Venus Williams Upsets Serena Williams To Reach Dubai Final

Lawn Tennis, Paris Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Venus Williams Upsets Serena Williams To Reach Dubai Final
By Anton Lagani, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:27am PST USA

Venus Williams Upsets Serena Williams To Reach Dubai Final, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Dubai--(lawntennismag.com) In a seesaw semifinal match that saved its best for last, Venus Williams of the USA battled for more than two hours before defeating her sister and the top ranked Serena Williams 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(7-3).

At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Venus, seeded 6th, began the contest with a crucial fast start against a player who has in the past proved to be her toughest opponent. Playing aggressive tennis with minimum errors, Venus took set one 6-1 in only 20 minutes.

Set two was not much longer as Serena would cut her errors and force more play from the baseline to win 6-2. Serena was not at her full power however and appeared bothered by a left knee injury which had forced her out of the Paris Open last week.

“I have to stay focused when I am out there,” Venus said. “I can't worry too much whether she is okay. She's an unbelievable player. So I have two problems out there."

In the final set, Venus led 4-3 before Serena pulled even at 4 all. Venus then held serve to reach 5-4.

Venus Williams of the USA | Image: Getty Images

After two hours and two minutes of play, Serena Williams sent a forehand long to end the match on matchpoint number three after saving the two previous matchpoints.

Serving to stay in the match, Serena was gifted with four Venus forehand errors as she held serve to reach 5 all after a Venus forehand down the line landed long.

Venus netted another forehand to face breakpoint on her serve. But Venus would serve three aces at speeds up to 122 miles per hour to get herself out of trouble each time in her service game. Two Serena groundstrokes wide put Venus ahead 6-5.

Serving for a second time to stay in the match, Serena again attacked the Venus forehand to hold at love. A Serena crosscourt forehand winner on gamepoint sent the match into a third set tiebreaker.

As in set one, Venus raced ahead in the tiebreaker to an unstoppable lead. A 122 miles per hour ace out wide put Venus in the lead 3-1. Two groundstrokes netted from Serena furthered Venus' lead to 5-1.

Then after two hours and two minutes of play, Serena sent a forehand long to end the match on matchpoint number three after saving the two previous matchpoints.

“I didn’t serve that well and I thought Venus served really well which I think ultimately helped her win the match,” Serena said.

The winner to error ratio was a key factor as Venus hit 25 winners to 24 errors while Serena posted 30 winners to 37 errors. With the win, Venus edges ahead in the Williams family head to head 10-9.

In the Dubai final, Venus faces Virginie Razzano of France who earlier today defeated 16th seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the day's first semifinal.

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