Serena survives cliffhanger to reach another final

By James Christie.

Serena Williams dropped her first set of this year's Wimbledon and survived a match point before subduing the spirited challenge of Elena Dementieva in a semi-final clash that few had predicted would be so thrilling.

Olympic champion Dementieva created enough chances to win the match 7-6, 6-3 instead of losing 7-6, 5-7, 6-8.

The players started the match by swapping service breaks and another one might well have occurred in game seven had Dementieva's groundstrokes not rescued her from 0-40 down.

As the sun emerged from behind the clouds the crowd started warming to some quality play from both players.

The first point of the tiebreak was indicative of the contest's competitive nature; a 15-stroke no-holds barred baseline rally which ended with both players scrambling around near the umpire's chair.

Williams won that one but made three forced errors in a row at 3-3 and lost the tiebreak 7-4 to go a set down.

The American cracked her racket on the ground in disgust but it was the Russian who cracked at the start of the next set, conceding serve weakly.

So it was a surprise when the gap was closed again in game six, Dementieva coming up with an approach shot so good it didn't need a follow-up volley at the end of the game.

The love service break inspired her and when Serena double faulted at 3-4 down it could almost be put down as a forced error such was the pressure the two-times champion was being put under.

How Dementieva must rue choosing to challenge a Serena shot rather than play the point when holding one of two potentially match-winning break points, especially when she dropped serve at 5-5.

She still managed three break-back points as Williams served for the set - the final one blown when a tight backhand ended up in the middle of the doubles lines with the court at her mercy.

It was a sign of her experience that Williams only needed one set point to level the match.

She needed even more of it to recover from 3-1 down in the decider and save a match point on her own serve at 4-5 with a touch volley.

A wrong-footing backhand helped her break at 6-6 and she shook hands with the umpire, who could twice have warned her for racket abuse, having won the decider 8-6.

It is unlikely that the final will be as thrilling as this match was.

After the tension she has endured today, Serena will be delighted if she is given an easier encounter on Saturday afternoon.