By STEPHEN WILSON, AP
Last updated: 7:10 am
July 4, 2008
Posted: 4:37 am
July 4, 2008
WIMBLEDON, England - Five years since their last title matchup, the Williams sisters are back in the Wimbledon final with another Grand Slam championship - and family bragging rights - at stake.
The sisters won in straight sets yesterday to set up their third final at the All England Club and seventh all-sibling final at a major.
Defending champion and four-time winner Venus beat Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (3), then two-time champ Serena overcame two rain delays and served 14 aces to down China's Zheng Jie 6-2, 7-6 (5).
It will be the first all-Williams final at any tournament since 2003, when Serena beat her older sister in the Wimbledon title match for the second year in a row.
Serena will be going for her ninth Grand Slam title, Venus her seventh.
"It's definitely been a while," Serena said. "We've been on the same side of the draw a few times. It's good. This is a new start for us."
Said Venus: "It's every Williams for themself."
Serena holds an 8-7 career edge over Venus, including 5-1 in Grand Slam finals. Since Venus won the U.S. Open in 2001, Serena has won all their major finals.
"It's easy, especially with sibling rivalry," said Serena, who has also reached the women's doubles semifinals with her sister. "I personally want everything that Venus has. We're good at this now. We just leave everything on the court. This is the finals of Wimbledon. Who doesn't want it?"
The sisters shrugged off suggestions that their previous finals have failed to live up to expectations because they feel uncomfortable trying to beat each other.
"It's gotten easier for me personally because I just realize that I want to win," Serena said. "This is Wimbledon. This is a Grand Slam. This is history. We both are trying to make our mark."
Venus overpowered the fifth-seeded Dementieva in the first set then prevailed in an error-filled tiebreaker to improve her record to 7-0 in semifinals at Wimbledon.
Venus then went back out to watch her 26-year-old sister, who sat through rain breaks in both sets before cranking up her big serve, saving a set point in the second set and finishing off the 133rd-ranked Zheng to put her one win away from a ninth Grand Slam crown.
