Serena Williams Survives Scare, Faces Elena Dementieva in Sydney Final

Medibank International—

Serena Williams survived a big scare against unseeded Aravane Rezai to advance to the final in Sydney where she will meet defending champion Elena Dementieva.

While Dementieva brushed aside Belarussian Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-1 in just over an hour, Williams was forced to fight back from a set and 5-2 down to secure her place in tomorrow’s championship match.

Williams hit a slew of errors against the world No. 27, and she admitted after the victory that she was lucky to still be in the tournament.

The big-serving American hit 11 aces, including six in the second set in as many service games, but all of that would have been for naught had Rezai been able to serve out the match.

The Frenchwoman played her role in the match quite beautifully, and it looked as if she was on course for the biggest upset on the WTA tour in 2010.

With Rezai storming out of the blocks early, Williams was the first to crack, hitting a double-handed backhand long at 30-40 in the seventh game of the first set.

Rezai continued to hit the ball hard and flat from both flanks, moving Williams across the court as well as showing lateral quickness when the No. 1 tried to counterpunch.

Things started out just as badly for Williams in the second set. Serving at 1-2, Rezai hit two beautiful winners, a cross-court forehand that left the top seed flat-footed and a backhand down the line from well behind her own baseline.

Lacing a winner down the line to level the match at a set each, Williams let out a guttural scream and pumped her left fist against her side, announcing to the world that she refused to go down without a fight.

In the third set, Rezai secured a key break to tie the decider at 4-4, but she was unable to capitalize, dropping her own serve the very next game. That was all that Williams needed, serving out the match and booking her place in Friday’s final in just over two hours.

By contrast, Dementieva’s semifinal was almost the exact opposite as she swept past No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-1 in just 68 minutes.

Dementieva broke Azarenka three times in her first four service games, changing speeds with a deep ground strokes and her one-handed slice. Her approach shots pulled Azarenka off the court and she finished points well at the net.

Although she failed to serve out the set, the No. 5 claimed the opener in the next game when Azarenka hit a cross-court backhand wide.

Dementieva was even better in the second set, running off the first five games and taking the match 6-1. She dropped just three points on her first serve and only faced one break point (which she saved).

The difference in class was much greater than the world rankings suggest. Azarenka did not stamp any kind of authority on the match in the way you would expect the seventh best player in the world to do, while Dementieva looked like a world-beater. All aspects of her game looked sharp, especially when forced onto her back foot and asked to defend. Her court coverage was excellent and she turned defense into attack by reaching balls early and nailing shots on the run.

If you want to find a fault with her performance, her first serve percentage was just 64 percent. She was good enough to get away with that today, but it may cause her problems against a better opponent who doesn’t give away so many gifts on their own second serve.

While Azarenka served at a high percentage, she won just one point on her second serve in the entire match. Heading into the Australian Open, this is one area the 20-year-old needs to address sooner rather than later.

Friday's final will be good practice for both women ahead of their trips to Melbourne Park next week. Williams is 7-4 lifetime against Dementieva, but the Russian leads 4-3 since 2007.

Moorilla Hobart International

In Hobart, top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues and No. 2 Shahar Peer advanced to Friday’s semifinals with hard-fought wins over Gisela Dulko and Carla Suarez Navarro respectively.

Medina Garrigues beat Dulko 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, racing through the first set before letting the Argentine back into the match in the second.

The Spanish top seed hit four double faults in the second set and won just three of 18 points on her second serve, but the Argentine No. 8 seed ran out of steam in the decider as Medina Garrigues broke Dulko three times to book her place in tomorrow’s semifinal.

She will meet Alona Bondarenko who beat 2005 champion Jie Zheng 7-5, 7-5.

It was even harder for second-seeded Peer, who needed almost three hours to fight back from a set down to edge past No. 5 seed Suarez Navarro 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.

Peer was face Italian Sara Errani who defeated Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-4.