The Battle of the Two Princesses – Serena Vs Elena;

After a long time I was following Wimbledon, not by just reading the newspaper reports the next day, but by following the key matches live. Today was the women’s seminfinal day and the first match was between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva. Serena was probably the favourite going into the match, but from my perspective as a tennis fan, there was little to choose, because I have admired the Williams sisters for years – for their accomplishments, for taking women’s tennis to a different level and for their grace under pressure – and out of the Russian girls Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva were my favourites. So I sat back with a cup of tea and a bowl of nuts to enjoy the match.
 
The match was a thriller from the beginning to the end. At some points I found myself backing Dementieva and at others I found myself backing Serena. Serena played her powerful groundstrokes and there was one shot which she hit at Dementieva, which zoomed past Dementieva like a rocket. Dementieva could just watch. Or probably not even that. Before the match, Serena’s father had said : “Serena is hitting like a man.” It was true – she could have blown away some of the top 10 men’s players, if she hit ferociously like she did today. Dementieva on the other hand was cool like a cucumber. She kept hitting the Serena serve back again and again, frustrating Serena and making her hit unforced errors. She made Serena run back and forth to the two ends of the court, during many points, before finishing off the point with a winner. Her powerhitting was a little bit less forceful than Serena’s (can anyone else hit better?), but her court coverage and the way she made Serena run around and work hard and earn every point was wonderful. Her allround game, consistent groundstrokes, wonderful serve and playing strategy put her on front repeatedly. Sadly, repeatedly, on the big points, she lacked that little bit of mental edge that Serena had. It was really a sliver of a mental edge. But that was enough for Serena to win the match. It was a shame that one of the players had to lose the match, today. It was one of the best women’s matches that I have watched at Wimbledon ever. I am sure it will got down as one of the classic matches in Wimbledon history.
 
Tomorrow is the battle of the princes and the Andy vs Andy match is promising to be a mouth-watering delight. The Williams sisters’ act follows on Saturday and and an exciting weekend beckons.

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