The Hindu : Sport : Serena Williams a step away from retaining her title

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Serena Williams a step away from retaining her title

The top seed will now play Zvonareva; Paes-Black pair makes semifinals

LONDON: Defending champion Serena Williams reached her third successive Wimbledon final after seeing off a challenge from the gritty unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova 7-6(5), 6-2 on Thursday.

In the final, the top seed will play Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonareva who fought back from a set down to beat unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the other semfinal.

The World No.1 was given a stiff challenge by the unseeded World No.62, but Kvitova began to run out of steam in the second set.

The American top seed's victory means that at least one of the Williams sisters has advanced to 10 out of 11 straight finals here, with Serena now having made six.

Since turning professional 10 years ago, Zvonareva has been dogged by doubts about her temperament as she has failed to fulfil her undoubted potential. She was perceived as a choker who would crumble at the most important moments.

Growing in confidence

Injuries have also blighted her career, but the 25-year-old has become a more confident, mature player in the last year and had already served notice of her improved mindset by reaching the Australian Open semifinals 18 months ago.

At Wimbledon, she knocked out three seeds en route to the last four, with Jelana Jankovic and Kim Clijsters among her scalps, and she was able to summon up the will-power to halt Pironkova's fairytale run as well. Pironkova's expectations were so low heading into Wimbledon that she only arranged for accommodation for the first week of the tournament.

The 22-year-old's apartment booking ran out before the semifinal so the Bulgarian embassy had to find her emergency accommodation.

Yet, with her confidence sky-high after stunning wins over Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli in previous rounds, Pironkova continued to play with intelligence and freedom in the first set. Pironkova went for her shots right from the start and made enough of them to break for a 4-2 lead when a fortunate net cord went in her favour.

She had no trouble closing out the first set and looked well on top at that stage.

In the sixth game of the second set, Pironkova faltered on serve and the Russian went for the kill, breaking with a perfectly-placed volley.

She easily held serve to take the set and level the match. It was the first set Pironkova had dropped at the Championships this year.

Zvonareva was able to take full advantage as she broke in the first game of the final set when the Bulgarian sent a forehand long. When Zvonareva held serve moments later, she had won six of the last seven games and the momentum would remain with her for the rest of the match. Zvonareva broke again when Pironkova missed a forehand and then saved two break points before serving out the most important win of her life.

In doubles action, India's Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean mixed doubles partner Cara Black made the semifinals. They beat Australia's Paul Hanley and Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan, the 12th seeds, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 on Court 2.

Second seeds Paes and Black now face Czech ninth seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Iveta Benesova in the semifinals. — Agencies

Women: Semifinals: 21-Vera Zvonareva bt Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. 1-Serena Williams bt Petra Kvitova 7-6(5), 6-2.

Doubles: Quarterfinals: 5-Liezel Huber & Bethanie Mattek-Sands bt 7-Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs 6-4, 6-3; 4-Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta bt Julia Goerges & Agnes Szavay 6-4, 6-2. Men: Doubles: Semifinals: Jurgen Melzer & Philipp Petzschner bt 7-Wesley Moodie & Dick Norman 7-6(3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3; 16-Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau bt Juan Ignacio Chela & Eduardo Schwank 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. Quarterfinals: 7-Moodie & Norman bt 2-Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 7-5. Mixed doubles: Quarterfinals: 9-Lukas Dlouhy & Iveta Benesova bt Dmitry Tursunov & Vera Dushevina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; 2-Leander Paes & Cara Black bt 12-Paul Hanley & Chan Yung-Jan 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3; Xavier Malisse & Kim Clijsters bt 10-Marcelo Melo & Rennae Stubbs 7-6(3), 7-6(3).

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