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LONDON: Venus and Serena Williams cruised closer to
another Wimbledon final on Tuesday, but they were upstaged by
pint-sized Zheng Jie’s history-making performance.
Zheng became the first Chinese
player to reach the Final 4 of a Grand Slam, a timely national boost
as the Beijing Olympics looms, with a famous 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over
Czech 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova.
The Chinese wildcard, who put out
world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the third round, will tackle Serena, who
brushed aside Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-0, for a
place in the final.
Venus beat Thai veteran Tamarine
Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-3 and will face Russian fifth seed Elena
Dementieva, who endured a roller-coaster 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 win
over compatriot Nadia Petrova.
Zheng, 24, the lowest ranked
player left in the women’s singles at 133, produced a heroic
display to better compatriot Li Na, who was the only other Chinese
to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam, at Wimbledon in 2006.
“I’m very happy to be in the
semifinals at Wimbledon. These two weeks have been the best of my
life,” said Zheng.
“I never thought I would be in
the semifinals. There were lots of people watching on TV in China so
I knew I had to keep going.”
Sixth seed Serena reached the
semifinals with a comfortable win over Radwanska, easing to victory
in just 51 minutes.
Serena, the 2002 and 2003
champion, beating Venus on both occasions, had already knocked out
her quarterfinal opponent’s younger sister Urzsula in the second
round.
The American beat Zheng in the
first round here two years ago but insisted she won’t be
underestimating the China player.
“I’ve been watching her play.
I think she’s doing a fabulous job, and I don’t think it’s
luck, her doing so well. I think she’s a really good player,”
said Serena.
Venus, the champion in 2000,
2001, 2005 and 2007, is now just one victory away from making it
seven Wimbledon finals in the last nine years.
--AFP
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