Venus, Serena Victorious, Will Meet Zheng, Dementieva in Wimbledon Semi's!

July 1st, 2008

London, England

The women's Quarter-Finals were played today and there were no really big surprises in action. Both Venus and Serena Williams continued on in their quest for a third Wimbledon final against each other after facing off in both 2002 and 2003. They moved one step closer today as both reached the Semi-Finals. This is Venus' 7th trip to the Wimbledon Semi-Finals. For Serena, it is her 4th time.

Venus started on Court 1 against Tamarine Tanasugarn and no one really gave the underdog a chance and niether did Venus. Williams tore into her opponent and used her better serve and harder ground strokes to move Tanasugarn all over the court. Venus looked her deadly self as she made sure she would continue on in hopes of a 5th Wimbledon crown. Venus won, 6-4, 6-3. Younger sister Serena was playing the more dangerous opponent in rising star, Agnieszka Radwanska, but Williams didn't show any signs of pressure and easily dispatched the young Polish player with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Serena defeated Agnieszka's younger sister in the 2nd Round.

The Williamses opponents in the Semi-Finals will be surprises. Elend Dementieva who is making her first Wimbledon Semi-Final will take on Venus and Serena takes on Jie Zheng, the first Chinese player ever in the Semi-Finals of a slam. The Williamses are the heavy favorites, but we will see what can happen. Jie Zheng fought hard for a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Nicole Vaidasova and Elena Dementieva battled to a 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3 win over Nadia Petrova.

The women's Semi-Finals will be played on Thursday.

Results:

Centre Court:

(5)Elena Dementieva d. (21)Nadia Petrova - 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3

(6)Serena Williams d. (14)Agnieszka Radwanska - 6-4, 6-0

Court 1:

(7)Venus Williams d. Tamarine Tanasugarn - 6-4, 6-3

Jie Zheng d. (18)Nicole Vaidasova - 6-2, 5-7, 6-1

Top 10 Seeds:

1. Ana Ivanovic - Lost Round 3 (Zheng)

2. Jelena Jankovic - Lost Round of 16 (Tanasugarn)

3. Maria Sharapova - Lost Round 2 (Kudryavtseva)

4. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Lost Round of 16 (Radwanska)

5. Elena Dementieva - Semi-Finals

6. Serena Williams - Semi-Finals

7. Venus Williams - Semi-Finals

8. Anna Chakvetadze - Lost Round of 16 (Vaidasova)

9. Dinara Safina - Lost Round 3 (Peer)

10. Daniela Hantuchova - Lost Round 2 (Kleybanova)