The Hindu : Sport : Venus in her seventh Wimbledon final

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Venus in her seventh Wimbledon final

Nirmal Shekar

Dementieva was no match for the seventh-seeded American, folding in straight sets

— Photo: AP

SHEER BLISS: Four-time champion Venus Williams is full of contentment after taking out Elena Dementieva in straight sets in the to be just a match away from retaining the ladies’ singles title at The Championships.

London: When she gets here, the world seems so much a better place to Venus Williams. Suddenly, all her troubles seem far away. For, Wimbledon is her own private oasis.

In the event, there was a certain inevitability to Venus’s regal march to the women’s singles final of the 122nd Wimbledon championships on Thursday. The four-time champion and seventh seed, who is yet to win a tournament this year, brushed aside Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-1, 7-6(3) to make her seventh final at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Venus got off the blocks like Michael Schumacher from pole position and raced to a 4-0 lead, fighting off four breakpoints in the second game. Not much later, she pocketed the first set with a high crosscourt volley executed with the sort of grace and athleticism that would have made the late Alicia Markova proud.

There is, indeed, a gasp-inducing balletic grace to Venus’s movements on the court. The arms and legs that seem to go on forever and ever produce an image of surreal beauty in the heat of battle as if she were an impressionist’s vision brought to life on the lawns.

Whether Dementieva herself was lost in the appreciation of her opponent’s art is hard to say. But the willowy Russian did enter the scene as a competitor in the third game of the second set after losing eight of the first nine in the match.

A lucky winner off the tape saw Dementieva hold to 1-2 and this boosted her confidence as she matched the champion shot for shot from the baseline and served with power and intelligence. A tiebreak was inevitable.

“She was really, really tight in the end of the match. I had some opportunity. It (the second set) was a completely different game,” said Dementieva.

What she forgot to mention was that she was just as nervous in the tiebreak, making a flurry of forehand errors after Venus, surprisingly, lost two successive points on serve from 2-1.

A Dementieva backhand that sailed over the baseline gave Venus three matchpoints and the Russian put a forehand in the net to make sure that the champion wasn’t stretched.

“She (Dementieva) is a similar player who plays with a lot of power. I had to play well,” said Venus after the win. “I am looking forward to that final.”

Masterly Nadal

On Wednesday night, Rafael Nadal had his first brush with perfection on grass. As awe-inspiring as it was, it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight to British eyes. For, the soaring Spaniard turned the most eagerly awaited contest of the first 10 days into a distressingly lopsided match as he out-thought, out-muscled and outclassed Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to sprint into the semifinals.

In tennis, perfection comes in many styles. But, since we saw the last of Pete Sampras here, only one man — Roger Federer — could lay claim to it, until Wednesday, that is.

As good as he was last year when he almost took the match away from the serial-champion in the fifth set of the final, Nadal, in the sort of form he was against Murray, was almost unrecognisable as the player who had lost two finals to Federer.

As a make-over, this seems more like magic; for, the newly minted version of Nadal on grass seems so much a better player. His serve is a much bigger weapon now and there is a greater variety to it. And the whipping, high-bounding forehands are now mixed with the hard, flatter variety that makes the ball stay low. What is more, his extraordinary anticipation and court coverage are now backed by a wonderful tactical maturity that turns him into a near-invincible competitor.

If Murray found the Spaniard’s serves too hot to handle — Nadal lost just 10 points on serve in the match — then the four-time Roland Garros champion’s groundstrokes had the precision of lasers.

As winners flashed past him like so many yellow missiles, Murray was shell-shocked and often shook his head in disbelief — as did 15,000-plus fans in the centre court stands.

“I think this is the best I’ve played at Wimbledon, especially in the second set,” said Nadal.

Despite the pounding, Murray was gracious in defeat. “Nadal has a great chance of beating Federer. If he plays that well, I think he is close to being the favourite to win the tournament.

“He was very close last year and he is playing better than last year.”

The results: Women: Semifinals: 7-Venus Williams (USA) bt Elena Dementieva (Rus) 6-1, 7-6(3).

Men: Quarterfinals: 1-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Mario Ancic (Cro) 6-1, 7-5, 6-4; Marat Safin (Rus) bt 31-Feliciano Lopez (Esp) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-3; 2-Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt 12-Andy Murray (Gbr) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

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