2009 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinals
In possibly the best match of the tournament, number 2 seed Serena Williams outlasted number 4 Elena Dementieva. The first set was a tight battle, with each player breaking serve only once before Dementieva finally won in a tiebreak. Serena came out strong in the 2nd set, immediately breaking Dementieva and taking a 2-0 lead. Dementieva would fight back, breaking Williams twice to take a 4-3 lead. You could almost see the determination building on Serena’s face as she battled back with 2 more breaks of her own to regain the lead and serve for the set at 6-5. Dementieva would not go down easily, as she got to 4 separate break points, only to have Williams paint the lines to get back to deuce. Williams served an ace to finally seal the set at 7-5 and tie the match at 1-1. Serena served 7 aces in the second set. In the 3rd set, Dementieva got the first break and took a 3-1 lead, only to have Serena break right back. Each player continued to use her weapons to full advantage, Dementieva’s mobility to Serena’s power. 6-6 at end of regulation, and no end in sight.
Both players appear exhausted as Dementieva’s shots begin to go long and Serena’s into the net. Serena pulls out all the stops and plays an aggressive ground game to break Dementieva and serve for the match at 7-6. After double-faulting the first point, Serena manages to hold serve and win the match 8-6, putting her into the finals once again. This was an epic match, lasting 2 hours and 49 minutes, by far the longest women’s semifinal match in Wimbledon history.
The other semifinal match was not so exciting, unless your name is Venus. In one of the shortest matches in Wimbledon history, at only 51 minutes, Venus Williams routed the world’s number 1 ranked player, Dinara Safina. Safina won just 1 game in the two sets, losing 6-1, 6-0. Venus simply dominated, winning almost 80% of the points on her server and close to 2/3 of the points when Safina served.
The women’s final will feature a repeat of last year’s participants with Venus and Serena battling it out once again. We can only hope the match repeats the quality of play as well.
