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Clash of titans: Venus vs Sharapova
Venus will need a breakthrough to beat Sharapova in semi-final, unbeaten in her last 22 grass-court matches.
For Venus Williams, the memory of her first Wimbledon title remains vivid.
"I remember I won the semifinal, and I was in the car, and I said, `Wow, I'm going to win this,"' Williams said. "I just knew it. That was my whole plan before the tournament...I had to win it."
Five years later, Williams again has everything going according to plan. Playing in her first major semifinal in two years, she'll face defending champion Maria Sharapova on Thursday. A former top-ranked player who has slumped to 16th, Williams seeks her first Grand Slam championship in nearly four years. But she sounds as confident as in 2000-01, when she won her four major titles, including Wimbledon twice.
"I deserve to be in the semifinal," she said. "I feel like when I play my best, I'm still a step ahead for sure." She'll need a breakthrough to beat the No. 2-seeded Sharapova, who won their two previous meetings and is unbeaten in her last 22 grass-court matches.
All four quarterfinal matches were decided in straight sets. Williams generated the most drama, overcoming five set points in a tiebreaker to beat French Open runner-up Mary Pierce 6-0, 7-6 (10). "She was playing unbelievable," Williams said.
At 18 the youngest player left in the tournament, Sharapova still punctuates her shots with shrieks and her interview answers with giggles, but she has been unfazed by the role of defending champion. "In the last year she has become one of the most famous athletes, if not personalities, around the world," Davenport said.
"She seems to have handled it really well and is still improving and still very young. I expect her to be a top player for a long time."
Sharapova has dropped her serve just once in 44 games. She held every service game in the quarterfinals and beat Russian compatriot Nadia Petrova 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Williams upheld family pride with a fourth-round victory over Jill Craybas, who had upset two-time champion Serena Williams less than 48 hours earlier. Now Venus can win one for the family again - Sharapova beat Serena in last year's final.
Serena flew home after losing Saturday, altering Venus' routine between matches.
"How does it change? Less nonsense, I guess," Venus said with a smile. "It's not the same, that's for sure."
With or without Serena, Venus said the biggest challenge for her between matches is getting to practice.
"I can't wake up in the morning, but I hate to go to bed at night," she said. "And I need at least eight hours of sleep." The semifinals are scheduled to start at 1 p.m., so Williams can sleep in and still make it.
