By Bill Scott Jul 2, 2009, 16:48 GMT
London - Venus Williams delivered crushing 6-1, 6-0 humiliation to world number one Dinara Safina Thursday to line up against her sister Serena for the fourth time in a Wimbledon final.
Five-time champion Venus needed 51 minutes to crush the out-of-sorts top seed, going through with just one unforced error.
Serena struggled for almost three hours before finally eliminating Russian Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6 in their semi-final
Venus is bidding for her fourth trophy in the past five years at the All England club, a venue she dominates in the style of Roger Federer.
Her ritual win over Safina was overwhelming after the Russian had played finals of the last two Grand Slams.
'This is my eight final - and her eighth against her sibling at a Grand Slam,' said Venus, seeded third. 'it's a dream come true here again and have the opportunity to hold the (trophy) plate up.
'Dinara has played consistently this year, but I was really focused. It was hard for me to watch the drams of Serena's match before.
'The hardest part of the tournament is coming up - playing Serena Williams. I'm hoping to win it.'
Safina has lost in three Grand Slam finals, beginning with the French Open a year ago. She was also beaten by Serena Williams at the Australian Open and went out to Svetlana Kuznetsova at Roland Garros a month ago.
Against Serena, Russian two-time 2004 Grand Slam finalist Dementieva failed on a match point in the tenth game of the third set as Williams returned a loose volley which hit the top of the net but landed good.
The American then broke for 7-6 as the air went out of her Russian opponent, with two-time winner Williams reaching her second title match in three years on her own first winning chance,
'It was really, rally tough,' said Williams, holder of 10 titles at the majors. 'When I faced that match point (on her own serve) I was thinking ace.
'I stayed calm and positive. I wasn't on my best game, but we gave the crowd a wonderful match.'
The contest ran for just over two and a quarter-hours, with Williams hitting 20 aces and 43 winners as she broke her Russian opponent five times.
Dementieva converted on three of ten opportunities.
'It was a very close match, we both were playing very well today,' said Dementieva. 'It was a good fight.
'Actually, I feel very satisfied the way I was playing today. The only regret I have, maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line.'
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