Saturday, October 31, 2009

Williams sisters reach Doha final

Venus Williams
Venus Williams repeated her semi-final win over Jankovic of 12 months ago

Defending champion Venus Williams will face Serena Williams in the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships after the sisters won their semi-finals.

Venus was in trouble after losing the first set against Jelena Jankovic and facing break points in the second.

But despite needing treatment on her knee, the 29-year-old battled back for a 5-7 6-3 6-4 victory.

Serena Williams led Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 0-1 in the second semi-final when the Dane retired with a stomach injury.

In a tight opening to the first semi, Jankovic let an early lead slip before recovering from a precarious position at 5-4 down with seven consecutive points.

The Serb held three break points and although Venus saved the first two with big serves, the American leaked a forehand wide on the third.

It's my last tournament of the year, so I am trying to give a thousand percent

Venus Williams

Jankovic served out the set and had a tremendous chance to move further ahead at 0-40 in game five of the second, but after two good Venus serves the Serb netted a backhand down the line.

Venus made her pay in the next game with a rasping forehand winner to lead 4-2 and quickly closed out to force a third set.

Jankovic gained the early advantage in the decider but Venus hit back and broke three times to serve for the match at 5-4, clinching victory with a forehand that dropped over off the tape.

"It's my last tournament of the year, so I am trying to give a thousand percent," said world number seven Venus.

"I wasn't feeling the ball very well in the first set, but I came back and had to make sure I played well against such a consistent player like Jelena."

Jankovic admitted: "Today there were more errors than winners. But that's part of the game. It's not easy to make winners, especially because Venus is such a tall girl. She makes two steps and she covers almost the whole court."

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