Sister Act 2: Williams siblings set up Wimbledon rematch
Last Updated: Thursday, July 2, 2009 | 10:15 PM ET
CBC Sports
American Serena Williams celebrates a point during her semifinal match at Wimbledon against Russian Elena Dementieva. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)Searching for her first Wimbledon crown in six years, American Serena Williams will get another chance to claim her third title.
But her big sister is standing in her way, looking to win her third championship in a row.
After dropping the opening set on Thursday, Serena concluded a thrilling semifinal match by rallying past Russian Elena Dementieva 6-7 (6-4), 7-5, 8-6, while her sister Venus Williams demolished No. 1-ranked Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0.
"Elena played so well, and we gave the crowd a wonderful match," Serena said. "It was really, really tough."
Tough to play, and tough to watch, according to sister Venus, who was slated to play her semifinal right after Serena's.
"It's so exciting," said Venus. "It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama," Venus said. "It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams."
The two sisters will square off in a rematch of last year's final on Saturday.
The Williams sisters have combined to win seven of the last nine Wimbledon championships, and it 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. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals at the All England Club.
Venus is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.
"It's a dream come to true to be here again and have the opportunity to hold the plate up," Venus said.
Serena Williams found herself in a battle from the very beginning on Thursday.
Dementieva matched Williams's overwhelming power with equally impressive ground strokes and serves.
But Williams held firm, defeating her Russian opponent for the second straight time.
The nearly three-hour classic ended when Dementieva sailed a backhand wide, prompting Williams to pump her arms in celebration.
'I thought ace': Williams
Williams saved a match point in the 10th game of the third set with a backhand volley that skipped off the net cord.
"I thought ace," Williams said. "It's my serve, if I can just stay calm. I was just trying to think positive."
She later broke Dementieva to go up 7-6 before closing out the match on her serve.
Dementieva, who won Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, is still looking for her first Grand Slam title.
The No. 4 seed was a finalist at both the 2004 French Open and U.S. Open.
