Wimbledon women’s final: Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams
What else did everyone really expect but another all-Williams Wimbledon final on Saturday?
How they got here was surely different, however. Serena Williams saved a match point and overcame Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 in 2 hours, 49 minutes — the longest women’s semifinal at Wimbledon in at least 40 years.
Venus, meanwhile, needed only 51 minutes to demolish world No. 1 Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 and reach her eighth Wimbledon final. It was the shortest women’s semifinal at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals 6-1, 6-0 40 years ago. Venus Williams has now won 20 straight matches at Wimbledon, 34 consecutive sets. She opened as the slight favorite on WagerWeb.com.
Over the last 10 years, there has been at least one sister in the final every year except for 2006, when Amelie Mauresmo beat Justin Henin. One Williams or the other has won seven of the last nine Wimbledon women’s titles, Venus in 2000, ‘01, ‘05, ‘07 and ‘08; Serena in ‘02 and ‘03. Last year Venus beat Serena in the final; in ‘02 and ‘03, Serena beat Venus in the final. Venus is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.
“A fourth final — it’s so exciting. It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama,” Venus said, referring to Serena’s semifinal. “It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams.”
Serena has won 12 consecutive Wimbledon matches against people that aren’t her sister and has won every set in this tournament other than the one against Dementieva.
This will be the eighth time the two have squared off with a Grand Slam title on the line. Serena holds the edge in those matches, posting a 5-2 record over Venus. Serena also has the edge in Grand Slam titles overall, with 10, while Venus has seven. The two have played 20 times on the WTA Tour, with each winning 10. They have met twice this year, both on hardcourts, and each won once.
“The more we play, the better it gets and this one is for everything,” Serena said. “This is what we dreamed of when we were growing up in Compton 20 years ago. The final is going to be super intense and would I like it to end even? Of course not. Then I wouldn’t win and I’m sure she feels the same about me.”
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