LONDON, 2 July 2003 — A double-barreled shootout between the United States and Belgium looms in the Wimbledon women’s semifinals after Serena and Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne reached the last four yesterday.
Defending champion and top seed Serena won a tension-packed quarterfinal battle with compatriot Jennifer Capriati 2-6, 6-2 6-3 in the game of the day to set up a semifinal grudge rematch with Henin.
The Belgian third seed, who controversially beat Serena in the French Open semifinals last month, demolished Russian debutante Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-2.
Henin’s compatriot Clijsters, the Belgian second seed, overcame a painful bee sting to beat Italian Sylvia Farina Elia 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 victory and reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.
She faces a semifinal against fourth seed Venus, the 2000 and 2001 champion, who maintained her grand slam domination over fellow American Lindsay Davenport on Center Court with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 success.
Serena’s draining victory had Center Court spellbound as she recovered from a first-set drubbing to avenge her 2001 quarterfinal defeat by Capriati.
Displaying the guts of a champion, Serena hauled herself back into the match and screeched with delight and relief after holding her nerve to serve out for victory against one of her fiercest rivals.
On court one Farina, 31, produced a gutsy display to steal the first set off Clijsters having saved three set points at 4-5. The Belgian later revealed she had suffered a bee sting to her stomach at the vital moment of the 10th game.
“It’s never happened to me before...(but) it was painful. I can still feel it,” said Clijsters who is seeking her first grand slam title having lost to Henin in last month’s French Open final.
Duly stung into action, the Belgian stormed through the next two sets in 43 minutes, only two minutes longer than the first set had taken.
Clijsters was rampant, with her sledgehammer forehand wreaking havoc. She won nine successive games and wrapped up victory in stupendous style with three successive aces. Venus’ win in a seesaw match against Davenport, the 1999 champion, was her third successive win over her compatriot at the All England Club.
The older of the two Williams sisters beat Davenport in the 2000 Wimbledon final and the semifinals a year later. She also beat Davenport in the 2000 US Open final in between.
But their overall head-to-head record is a tight 12-10 to Venus and her victory was never easy on Center Court.
Davenport responded superbly to losing the first set and looked the likelier winner by the time she had taken the second. But the fifth seed ran out of steam in the decider.
“I had to get in there and fight,” Venus said. “Lindsay played very well.”
Henin was unbothered by Kuznetsova as she marched into a semifinal meeting with Serena, who accused the Belgian of “lying and fabricating” during her three-set semifinal win in Paris. Their rematch promises to be a game to remember.
Grosjean Outlasts Ferrero to
Reach Quarterfinals
Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean reached the quarterfinals of the men’s, beating Spain’s French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3).
The 25-year-old 13th seed, into the last eight here for the first time in five visits, now meets British tenth seed Tim Henman, whom he beat in a warm-up event at Queen’s, in today’s quarters.
