Venus Williams strode into the semi-finals of Wimbledon on Thursday while tournament organisers cast anxious glances to the sky. Her younger sister Serena, beaten by Justine Henin in the quarters on Wednesday, rates Venus as the best grasscourt player left in the draw and the American proved her pedigree with a 6-3 6-4 defeat of Russian fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"Centre Court has just been good to Williams in the last seven years or so," three-times former champion Venus told reporters. "So it's a good thing if your last name's Williams here."
Bizarrely, with so much doom and gloom over the weather, Venus took a different view. "Rain is good for me," she said. "I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains." Her focus will now be on bubbly Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic after she saved three match points in overcoming Nicole Vaidisova 4-6 6-2 7-5 in the last quarter-final. The 19-year-old Serb, runner-up at the French Open last month, will face Venus Williams for a place in the final.
Facing defeat in the ninth game of the third set, Ivanovic saved three match points on her serve to get herself back into the match and then broke to turn the tables on her opponent. A double fault by 18-year-old Vaidisova handed a delighted Ivanovic the match after two hours on the court.
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