Venus Williams began her campaign for a third Open singles title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Samantha Stosur of Australia and started on a collision course toward the quarterfinals, where she could play her sister serena Williams." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/serena_williams/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Serena.
At times, Williams’s victory was a clinical, ruthless display of power and confidence that sent a clear message to the rest of the women’s field. At others, particularly in the second set, the sluggishness that resulted from playing at the Olympics seemed to creep into her game. She made 22 unforced errors.

“I thought it was just really straightforward tonight, nothing super special,” Williams said. “I didn’t try anything too crazy.”

As she was at Wimbledon, Williams is seeded seventh here. But that hardly slowed her down at the All-England Club, where she reached the final without dropping a set and beat her sister to win her fifth championship there.

Stosur also won at Wimbledon in the mixed doubles, where she competed with Bob Bryan. But she has missed time in the past season and a half as she battled Lyme disease.

Williams was aggressive from the start, lurking well inside the baseline on Stosur’s serve and charging the net with abandon. She broke Stosur in three of her first four service games and three more times in the match. Stosur broke back once in the first set, but she did not deliver the shots on her other break points to capitalize.

Stosur found her rhythm— or something closer to it — in the second set. She even took a 3-1 lead after breaking Williams’s serve. But Williams found another gear and muscled her way back to 3-3, then on to the victory.

“That’s when I play my best, when I’m down,” Williams said.

As always at the Open, there was great interest when Williams removed her warm-up jacket. In the past, she has modeled sequined and backless outfits, sometimes bordering on the outrageous. But on Tuesday, she wore a simple black dress.

As the saying goes, you can never go wrong with a little black dress and Williams did not. Though her crushing forehand, backhand and serve certainly helped, too.

VENUS WILLIAMS
Venus and Serena Williams reach Wimbledon final

By STEPHEN WILSON – 6 hours ago

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Venus and Serena Williams won in straight sets Thursday to set up their third all-sister Wimbledon final and seventh Grand Slam championship matchup.

Defending champion and four-time winner Venus beat Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (3), then two-time champ Serena overcame two rain delays and served 14 aces to down China's Zheng Jie 6-2, 7-6 (5).

It will be the first all-Williams final at any tournament since 2003, when Serena beat her older sister in the Wimbledon title match for the second year in a row.

Serena holds an 8-7 career edge over Venus, including 5-1 in Grand Slam finals. Since Venus won the U.S. Open in 2001, Serena has won five straight of their major finals.

"She's a tough opponent," Serena said. "I think she'll be the toughest person I've played. I'm excited."

Said Venus: "It's every Williams for themself."

Venus overpowered the fifth-seeded Dementieva in the first set and then prevailed in an error-filled tiebreaker to improve her record to 7-0 in semifinals at the All England Club.

"I am dying for S. Williams to get through," said the 28-year-old Venus, who hasn't dropped a set in five matches and will be going for her seventh Grand Slam title.

Venus then went back out to watch her 26-year-old sister, who sat through rain breaks in both sets before cranking up her big serve, saving a set point in the second set and finishing off the 133rd-ranked Zheng to put her one win away from a ninth Grand Slam crown.

After Zheng dumped a second serve into the net on match point, Serena looked more relieved than anything to get through the match. Venus fiddled with her fingernails as she watched alongside their father, Richard, in the players' box.

"She definitely pushed me," Serena said of Zheng, the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal and first wild-card entrant to get this far at Wimbledon. "Unbelievable, and not only that she played a great game. She played like she had nothing to lose and she didn't.

"I wanted to do more than maker a Wimbledon final," she added. "I'm just happy to be back in a Grand Slam final."

Richard Williams said he would fly back to the United States on Friday and doesn't plan to watch a single point of the final on television, saying he can't bear to watch his daughters playing against each other.

In men's play, 32-year-old Rainer Schuettler outlasted Arnaud Clement 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 8-6 in a match that took two days to complete. The German saved a match point at 5-4 in the fifth set before pulling out a 5-hour, 12-minute victory that sends him into the semifinals Friday against No. 2 Rafael Nadal.

The other men's semifinal has five-time champion Roger Federer facing a resurgent Marat Safin, a former No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion.

Like her sister, Serena Williams hasn't dropped a set so far. And, like Venus, she relied on her serve to pull her through when she needed it most.

"I didn't want to go three sets," she said. "I could have. I was ready to go three sets, but I felt like I didn't want to. I just wanted to close it. I just hit some big serves."

Serena, who strode onto the court wearing her custom-made white trench coat, was up 5-2 in the first set when play was suspended for 35 minutes. She came back out after the break and held serve at love to close out the set.

From one stretch late in the first set into the second, Zheng was unable to get the ball back into play on 11 consecutive return points as Serena came up with five aces and six service winners.

But Zheng, hitting cleanly from the baseline and winning most of the long rallies, hung in and went up a break at 4-2 in the second set. Serena broke right back and the two stayed even until play was stopped again by rain at 5-5.

After a delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes, Zheng earned a set point on Serena's serve at 6-5 but failed to convert, smacking a second-serve backhand return into the top of the net.

Serena got fired up, letting out a mighty scream — "Come on!" — and pumping her fist after an overhead smash on the next point. She then smacked back-to-back aces to set up the tiebreaker.

Serena took a 5-2 lead with the help of three more aces, but Zheng kept fighting and pulled even at 5-5. Serena hit a 123 mph service winner to set up match point, letting out another loud shout. The match ended tamely with Zheng's only double-fault.

Dementieva, playing in her first Wimbledon semifinal, looked nervous and was completely overmatched in the first set by Venus Williams' sheer power and pace, but settled down and made it competitive in the second. The Russian then faded badly in the tiebreaker and committed repeated unforced errors.

After Dementieva knocked a forehand into the net to end the 1:42 match, Venus skipped and hopped up and down with joy like a kid at a birthday party.

"I guess it started to set in a little bit about being in the final," she said. "When I'm excited I always jump. That I guess will never change. I'd like to celebrate even more if I'm good enough to take that title."

Asked about the likelihood of an all-Williams final, Dementieva said she couldn't imagine playing against a sibling, adding, "For sure it's going to be a family decision."

Venus took offense to a question about a predetermined outcome.

Venus Williams did some running

"I'm extremely professional in everything that I do on and off the court," Venus said. "I contribute my best in my sport and I also have a ton of respect for myself and my family. So any mention of that is extremely disrespectful for who I am, what I stand for, and my family."

Later, Dementieva issued a statement through the WTA clarifying her comments, saying English was not her first language.

"I do not think for one second that matches between Serena and Venus Williams are family decisions," she said. "What I meant was it is a unique situation for a family to be in to be playing for a Grand Slam title. I have a lot of respect for Serena and Venus."

?Venus Williams Pregnant?April 16, 2008. Tennis insiders are wondering what mystery "illness" has been keeping Venus out of tennis matches for the past few weeks. But MediaTakeOut.com is hearing whispers that Venus' "illness" is not really an illness at all - but a pregnancy.

Word is that Venus has been undergoing tests to make sure that she can safely continue to play while carrying. And that once she's given the green light, she'll return to tennis.

Now this hasn't been confirmed yet, guys - but she wouldn't be the first pregnant tennis player. In 2007, tennis star Lindsay Davenport continued to play tennis during her first trimester.

Wimbledon: Venus Williams seeks fifth title

If you are flying economy class to the United States in the next two weeks, be ready to have a sports superstar sitting next to you.

Venus Williams, the defending Wimbledon champion, revealed yesterday that whenever she suffers a bad defeat she punishes herself by flying economy back home. So that's what she was talking about with the pre-Wimbledon party host, Sir Richard Branson, last week - an upgrade.

The richest sportswoman in the world flew home 'coach' class after a frustrating French Open last month, where she lost in the third round to Flavia Pennetta, of Italy. "I was extremely comfortable and very happy," she said. "I sat next to an opera singer, we had great conversation."

She flew upper class to London from Florida last week only because "I booked my ticket early and got a good price".

Williams, who has earned over $18 million in prize money alone during her career, explained: "I do in general make a point of flying coach these days. It's too expensive [not to]. Do you know what they're doing, they're charging you for extra baggage, you can only take one bag. It's hard to fly, it's hard to find a ticket."

Typically, she expects to fly home first class a fortnight tomorrow, having won the Wimbledon title for a fifth time. She begins the defence of her title against British wild-card Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for her, she has the world No 2 Jelena Jankovic in her quarter of the draw. The Williams girls have never been respecters of reputations, but the Serbian is the only player in the top 10, other than Venus's sister Serena, who holds a superior record in head-to-heads against her. Jankovic leads 4-3 and inflicted one of those defeats at Wimbledon in 2006. "She's a very good player - nothing super," - was a characteristically unenthusiastic assessment of an opponent.

As usual all her preparation for the Championships has been done at home in Florida. Williams hasn't stepped on a grass court in England, if it's not at Wimbledon, in 10 years. "I feel like I don't want to deal with rain before Wimbledon, so I just deal with it while I'm here and that works," she explained.

Her singles record at the All England Club is without equal among today's players: 51 victories in 58 matches. "This is the best tournament to do well in, I guess," she said. "By the time I get here I'm extremely determined to really make it happen. I think I move well on grass, I think I move well in general. My game definitely takes away a lot of time from opponents on grass; I feel like I know how to play on it. Obviously in my younger years I had some solid results, but not as good as these days."

And her secret? "I feel confident, but I also know that you need control and execution," she said, "and a lot of it is not thinking too hard about it, just going with the flow. So that's what I'm doing."

Both Venus and Serena have always been careful about the tournaments they choose to play in and have been criticised for not playing in more. But their discretion seems to have paid off in the long run.

While other players' careers have ended prematurely through injury, the Williams sisters are still going strong - Venus was 28 last week while Serena is 26 - and both are back in the top 10.

That is not to say they haven't suffered injury and illness, too. After the US Open last year, when she lost in the semi-finals to Justine Henin, Venus admitted that she checked herself into the Mayo Clinic for tests and was diagnosed as anaemic. Never one to look for excuses for her defeats, she said: "I don't really talk about my injuries. When I lose I lose. Yeah, I didn't feel that good, but I worked hard to feel better."

Her mother Oracene was known to be worried about her health at the time. "My mum has become the mum's mum in the past year and I don't know what to do about it," she said. "She worries too much. It's like, 'Mum, look, I'm a big girl. I'm actually a woman now so I've got it under control,' and she's so worried. I feel bad for her. It's hard to be a mum!"

The sisters could meet in the final this year, something that hasn't happened in a grand slam since Wimbledon 2003. That's partly because of the fierce competition they face these days from eastern Europeans.

And they are still confronting that challenge alone. The next American in the rankings, Lindsay Davenport, is now semi-retired, and after her it's the 74th-ranked Ashley Harkleroad, whose talent has been laid bare this month in Playboy magazine. And that's the naked truth of it.venus williams

**Venus Williams in MALIBU**

Country	United States
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Date of birth	June 17 1980 (1980--) (age?27)
Place of birth	Lynwood, California
Height	?m ()
Weight	72?kg (158?lb)
Turned Pro	1994
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	$18,096,031
Singles
Career record:	468-108
Career titles:	36
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (February 25, 2002)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	F (2003)
French Open	F (2002)
Wimbledon	W (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007)
U.S. Open	W (2000, 2001)
Doubles
Career record:	90-17
Career titles:	10
Highest ranking:	No. 5 (October 11, 1999)
Infobox last updated on: July 7, 2007.

Women's Tennis
Olympic medal record
Gold	2000 Sydney	Singles
Gold	2000 Sydney	Doubles

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Comment:	my dream is sleep to you venus