Grand final

Wimbledon Women’s Title Returns to Planet Venus

Venus Williams insists there are a lot more grand slam titles to come after winning her third Wimbledon title with a dramatic victory over fellow American Lindsay Davenport.

IT WAS the longest women’s final in Wimbledon history and one of the most heart-stopping epics the old place has seen in a century and more. Right up to the last pulsating point - a tired Lindsay Davenport forehand to the net, which gave victory to Venus Williams and sparked the kind of joy we have not seen on her face for an awful long time - this was extra special, a day to live long in the memory.

Venus Williams captured her third Wimbledon title in the space of six years in a final of high drama and record length when she outlasted Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-6, 9-7.

At 2 hours 45 minutes the match exceeded the previous mark for a women’s final. In 1970, Margaret Court and Billie Jean King battled for 2 hours 28 minutes before Court won, 14-12, 11-9.

This was the 27th match between these two, and it turned out to be easily the most dramatic, with Davenport missing a match point at 5-4 in the third set, then needing to go off court for treatment to a back injury. Twice more she came within two points of what would have been her second Wimbledon win, before her spirit and her legs gave out against an opponent who simply refused to recognise the possibility of defeat.

As Davenport’s weakly-struck forehand plopped into the net, Williams shrieked and leapt high into the air, a process she repeated after receiving the Venus Rosewater Dish from the Duke of Kent.

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Federer Storms to His Third Final

Roger Federer swept into a third consecutive Wimbledon final with a comprehensive 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over world number two Lleyton Hewitt.

After all the chatter about change in tennis - about rising teenagers and Russians - it has turned out to be a throwback Wimbledon, and not just because of the rain that interrupted play on a regular basis this week.

Saturday’s women’s final will be a remake of the 2000 edition between Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. And the favorite to win the men’s final will be the same fluid fellow from Switzerland who won it the last two times.

Roger Federer was in full flow once again on Center Court today, showing the depth of his talent and self-belief against his now-favorite foil: Lleyton Hewitt. (more…)

Day of healing for Venus on Centre Court

She took just a moment between the victory and the handshake, a moment strictly for herself. Bending over with clenched fists, Venus Williams celebrated her glorious resurrection.

Through to the Wimbledon final with her 7-6 (2), 6-1 triumph over defending champion Maria Sharapova, Venus deserved that moment. This was a highly significant development in women’s tennis, the return of a champion and a message to everyone on tour.

About a half-hour later on Court 1, Lindsay Davenport faced just enough of a puzzle to have it end without resolution. Just four points from winning, Davenport had to scurry off in a drizzle with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 5-3 lead over Amelie Mauresmo, who was serving at 15-love. It was 7:30 p.m. and the rain didn’t let up, forcing both players to return this afternoon and join the men’s semifinalists on the program.

Thursday was supposed to be a Centre Court doubleheader, but a four-hour rain delay pushed things well into the afternoon. It was determined that Davenport and Mauresmo would move to Court 1, with Centre left to the heavyweights. Despite the lopsided appearance of the score, Williams and Sharapova did not disappoint. (more…)

Roddick survives, Federer thrives

It was an unexpected invasion, less likely to succeed than the famous Spanish Armada that set sail to conquer these islands in the summer of 1588. But the latest Hispanic La Armada Grande manned by caramel-tanned, bandanna sporting rebels attired in tennis shorts and wielding graphite racquets has surely created a sensation in these parts.

After all, Spanish - and Spanish-speaking - tennis players who fancy their chances towards the business end of the world’s premier grass court championships are as rare as banana plantations in Kent. For, this is a breed that normally books holidays to coincide with the Wimbledon championships.

But, as with all evanescent novelties, the shelf-life - of the unlikely invaders - has turned out to be rather limited, no matter that the dashing Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Gonzalez - the first men from Spain and Chile to figure in the men’s quarterfinals here since…well, since before Roger Federer was born - did play their parts almost as well as they might have been expected to on Wednesday.

Former champions Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer will face off in the men’s semi finals at Wimbledon after both recorded convincing quarter-final victories.

It what looms as the match of the tournament so far, Hewitt will be looking to end a seven-match winning drought against the world number one, who has now gone 34 matches unbeaten on grass.

The other semi-final will feature No.2 seed Andy Roddick, who was a 3-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3 winner over France’s Sebastien Grosjean, and 12th seeded Swede Thomas Johansson, who defeated 2002 runner-up David Nalbandian of 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2.

Hewitt saw off Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2), progressing without incident and without testing his much-publicised temper.

The Australian dropped his serve early in the first set but bounced back before gaining another break, and the set, in the 12th game, when Lopez netted an easy return.

The Spaniard, playing in his first Grand Slam quarter final, tried hard in the second set, but was broken again. He saved two set points, but again netted a return to concede the set.

The third set went to a tie-break and Hewitt reeled off three straight points from 4-1 on his way to victory and a re-match with the man who knocked him out at the quarter final stage of the 2004 tournament.

“He played extremely well right from the start and was the one dictating play,” Hewitt said of Lopez. “I just had to wait for my opportunities but started seeing the ball like a football and was playing better and better.”

Federer’s progression was just as easy, and he quickly had the Chilean in trouble, racing to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Gonzalez levelled at 4-4 but Federer broke again in the 12th game before racing through the second set 6-2. Gonzalez forced a tie-breaker in the third, but couldn’t keep the pressure up in the tie-break.

Meanwhile, Roddick reached the semi-finals for a third-straight year, but only after shaking off a determined Grosjean, who took the first set after breaking the big-serving American in the sixth game.

Roddick changed his serving tactics in the second and it paid off as he grabbed the momentum with the second and third sets. A series of errors in the sixth game of the fourth set allowed Grosjean to level but the No.2 seed raced to a 3-0 lead in the fifth and never loosened his grip from that point.

That left Johansson as the only surprise semi finalist. He prevailed from an epic first set, which lasted 73 minutes and broke Nalbandian twice in the second set. The Argentine broke early in the third, but the Swede answered with two more breaks of is own and he now faces Roddick, whom he has a 0-2 record against.

Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt gave no quarter to dangerous opponents at Wimbledon Wednesday but Andy Roddick was made to fight hard for his semi-final place.

Sharapova rules Russian battle at Wimbledon

Defending champion Maria Sharapova beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in straight sets at Wimbledon to set up a semifinal against two-time winner Venus Williams, who defeated Mary Pierce.

Sharapova, seeded second behind Lindsay Davenport, overcame eighth-ranked Petrova 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 at London’s All England Lawn Tennis Club today. Davenport, who won the title six years ago, beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-3 and will face Amelie Mauresmo, who ousted Anastasia Myskina. Williams, champion in 2000 and 2001, fought off a late Pierce rally to triumph 6-0, 7-6 (12-10).

Maria Sharapova survived the first test of her Wimbledon title defence, working her way through an error-riddled first set before moving into the semi-finals with an eventually straightforward victory over her fellow Russian Nadia Petrova.

While Sharapova found her rhythm and range - not to mention her piercing grunt - in the latter stages of a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 win, so sloppy was the first set that the 18-year-old will be grateful to have a day on the practice courts before she meets Venus Williams in the semis.

“Finishing off matches is very tough and it gave me the shivers,” Sharapova said after her 22nd straight victory on grass. “It’s so good to be in the semifinals again.”

Sharapova had gone through to the quarters without losing a set. While eighth-seeded Petrova was to become the first player to take her to a tie-breaker, the 23-year-old will feel disappointed she did not take advantage of Sharapova’s mistakes, not grabbing her first break point until Sharapova was serving for the match.

The flipside of a scrappy day for Sharapova is that, while not at her best, she was still able to shake off in straight sets a player who, while never having won a WTA title, provides solid testing material for the higher-ranked players.

There was also the opportunity to get some valuable court-time ahead of the greater battles to come, the 55 minutes she took to fight her way through the first set being just 12 minutes shorter than the average time of her previous four matches.

And, if she did not look as sharp as she had in previous matches here, or during last year’s unexpected run to the title, Sharapova has won 22 consecutive matches on grass.

The second-youngest women’s Wimbledon champion in the Open era last year, aged 17, Sharapova hasn’t dropped a set in the defense of her only major title. Neither has Williams, who will make her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance since 2003, when she lost to sister Serena in the Wimbledon final. The winner this year will pick up a check for 600,000 pounds (USD 1.1 million.)

The pair have met twice on the women’s tour, Sharapova beating Williams in straight sets on hard courts in Zurich in 2004 and this year in Miami.

Sharapova, who had dropped 17 games in her previous four matches, was taken to a tie-break in an opening set with no breaks of serve. She closed out the set in 55 minutes with two powerful forehands, one down the line, the next into the corner that wrong-footed her opponent.

Champion’s Luck

Petrova, a semifinalist at last month’s French Open, had her serve broken in the second game of the second set as Sharapova opened up a 3-0 lead.

Petrova got her first break point of the match at 5-3 only for the champion to win the point as her ball clattered against the top of the net. Sharapova won the next rally with the help of another net cord and then sealed the match as Petrova overhit a forehand. The second set took 30 minutes.

Petrova “has such a big serve but I was able to pull through,” said Sharapova, who beat her opponent in their only other previous match in Los Angeles in 2003. “I knew she has a big game so I had to be prepared.”

Venus Williams also won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 and was runnerup in five of six Grand Slams through Wimbledon 2003. Her father Richard told the British Broadcasting Corp. before today’s match that she and Serena didn’t love the game as much as they used to.

Venus Power

Venus responded by taking just 21 minutes to overpower the 2000 French Open champion and win the first set. Pierce needed eight games to get on the scoreboard and then rallied to take the second set to a tiebreak.

Pierce, who already matched her best performance in the only grass-court Grand Slam by reaching the last eight, had five set points to take the match into a decider. Each time, Williams battled back and, as Pierce tired, forced the victory. The second set took 68 minutes.

They followed Mauresmo and Myskina onto Centre Court after the French No. 3 seed reached her third semifinal in as many appearances at the event. Mauresmo, who missed Wimbledon in 2003, beat ninth-ranked Myskina 6-3, 6-4.

Myskina, 23, made 20 unforced errors and has now failed to go beyond the quarterfinal in five Grand Slams since winning last year’s French Open. Mauresmo leaped and punched the air after Myskina put a backhand wide to end the match after 69 minutes.

“Last year I had a couple of chances to make it through to the final and didn’t take them,” Mauresmo said. “I hope I’ve learned from that experience.”

‘Different Style’

Davenport dropped one point in the first-set tiebreak against U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova, the fourth Russian quarterfinalist and seeded fifth. Kuznetsova, who turned 20 yesterday, has never been beyond the quarterfinals of the sport’s other three Grand Slams.

Davenport has beaten Mauresmo 10 times in their past 13 matches, none of them on grass.

“She’s playing great and she’s a great athlete,” Davenport said. “I admire her a lot and will have to play my best. She plays a different style, comes in a lot and mixes up her pace.”

Now both of them are planning for the big one ‘FINALS’. But there is a big hurdle between final . So both revials
are ready for the semis.

Better than a bump on the head

The last time many fans saw Andy Roddick with a trophy, it was falling out of an overhead bin on an airplane and hitting him in the head.

The TV ad still airs often, and Roddick was asked about it Monday after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

“Every place I go, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it,” Roddick said. “I’ve been watching that thing for a year now.”

The second-seeded Roddick hopes to fly home next week with his first Wimbledon trophy. He’s three wins away and faces frequent practice partner Sebastien Grosjean on Wednesday.

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