| Thursday, 3 July 2008 Written by Kate Battersby Serena Williams won through to her third Wimbledon final - her first in four years - but only after fending off a marvellous fightback from Chinese wild card Zheng Jie. Zheng, ranked 133 in the world, so nearly deprived Williams of her first set of the tournament. Instead the champion of 2002 and 2003 edged a second set tie-break to take the match 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). Serena will play her older sister Venus on in a repeat of those two previous finals. From the outset it was difficult to imagine how 24-year-old Zheng could win. It wasn't just the gulf in height, weight, power, Grand Slam singles experience and, of course, ranking. Zheng might have conquered the number one seed Ana Ivanovic in round three, but the quality of her second serve is not what grass calls for, and indeed she was broken in the opening game with a pounding return from Williams off just such a second serve. The American underlined her superiority by holding to love, and already Zheng was on the back foot. Her game works not by overpowering her opponents, but by absorbing the power she receives and sending it back using speed of movement as her weapon, turning defence into attack. But it wasn't working here, or Williams was not permitting it. She broke again, easing away for 4-1 and already seemed in total control, overwhelming Zheng with her muscle. In her first semi-final here since she was runner-up to Maria Sharapova in 2004, Williams was clouting huge returns, apparently placing them anywhere she wanted, making it near-impossible for Zheng to defend. When she brought up three set points on Zheng's serve, it seemed the first set would be over in little more than 20 minutes. Instead Zheng not only managed to save the first set point with one of her second serves, but saved the other two as well. Serena, 26, sent in another bombardment to bring up her fourth set point, only to see it repelled once more. With rain spotting the Centre Court, and the temperature dropping rapidly, Zheng's fighting resilience saw her hold for 2-5. But as they sat during the changeover, umpire Eva Asderaki suspended play for rain. At last Serena's famous white raincoat came in handy. It was 37 minutes before play could resume, whereupon Williams instantly served out the set to love. Then followed the first hint that the pattern of the second set would be different – Zheng did not surrender her serve right away. The strengths of her game, all technique and timing, began to emerge. On her own serve she was suddenly capable of controlling play once the rallies were underway, and occasionally the speed of her racket head was dizzying. The advantage of serving first in the set gave her an extra boost, and at 3-2 she produced her best game thus far, coming into the net to smash for 30-40. It was her first break point of the match. Serena could manage only a second serve, whereupon Zheng moved forward and blasted away the return, to a thunderclap of applause from the Centre Court. But she could not maintain her accuracy into the next game, and moments later the match was back on terms. With what was clearly a crucial period of the match approaching, Venus Williams arrived at courtside, along with darkening skies and spotting rain. At 5-5, 40-30 on Zheng's serve, a sudden downpour sent the match off court. The encounter was by now 65 minutes old, and it would be another 80 minutes before they could resume for the second time. Serena capitalised on the break by bringing up a break point. Zheng saved that one, and another. Then she delivered a beautiful wrong-footing manoeuvre before capturing the game with some typically tough play. Moments later she outfoxed Williams into error to bring up set point, and came within millimetres of putting away a return only to be foiled by the netcord. Instead Serena, who had not previously lost a set in this tournament, took it into the tie-break. The mini-break got away from Zheng immediately. When Serena fired down a 122mph ace for 5-2, the end seemed near, but Zheng hauled it back to 5-5. Williams brought up match point on Zheng's serve – whereupon the Chinese delivered her one double fault of the entire match. It was not what Zheng deserved.
| Centre Court - Ladies' Singles - Semifinals | |
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