Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Venus, Serena and Elena all win straight-set quarterfinals

As predicted by just about everyone who is following Wimbledon, Venus Williams easily defeated 11th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in her quarterfinal today. The third seed, who hit five times as many winners as her opponent, won the match with a 6-1, 6-2 score.

The 4th seed, Elena Dementieva, found it just as easy to defeat surprise quarterfinalist, the unseeded Francesca Schiavone. She won the match 6-2, 6-2, but old habits die hard: Dementieva double-faulted 9 times.

2nd seed Serena Williams defeated 8th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3 in as good a match as one could hope to see Williams play. She made few errors, was great at the baseline, great at the net, rapid and precise in her movement and footwork, served very well, and hit 9 aces. I've seen Azarenka play better, but she would have had to play a lot better to defeat Williams today.

She will play the unheralded Elena Dementieva in the semifinals, and her sister Venus will play world number 1 and top seed Dinara Safina.

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