Venus and Serena to Play All-Williams Final at Wimbledon

Defending champion Venus Williams has reached her seventh Championships at Wimbledon final after a solid 6-1, 7-6 (3) defeat of Russia’s Elena Dementieva on Thursday.

She will play a familiar face in the championship round—her younger sister Serena Williams.

Saturday’s match will be the seventh All-Williams Grand Slam final and third at the Championships.

Dementieva was overpowered from the beginning by Venus Williams’ first serve and converted only one of seven break points. Venus’ serves frequently exceeded 120mph, edging close to her own Wimbledon record of 127mph.

The Russian fifth seed managed to force a tiebreak in the second set, but Venus advanced into the championship round on her first match point when a forehand by Dementieva ended in the net.

It was an exciting moment for the seventh seed, who improved her perfect semifinal record at Wimbledon to 7-0.

“I guess it started to set in a little bit about being in the final, which is always exciting,” said Venus in her post-match press conference about her on-court celebration.

“When I’m excited I always jump. That I guess will never change. But still I felt like the tournament was not over. I’m still in the doubles tomorrow and still have that final match to play, still one step further.”

Serena Williams outlasted Chinese wild card Jie Zheng and two rain delays to join her sister in the final. Serena appeared on track for a quick win, but Zheng staged a last minute comeback during the second set.

Zheng, ranked at No. 133rd in the world, held a set point at 6-5, but Serena stormed back to take the tie break and match 6-2, 7-6(5) after Zheng double-faulted on Williams’ first match point.

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