PRIZE..UR JUST ONLY SINNING!

    From vhicthorwood, on Thu 2 Jul 10:28PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    EVEN YOU TELL THEM THEY ARE GORILLIAS,BUT THEY HAVE A­ LOT OF MONEY....

    From vhicthorwood, on Thu 2 Jul 10:22PM

  7. THEY ARE MILLIONAIRES,HW ABT. U RACISTS?MAY UR R JUST­ LIVING IN A SLAMS

    From vhicthorwood, on Thu 2 Jul 10:20PM

  8. seanlal to funny m8 yes am a virgin and i need to be­ broken in can you do that for me please?? poor little­ boy, i would not bed a gorilla unless you paid me like­ million pounds , its not racist to call somebody ungly­ gorilla get a brain will you people, this is a fact­ though all black people are racist that is a fact of­ life. now seanlal you need to get a body as you look­ like a fat @#$% to me!!

    From lee, on Thu 2 Jul 10:19PM

  9. BUT THEY HAVE A LOT OF MONEY,THEY DESERVED IT.....

    From vhicthorwood, on Thu 2 Jul 10:18PM

  10. RACIST?EVEN U TELL THEM THAT THEY ARE BLACK OR WHATEVER­ TERMS U CAND DEFINE THEM.....U KNOW THEY ARE LIVING IN­ A GOOD MANSIONS,THEY HAVE A LOT OF MONEY,THEY ARE­ ADVERTISERS,THEY ARE VERY POPULAR....

    From vhicthorwood, on Thu 2 Jul 10:15PM

  11. when psychos like the racists on this board don't­ use their drugs, they end up on peaceful boards like­ this and run crazy. i'm a proud black and am proud­ of it. psychos like samm and lee obviously lost money­ to Maddoff and are looking for cheap ways of getting­ away from their real world. shame on the moderators of­ this board. if any white player got this bashing the­ board would have been shut down. a big shame on you­ guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

    From Kehi, on Thu 2 Jul 10:11PM

  12. Nowadays everything is suposed to be racist.... all­ those people who think that the wiliams are the top­ players in the milkyway are completelly wrong...today­ Serena wiliams was so lucky to win and I think­ Dementieva was much more classy than Serena and it was­ a almost predictable to think that she would win­ but...unlucky Dementieva, it was serena the One who­ went thinking that she was the real winer.

    From George T, on Thu 2 Jul 10:11PM

  13. Serena the highest earner in women sports shows why­ she's the best in the World! Those who are jealous,­ can eat crow!

    From Vic M, on Thu 2 Jul 10:01PM

  14. Lee you are an idiot!!

    And I would not kick any of­ them out of bed!!!

    I bet you are a virgin who sits on­ his pc all day poking fun at people who have a LIFE,­ get one!

    From seanlal, on Thu 2 Jul 9:59PM

  15. Womens tennis is finished..........TWO MEN IN THE­ FINAL!!

    From , on Thu 2 Jul 9:56PM

  16. Fashion Cow. Mooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    From tom h, on Thu 2 Jul 9:54PM

  17. SHE_MALE!!!!

    From , on Thu 2 Jul 9:53PM

  18. Guys... sorry for you all losers!
    like it or not, when­ they put the gear up, no one in the woman game can­ stand up! Hennin was lucky and did profit from­ unhealthy moment of the Williams and gave the racists­ what they were looking for, and she is being praise as­ she put her marks on the game! I guess she was herself­ surprise of her performance and decide to quit while up­ there instead of fighting and the williams are!
    The­ success of these sisters is to envy as even off courts­ they seem to be successful and enjoying lijfe! Taking­ back the racket when they want and winning as if they­ have been training all the time!
    Safina did her best­ to prove the ranking all wrong... that was nice to see!­ same display she showed during the AO final against­ serena!
    Azarenka, Safina, Kutzi, Dementieva and many­ more all play Power... and they kill their other­ opponents with that powers! Surprisingly the Williams­ are hated because they play power... WoW...­ ridiculous!
    Enjoy the final and father Williams will­ miss the final as he predicted! Nice for him!
    Cheers­ all!

    From hervé a, on Thu 2 Jul 9:52PM

  19. why is everybody so upset at the the ugly sisters­­ winning?? they do look like gorillas ulgy as @#$%­­ gorillas at that, it don't make me racist for­­ stating facts about the ugly sister, they ugly i never­­ mentioned colour or where they are from, just look­­ closely at there pictures especially the one on this­­ report, thats a gorilla in a woman's tennis outfit­­ come on guys get with the programme its all good here­­ hehehehehe!! its just fun

    From lee, on Thu 2 Jul 9:51PM

  20. welldone girls !cant wait for the final!!i tip venus to­ win cause serena will be too fatigued after her epic­ encounter!!...

    From sean d, on Thu 2 Jul 9:49PM
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