: LONDON (AFP) — Venus and Serena Williams, who boast six Wimbledon titles between them, will clash for the third time in an All England Club final on Saturday.
Venus, the four-time winner and defending champion, booked her place with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva to reach her seventh singles final.
Serena, the younger of the two sisters, then ended wildcard Zheng Jie's hopes of becoming the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final with a battling 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) win.
The 26-year-old Serena will be looking to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon wins over her sister having come out on top in the 2002 and 2003 finals.
Venus inists the final will be fully competitive despite scepticism in the past over whether the two perform to the maximum of their ability when they share the same court.
"I find the question pretty offensive because I'm extremely professional in everything that I do on and off the court," said Venus, the holder of six Grand Slam titles.
"I contribute my best in my sport, and I also have a ton of respect for myself and my family. So any mention of that is extremely disrespectful for who I am and my family."
Serena, 11 kilos heavier and more than 11cm taller than Zheng, had too much brawn for the world 133, who had made her mark by knocking out top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round.
"She pushed me and really played a great match," said Serena of an opponent she had comfortably defeated in the first round here four years ago.
Zheng was left to regret a great opportunity to take the semi-final to a decider when she held set point in the 10th game of the second set but Williams was able to call on her powerful smash to rescue herself.
"She played like she had nothing to lose. I was able to hit a smash on that set point. I didn't really want to go into a third set," added the American sixth seed who will be facing her sister in a seventh Grand Slam final.
"I'm looking forward to playing Venus in the final. She'll be the toughest opponent I have faced.
"We haven't played each other in a Grand Slam final for five years but that's because our rankings fell or we were in the same side of the draw. I guess this is a new start for both of us."
Serena's last Wimbledon final appearance was in 2004, when she lost to a teenage Maria Sharapova.
Congrulats to my black sisters...I feel honored that they're maintaining a professional stance against the media concerning their integrity as players & family.....Great job but I AGREE WITH THE CONCERNING THEM PLAYING AGAINST EACH OTHER...IT ALSO SHOWS THEY'RE GOOD @ WHAT THEY DO....GO GIRLS DO THE DAMN THING....SORT OF BITTERSWEET FOR WHOEVER DOESNT TAKE THE TITLE...STILL NO ONE LOOSES..
Whenever Venus or Serena beat a smaller opponent, their size is always mentioned. However, when tiny little Justine Henin was beating their's, and everyone else's, asses on the reg, you never heard any of that. The sisters bring skill and experience along with their stature, but it's too painful for YT to acknowledge that.
I'm pullin' for Venus.
Go WILLIAMS!!!
black people are the bomb! we dominate anything we want. But if all these sorry ass self-hating black str8t dudes keep race mixing and messing up the black gene pool, our dominance will be over. We are seeing this happen in track and field. The jamaicans are doing there thing in the sprints, cause their black gene pool isnt as diluted as ours...thats real talk
I have been watching this years Wimbledon since the it started. Waking up early to watch both Venus and Serena and waiting for their doubles match also. I am so proud of them and enjoy watching them in both singles and doubles. Any way you look at it both going to go home wiht something, cause one is going to win the singles title and I know they going to win the doubles too. I am usually torn when they play each other, but for some reason I am pulling for Venus to win her 5th title.
It's a beautiful thing to finally see people pulling for these sisters, instead of tearing them down because they don't look (white)"pretty". These sisters will be in HISTORY BOOKS because of the history they've made thus far. And I am so proud of them and proud to be a witness to there history makings. Don't care who wins because I love them both and am glad they were the last standing.
While Venus and Serena have been giving their all to make History books and TEXTbooks(yes, school children learn about them in history class), most posters on here jump to insult them and talk about their complexion and other racist stereotypes that the mainstream white culture calls us. Yeah, this site has no problem dragging these Sisters through the mud.
Now, they are back atop the tennis world, and we show them love?! Shady!!!!!!
CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!CONGRATS TO VENUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Form one BigSis to another-Congrats to Venus! It was really great to see both of ya'll doing it up & no matter what the sports announcers say about you two-you have already made history & will continue to do so. These women have generated more interest for the tennis world than anyone has ever b4-so sports announcers who like to fault them for having other interests (designimg clothing, etc...)& condemning them for taking time off because of injuries, ya'll need to really fall back and recognize Ms. Venus Wimbledon! How many of ya'll (Mr. & Mrs. Sports Announcers) have played in a Grand Slam title against your sibling?
