Serena, Venus brace for Wimbledon final push

LONDON -- Serena and Venus Williams can book places in the Wimbledon final on Thursday, seven years after they last slugged it out for a Grand Slam title.

For the first time since 2009, both sisters have made it to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

To make the dream final become a reality, defending champion Serena must beat Russian world No. 50 Elena Vesnina, while world No. 8 Venus plays Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

Between 2000 and 2010, Serena and Venus won a combined nine Wimbledon titles and made a total of 14 appearances in the final, with four of those being all-Williams affairs in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009.

But, just when it seemed the Williams' duopoly in south-west London would never end, in 2011 Venus was struck down by illness and Serena's win over her sister at Wimbledon in 2009 remains their last title clash.

Now, at an age when most of her contemporaries had long since called it quits, 36-year-old Venus has willed herself back into contention for an eighth Grand Slam crown.

It is a renaissance that makes Serena proud, but even the 34-year-old didn't expect to still be in which a chance of contesting the sport's top prizes with her sister at this advanced stage of their careers.

"I'm surprised of the longevity of it. That kind of definitely took me by surprise," Serena said.

"When you're younger and you have a dream and you say it and you believe it, that's one thing. But for it to really happen and to come true, it's just a completely different emotion.

"It means Venus has a lot of perseverance. She's a real fighter. Like I always say, it's super inspiring for me. It's really great.

"With everything she's been through, I think it's built a ton of character in her, and in me just by being around her."

Inspired

World No. 1 Serena, bidding for a record-equaling 22nd major title and seventh Wimbledon crown, appears to have the easier draw against first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Vesnina, having won all four of their previous encounters.

But five-time champion Venus, who last won a major at Wimbledon in 2008, has a much tougher task against Kerber.

Kerber defeated Serena to win her maiden Grand Slam crown in Melbourne in January and holds a 3-2 edge in her meetings with Venus.

Venus, the oldest women's Wimbledon semi-finalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994, expects an equally inspired display as the German fourth seed targets a first Wimbledon final.

"Well, clearly it was one of her best days on the court," Venus said of Kerber's win over Serena. "I imagine that she will try to recreate that. Who wouldn't?"

Kerber, 28, lost her only previous Wimbledon semi-final in 2012, but she enjoyed a victory over Venus at the same venue in the Olympics just weeks later.

"I played against her a lot of tough matches. She's always dangerous on grass, especially here in Wimbledon. She has a lot of confidence right now," Kerber said.

"But I'm playing like in Australia,really high-class tennis. I will just try to play aggressive."

If Vesnina beats Serena, it would count as one of the all-time great upsets, but the 29-year-old sounds more like an adoring fan than a player who believes she can spring a surprise.

"Nothing can be better than playing against Serena in a semi-final at Wimbledon," she said. "Serena, I'm admiring her. She's best player in the world. It will be big challenge for me."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Ferrer withdraws from Wimbledon with elbow injury

LONDON -- Spain's David Ferrer has pulled out of Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament because of an elbow injury, the All England Club said in a statement on Sunday.

"Unfortunately I won't be able to play at Wimbledon because of an injury to my elbow," the 33-year-old, who has played in 50 consecutive grand slam tournaments since the 2003 Australian Open, said on his Twitter page.

"It's time to get better as quickly as possible."

Ferrer, who was seeded eighth, had been due to face Briton James Ward in the first round but will now be replaced in the draw by lucky loser from qualifying Luca Vanni of Italy.

Ferrer had been seeded to play fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals, a stage he has reached twice in his career at the grasscourt tournament. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Toby Davis)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Andy Murray’s Wimbledon run inspired by LeBron James

LONDON – Andy Murray will focus firmly on Wimbledon semi-final rival Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, having cast a longing gaze across the Atlantic for title-winning inspiration from NBA basketball hero LeBron James.

Murray, looking to become the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin in 1938, is an avid follower of basketball and believes he can learn from James’ recent breakthrough NBA triumph with the Miami Heat.

Like Murray, James also spent years battling the critics who doubted his winning mentality.

“He came very close to winning quite a lot of times and winning this year for him was massive,” said Murray, who has now reached four successive Wimbledon semi-finals without being able to push on.

“I would say for me it’s a similar situation. I’ve been close a lot of times and not quite made it.

“There’s a lot of people out there that didn’t want him to win. There’s a lot of people that said he would never win. There’s a lot of people who said he never played his best in finals. In the fourth quarter of games he never steps up.

“Then you see how he played the whole of the Finals, the whole of the Playoffs. Sometimes it takes guys a bit longer than others.”

Murray, 25, knows what it’s like to reach Grand Slam finals — he was runner-up at the 2008 US Open and 2010 and 2011 Australian Opens.

But he has not been able to end Britain’s long wait for a men’s Grand Slam singles champion, a stretch which has now reached an agonising 76 years.

He is aware that there are plenty of opinions out there, from the media to former players, but he is confident he can block out any unsolicited advice.

“If you think too much about it, and you read the newspapers and you watch the stuff on TV that’s said about you, I think it would become far too much,” he said.

“But if you kind of shield yourself from it all and just get into your own little bubble, only listen to the people that are around you, then it’s something you can deal with.”

Murray is playing in his seventh Wimbledon and is a far more imposing figure than he was when as a scrawny teenager on his 2005 debut he took the first two sets off former runner-up David Nalbandian before losing in five.

Ever since that third round loss, Wimbledon has experienced regular bouts of ‘Murray mania’ amongst a desperate British public which has slowly taken the straight-talking Scot to its heart.

However, Murray admitted that it wasn’t love at first sight when he first experienced the All England Club with all of its fussy traditions.

“When I first played here I didn’t understand what it was like, and it still took a few years for me to understood how important this tournament was to me, how important it is to tennis, and also this country,” he admitted.

“I didn’t necessarily appreciate that the first time I played because you’re just a kid. It’s something new for you. You’re excited to play on Centre Court.

“But it’s not until I played a lot of matches there that I started to understand how special a court it was. I spent some time here during the year sitting on the court when there was no one else there just thinking what it was like.

“So it’s become more and more special to me the more years I’ve played.”

source: interaksyon.com