Venus, Serena Williams reach Wimbledon semifinals

Published: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 1:05 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 

Only once in the last nine years has there been a Wimbledon women's final that didn't feature at least one of the Williams sisters. The sisters were the only two Grand Slam winners in the women's quarterfinals — Serena has 10 major titles and Venus seven.

The sisters have met in three Wimbledon finals, including last year. Serena has won two of the three, in 2002 and '03. They are 10-10 in career meetings.

"I would love it to be a Williams final, and so would she," Venus said. "That would be great."

The sisters' father, Richard Williams, said he is certain his daughters will be in the final again.

"I think they are both playing super well," he said. "They're playing the Williams way. And when you're playing the Williams way, it's very difficult for anyone to touch you."

Venus is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three Wimbledon titles in a row.

Venus Williams raced to a 5-0 lead against Radwanska, and finished off the first set with back-to-back aces. Williams dropped only two of 18 points on serve in the set.

"That first set for me was almost perfect," Williams said.

Story continues below

Safina, who has risen to No. 1 in the world despite never having won a Grand Slam title, struggled against the 19-year-old Lisicki. The Russian had to come from behind after double-faulting to lose the first set tiebreaker, smashing her racket to the turf and drawing a warning from the chair umpire.

"I was Santa Claus on the court, serving so many double-faults," Safina said.

Safina was down 3-2 on serve in the second set, but got the one break in the seventh game to force a third set. The 41st-ranked Lisicki received treatment on her right calf after going down 4-1 in the third. In the next game, Safina was up 40-0 before serving three straight double-faults. She still managed to hold and then broke for the match.

"I was tough mentally, that was the key today," Safina said.

The men's quarterfinals are set for Wednesday with five-time champion Roger Federer against 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic; No. 3 Andy Murray vs. Spanish wild card Juan Carlos Ferrero; 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt vs. two-time finalist Andy Roddick; and No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Tommy Haas.

Temperatures topped 90 degrees on Tuesday, with no need to close the roof on Centre Court.

Medical officials on site said they treated more than 130 people, mostly for heat-related problems. One person was taken to a hospital.

Recent comments

These Williams girls are remarkable. If only we could bottle a little...

Remarkable | June 30, 2009 at 9:27 a.m.

Image
Kirsty Wigglesworth, Associated Press

Venus Williams of U.S. chase a return from Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their quarter final match at Wimbledon Tuesday.

previousnext

Latest comments

If the Oly v. Skyline game was a fluke, how do you explain Oly doubling your...

"This problem is a lot worse that what we believed in the beginning.." Sound...

Jazz win 6th in 7 games

Hey back off cowboy he has a right to say what he feels this a jazz fan blog....

I wasn't doggin clemens and eaton. I was just curious who the girls are and...

Keith will make a great judge. He is bright and articulate and has the right...

Joe is my hero. We could only hope to replicate him in other locales.

BYU says Hall incident resolved

I too, am an out of state transplant. I have never heard so many people who...

What a loss for Utah. Judge Bench has quietly and effectively serve Utah in...

Jazz's Matthews draws praise

Tell me the last time ANY NBA player was injured diving on the floor for a...

Max apologized and thats really all he can do, he cant take back the words he...

Advertisements