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It’s the first time since 2006 that the top four seeds are through to a women’s Grand Slam semi final and it now seems inevitable that it will be a fourth all-Williams final at Wimbledon on Saturday.
The first semi involves the Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva who has the toughest of challenges against my favourite for the title – two-time champ Serena.
Venus will target Safina’s second serve
Dementieva has lost only 20 games in her five matches. The Russian talked about lacking motivation after her terrific end to 2008 and start to 2009 and although she has looked assured on the grass she has still yet to win a major. History suggests that at 27 years old, it’s extremely hard to win your first slam!
The number two Russian is a fantastic athlete and also possesses incredible groundstrokes. The much talked about wobbly serve has definitely improved but it still continues to be a weakness and has already delivered 33 double faults in the tournament.
Serena will target the second serve and I expect the American to go after that weakness from the start of the match. The pressure will be enormous for Dementieva and I see a straight-sets victory for the second-seeded American.
The other semi sees world No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina attempting to reach her fourth Grand Slam final and her third of the year!
Mental strength and self belief increase by producing your best tennis under pressure as the great Roger Federer has proved. The Swiss star has so many winning shots and no weaknesses, but this isn’t the case with Safina.
Safina reminds me of Lindsey Davenport with her ground shots; her real strength is that she is always looking to get the first strike in from the back.
Movement is both their weaknesses but the women’s game has gone to new levels in terms of athleticism since the Williams sisters emerged at the top and also since Davenport won her third and final Grand Slam nine years ago.
Another massive difference between Davenport and Safina is the quality of their first serves and Safina’s continued failings on the second serve on big points. Venus, like Serena, will definitely target this and I expect to see Safina to continue to berate her coach in the box as her total of 31 double faults continues to rise.
Doubts remain over the health of Venus’s left knee, but the five-time champion has been playing very well and has only lost 19 games on her run to the semi-finals. I don’t see a problem for her against Safina but I expect Serena to expose the injury on Saturday.
So, the incredible weather is set to continue on women’s semi final day along with the Williams sisters’ stranglehold at Wimbledon.
