Serena Williams seemed as surprised as everyone in the Centre Court audience by the power, precision and emotional stability Elena Dementieva displayed in their Wimbledon semifinal Thursday morning.
A second-serve ace coming off Dementieva's racket? The usually-breakable Russian clawing back from an 0-40 hole? A 6-6 deadlock in the third set? This wasn't what two-time Wimbledon champion Williams had in mind. Surely, Williams figured she would strike fear into Dementieva early, win in straight sets and rest up for a potential final against her sister, Venus.
Instead, two hours and 48 minutes had gone by, and Williams was still on the court, sweating in the Miami-like heat, digging deep, and finally surviving the longest women's semifinal in the Open era, 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, 8-6.
When Dementieva's final shot sailed wide, Williams' family members leaped to their feet in the player's box and she buried her head in her hands.
''It was really, really tough,'' Williams said as she walked off the court. ``Elena's been playing so well, she's won a lot of matches against me in the past, and I was hoping to do a little different against her [Thursday]. We gave the crowd a wonderful match.''
Dementieva was playing her 43rd Grand Slam and had yet to reach a final. She made three consecutive semifinals -- 2008 Wimbledon and U.S. Open, and 2009 Australian Open -- but Williams beat her in straight sets down in Melbourne. Serena's older sister, Venus, the defending five-time Wimbledon champion, beat Dementieva in last year's semifinals here, and the Russian was determined not to be kept out again.
She swung for the lines, and placed her shots in corners time and time again. Though her unreliable serve still deserted her at times (she had eight double faults), she pulled out a couple of aces at critical moments. The Russian led 5-4 in the third set and had match point with Williams serving at 30-40, but Williams refused to go down. She raced toward the net and made a gutsy volley to stay alive.
Serena will play the winner of the afternoon match between Venus and No. 1 Dinara Safina.
'I'm going to watch Venus' match for sure, and cheer for her,'' Williams said. ``Go, V!''
Only once in the past 10 years has there been a Williams-free Wimbledon final, and the sisters have won seven of the last nine titles.
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