Tennis

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Venus Williams back in Wimbledon finals

LONDON (UPI) -- Reigning champion Venus Williams beat Russia's Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) in one women's semifinal Thursday at the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Williams, the women's seventh seed, wiped out a nervous, over-matched fifth-seeded Dementieva in just 38 minutes in the first set.

Dementieva made the match respectable by forcing a second set tie-breaker.

Williams faces sister Serena, the sixth seed, in the women's final on Saturday.

Serena Williams beat unseeded Jie Zheng of China 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) to set up a third all-Williams Wimbledon title match on Saturday.

"I'm looking forward to playing her," Venus told reporters before her sister's victory. "It's so exciting. I lost serve once every match. That's pretty impressive (and) I'm looking forward to that final."

Venus, 28, a six-time Grand Slam champion, rose to 7-0 in Wimbledon semifinal appearances and will be trying to win her 37th title in 59 career finals.

Serena won the 2002 and 2003 matchups.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 07/03/2008

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