Wimbledon - Venus romps into all-Williams final

Eurosport - Fri, 03 Jul 08:27:00 2009

Reigning champion Venus Williams demolished world number one Dinara Safina 6-1 6-0 to set up a clash with her sister Serena in the Wimbledon final.

TENNIS Venus Williams Wimbledon - 0

The five-times Wimbledon champion was in imperious form and brushed aside the first seeded Russian with an air of disdain.

Earlier, Serena Williams had beaten Elena Dementieva in an epic contest on Centre Court and the Williams sisters will now face each other in an All England Club final for the fourth time.

It was another sweltering day in SW19, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees on a dry and sunny afternoon, but Williams barely broke sweat in thrashing her opponent in just 51 minutes.

Williams began the match with a serve of 112mph, and followed it with the fastest delivery of the tournament at 124mph to consolidate her early break in the second game.

Safina knew that she must dramatically improve her serve against the number three seed if she were to have any chance of making a first final appearance at Wimbledon.

But the Russian's demise seemed inevitable as early as the opening game, when the 23-year-old was broken to love.

The American pounced on some indecision from Safina, who looked hesitant and nervy, to ruthlessly seize the initiative from the outset.

From there on Williams maintained her ascendency, and was unflinching in her attacking approach, as Safina grew ever more despondent at the other end.

In all, number three seed Williams broke her opponent's serve five times as she bludgeoned first serves and big forehands to utterly confound the Russian.

After being broken comprehensively in the second and fourth games, Safina could only watch on helplessly as Williams hammered winner after winner to clinch the first set in just 26 minutes.

The solitary game which Safina mustered, at her third attempt to hold serve, was still a real struggle, with Williams lashing a forehand long with her opponent racked with self doubt at 40-30.

If the opening seven games were one-sided, the second set was an absolute thumping, with the American rattling through it without conceding a game.

Safina was broken in the opening game of the set, and her look of bemusement and sheer embarrassment at her coaches exemplified the manner of her capitulation.

The Centre Court crowd, who had been left in raptures after the excitement of the first semi-final, were left underwhelmed and subdued at the lack of a battle which unfolded.

Despite suffering the ignominy of this defeat, Safina will remain the world number one regardless of whether Venus or Serena Williams seals victory in the final on Saturday.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

Comment 194 - 213 of 253

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. I am not Williams fans and I actually wanted the­ Russian duo to beat them in the semifinal. But the­ Williams deserve the title. It is not the Williams'­ faults if they dominate the game but the rest of the­ players that should learn from them. For example,­ Safina should learn from the Williams duo about how to­ handle the pressure, how to handle the nerve and how to­ vary the techniques as what Venus did. If someone beat­ you then it is not the faults of her that you lose. You­ are the one who should learn from her.

    From Dony, on Fri 3 Jul 8:03AM

  2. World #1; i don't think so....Awesome from the best­ player out there; come on Venus; let's see you win­ your 6th Wimbledon singles title; pleeeeese..........

    From Fjk, on Fri 3 Jul 8:00AM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    YAS AREET BYES. ATS AFFAY ARLAY AN THA MARNAN OND AHV­ HUD NAE SLIP. SA YAS MEET GAT A BREEK FA US

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 7:34AM

  4. Safina is World No. 1 simply coz out of all the women­ on tour she plays most consistently at a high level i.e­ semis and finals(a win here and there) in most of her­ tournaments; and she plays many tournaments. Serena and­ Venus play 1/3 of the tournaments played by the­ majority of women on tour, BUT, always reach finals or­ win their tournaments thats why they are No. 2 and 3.­ The rest of the top 10 might play in as many­ tournaments as Safina, however, they lack­ consistency...a win in one, 2nd round exit in the next,­ up and down.

    A top 100 female player can enter the­ top ten very easily, eg. I see Lisicki an unseeded­ player in the top 10, in the next year...watch this­ space.

    However, in the men's game? totally­ different story...LOL you've got to work your @#$%­ off to maintain your top 10 rank, you have to play at a­ high level most of the time in tournaments.

    Thats my­ theory:)

    From Dosh, on Fri 3 Jul 4:40AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    you can find many hot gir ls on__C lassymingle C om_.­ They are looking for wealt hy love rs. and maybe you­ are the next..

    From Xiaolian C, on Fri 3 Jul 4:24AM

  6. Venus was "in the zone" yesterday...one­ unforced error in the whole match? that's­ unbelievably crazy!

    Serena was very lucky...just made­ it through Dementieva through persistent pressure and­ I'll be honest Dementieva gifted her the match­ through unforced errors and succumbed to the pressure.­ Serena has been down that road many times, so­ experience paid off. Broke down at the last moment and­ couldn't finish it off with a break in the final­ set. You have to finish what you begin; thats what­ makes champions..otherwise you'll be known as a­ very good player but you won't have a solid place­ in history with your name on a Grandlslam.

    Serena v­ Venus? From yesterday's performance, Venus i think­ will take it. But you never know, maybe yesterday was­ an off day for Serena, save the best for last:)

    From Dosh, on Fri 3 Jul 4:20AM

  7. These girls always put up a fantastic show whenever­ they play against each other. Wimbledon Final is a­ bonus. Flip a coin for me. I like both so good luck to­ both. Oh and Safina got wrecked LOL. Not a good example­ of how a world's #1 womens player should play. :)

    From GamersLove, on Fri 3 Jul 4:14AM

  8. what a legend.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 3 Jul 3:24AM

  9. come on Venus!

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 3 Jul 3:24AM

  10. Yes, I love Serena . Hope she'll win against Venus

    From lutzrpen, on Fri 3 Jul 2:28AM

  11. I've been following professional tennis for over­ 30yrs and I've never seen a no.1 player beaten so­ thoroughly in a GS match. How can Safina legitimately­ be considered in the no.1 player now. She embarassed­ herself and women's tennis.

    From Mark V, on Fri 3 Jul 2:13AM

  12. it is so unfortunate that the internet is the perfect­ medium for cowardly closet racists to spill their bile.­ So the two black sisters are in the final...its not­ their fault if there are no better competitiors out­ their...
    i bet all the racists out their beating­ themselves up right now.. a williams won the us open,­ australian opn and anothe wimbledon....

    if u dont like­ them keep ur bile to urself... i am not elena's­ greatest fan but i had to applaud her effort against­ serena...

    live and let live i say...if ur racists and­ that doesnt suit u...u can go jump of a bridge

    From otti n, on Fri 3 Jul 2:12AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    well done penis williams

    she is ugly though

    From mike, on Fri 3 Jul 1:49AM

  14. Wow...What an embarassing and humiliating loss for­ Safina. She put up absolutely no fight in this match.­ She couldn't match Venus' power and had nothing­ else to counter. Makes me question her strategy and­ her committment. I liked Safina before but this match­ really made her look bad. Its a shame. She needs a­ new coach for strategy and a coach for mental­ toughness. I've never seen such a talented player­ choke under pressure so often as Safina. At this rate,­ she'll never win a GS. And she is definitely not­ worthy of the no.1 ranking.

    From Mark V, on Fri 3 Jul 1:39AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    FACKAN BARAN CANTS. NAE PEESH TAWKAN AT AW THA NEET.­ BARAN CANTS

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 1:27AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    AH WEESH AH WAZ THOR WAY YAS . MEE MATE AS HINKAN EIS­ SYDKEECH NOO. AVE TELT AM ATS THA DRANK THO

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 1:14AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ATTAH DAE YA FART OOT SPANK BABALS FRAM YAR BATTAM????

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 1:02AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    246.james mccann mcCANT talk nicely
    james mccann­ mcCANT­ talk sense
    james mccann mc@#$% derisely
    james­ mccann­ mc@#$% you're dense

    THAR YA AR HEEDI. AHVE­ DAN AT FAR YA LOSS

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 1:01AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    YAS UR A BARAN CANTS THA NEET. NAE FAN AT AW

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 1:00AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    HUV ANAYAS FOT ABOOT HUVIN A BOABY OP YAR BATTAM???­

    WEEEEEEL HUV YAS??????

    From JEEMS, on Fri 3 Jul 12:51AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account