| The Miami Herald WIMBLEDON, England -- Richard Williams plans to fly back to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Friday, a day before his daughters battle for an eighth Wimbledon title. He could not be convinced to stick around for the All-American July 4 sister-fest. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS "I'll be home cutting the grass", Richard Williams said. "I won't even watch on TV. I can't watch my daughters play each other. I'd probably have a heart attack. Serena scared the living hell out of me in Thursday's thrilling semifinal victory. She has the biggest heart and the most guts in all of tennis. Venus is as smooth as baby oil. Should be a great one. But I can't watch." The sisters, who played each other in last year's final, reached this Saturday title match in wildly different manners. Serena scrapped, clawed, served 20 aces and saved match point against Elena Dementieva before surviving the longest women's final on record, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 8-6. When Dementieva's backhand sailed wide after 2 hours, 49 minutes of extraordinarily high-level tennis, Richard Williams stood, bowed to his daughter on the court and tipped his baseball cap. "Definitely one of my more dramatic victories", Serena said. "She played her best game. I've never seen her serve so well in my life. I definitely had to dig deep because I was playing a player that didn't give me an inch, didn't make too many errors. So I had to keep my level up." Venus, on the other hand, took just 51 minutes to beat Dinara Safina, 6-1, 6-0, making a mockery of the Russian's No. 1 seed. It was the most lopsided women's semifinal since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals by the same score in 1969. Williams had only one unforced error, and Safina scored only 20 points to Williams' 54. 'TOO GOOD ON GRASS' Many fans had stepped out of the stadium after Serena's epic to grab a late lunch, or a tub of strawberries. By the time the seats started to fill again, Venus was moments from clinching. "I think she's just too good on grass", Safina said. "It's not my favorite surface, and it's her favorite surface, so she just honestly was too good. It's definitely disappointing finishing the match less than one hour and winning only one game. She gave me a pretty good lesson." Venus was particularly gracious afterward: "Of course, playing the No. 1 player in the world, it's exciting to play so well. I had to work hard for it, but was able to do a lot of things right. My record on grass and my experience helped me a lot." Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, has won 34 consecutive sets on these grounds and is trying to become the first woman to win three Wimbledon titles in a row since Steffi Graf from 1991-93. No matter what the elder Williams does the rest of the season, she shows up at Wimbledon ready to win, as if Centre Court was her personal playground. One of these days, the owners might just give her a key to the grounds. "It was so hard before my match watching Serena and all that drama", Venus said. "But the hardest part is coming up, and that is playing Serena Williams . . . Even if she's not playing her best, just that fight she has, you're facing that. There's so much to face when you play her. It's definitely a lot to get your mind around." Asked how she separates Serena the sibling from Serena the opponent, Venus smiled and said: "Well, it's real easy when you get a serve at 127 mph and it comes back as a winner. You soon realize you're playing against an awesome player and you better get on your toes." Only once in the past 10 years has there been a Williams-free Wimbledon final, and the sisters have won seven of the past nine titles. Venus, the defending champion, also won in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007. Serena won in 2002 and 2003, and has little patches with those years on her sneakers as a reminder. She almost didn't make the final this time around. She seemed surprised by the power, precision and emotional stability Dementieva displayed during their match. A second-serve ace coming off Dementieva's racket? A usually breakable Russian clawing back from an 0-40 hole? A 6-6 deadlock in the third set? This wasn't what 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. CRUCIAL POINT Instead, she found herself down match point at 4-5 in the third set, serving at 30-40. Dementieva had a passing shot, and rather than going down the line, she tried to hit it cross court. Williams raced up to the net and managed a backhand volley that skimmed the net and landed in. Dementieva said her only regret in the match was the way she constructed that point. Dementieva went for broke. She aimed for the lines, and found them. Although her unreliable serve still deserted her at times (she had eight double faults), she pulled out a couple of aces at critical moments. And, she never lost her composure. "I was very satisfied with the way I played", Dementieva said. "It was a real fight from beginning to end. It's not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion and was serving really well. I wasn't sure if it was Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side." The Williams sisters, who room together, will be back on the court Friday for the doubles semifinals. After that, it's each sister for herself until one of them is holding the championship dish. Richard Williams will wait at home for the phone call. "My work is done", he said. "My two girls are in the final. No matter what happens, the plate is going to have the name Williams on it. That's all I care about."
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