Sport

Venus powers past Tanasugarn

London: There is a “been-there, seen-that, done-that” sort of philosophical air about Venus Williams these days, especially if you happen to base your judgement on the volleys and lobs traded at post match press conferences.

But make no mistake. This woman still retains her hunger for the big ones — not the least the Venus Rosewater dish, a trophy she has lifted on four occasions on the centre court at Wimbledon.

Physically a little below her best, and insisting it was merely a case of her body needing some “maintenance”, Venus powered to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand to make the women’s singles semifinals of the 122nd championships on Tuesday.

The four-time champion will play a first-time semifinalist from Russia, Elena Dementieva, on Thursday, for a place in the final. Dementieva, seeded five, survived second set hiccups to beat her countrywoman Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3.

Venus, nursing a hamstring injury in her left leg, was far from awe-inspiring against Tanasugarn. But then, against a woman she had beaten six times in a row — before today’s meeting — without losing a single set, the defending champion was never really threatened.

Tanasugarn, world ranked 60, has had her moments in the sun and she wasn’t going to hand it on a platter. The wily tour veteran matched her superstar opponent shot for shot from the back of the court and returned especially well on a day when Venus served confidently and hit eight aces.

The American found an early break and then fought off seven breakpoints, one of them when serving for the set in the 10th game, to take the first set. In comparison, the second was a romp.

Venus’s semifinal opponent, Elena Dementieva, was led away from victory’s doors by a mind that was playing tricks, abetted, of course, by an opponent — Nadia Petrova — who was desperately trying to gain a foothold.

Leading 6-1, 5-1, and then up 6-4 in the second set tiebreak (two matchpoints), Dementieva was forced into a third set. But she opened up a 3-0 lead in the decider and then closed out the match on her third matchpoint with a crosscourt forehand.

Leander Paes blanketed the net with tremendous anticipation and acrobatic skills while his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy served superbly when the chips were down as the ninth seeded pair outplayed the third seeded Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to storm into the semifinals of the men’s doubles event.

On an Indian summer’s day at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Paes and Dlouhy were in irresistible form against the accomplished Israeli pair. They faced eight breakpoints in three sets but saved every one of them while converting four of the six they had in their favour.

But it was at the net that the masterly Paes made all the difference as he and Dlouhy won 45 of 70 net points in a match in which the Israelis just did not return well enough when they had the opportunity to break serve.

A Paes forehand down the middle found the first break for the ninth seeds in the sixth game of the first set. From there, they never looked back, breaking their opponents in the fifth and ninth games of the second set and going up 2-0 with a break in the second game of the third.

After an hour and 46 minutes on the sun splashed No.2 court, Dlouhy served out the match.

Paes and Dlouhy will now play the second seeds, Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) in the semifinals.

Late on Friday evening, in failing light, Britain’s Andy Murray brought up an epic five-set victory over Richard Gasquet of France. In an emotional roller coaster that lasted almost four hours and kept over 15,000 fans on the centre court on the edge of their seats, Murray battled back from the very brink to post a 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory that earned him a shot at Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Clearly outplayed by the talented French shotmaker in the first half of the match, Murray emotionally roused himself to primordial frenzy once the Frenchman choked when serving for the match in the 10th game of the third set.

Murray raced through the tiebreak as the match, and the crowd, came urgently alive. He played an extraordinary backhand winner from 10 feet outside the court to clinch the tiebreak and the momentum had finally swung his way.

“I think he got a little bit nervous towards the end of the third set,” Murray said. The crowd, he said, was “awesome. I want to thank them. Best moment I’ve ever had on a tennis court.”

India’s Sania Mirza too brought up one of her best moments at Wimbledon as she went through to the quarterfinals with Bethanie Mattek.

Sania and Mattek fought back from a set down, and then opened up a 2-0 lead in the third when Akgul Amanmuradova and Darya Kustova conceded the match. Sania and Mattek won 4-6, 6-4, 2-0 and they will now play the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, in the quarterfinals.

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