Serena faces wildcard Zheng in semi-final
Former champion Serena Williams faces wildcard Zheng Jie in Wimbledon semi-finals
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Tuesday, 01, Jul 2008 10:20
Serena Williams will face Chinese surprise package Zheng Jie in her Wimbledon semi-final after both women qualified for the last-four today.
The American wasted little time in killing off the challenge of Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-0 in a match that was dominated by the two-time champion.
Williams looked to be facing a stern challenge from the eastern European youngster, appearing in her first ever Wimbledon quarter-final, when the pair exchanged breaks of serve within the first four games of the match.
But Williams' superior power from the serve, and some blistering groundstrokes, helped her to regain the initiative with a second break at 4-3 and served out for the set.
The second set was a different story, however, as Williams' dominance showed and a demoralised Radwanska was broken three times as she was whitewashed on Centre Court.
Zheng, who is the first Chinese player to make the semi-finals of a grand slam event, had a more challenging encounter on Court One but eventually came through against 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1.
The world number 133, who eliminated tournament favourite Ana Ivanovic in the third round last week, continued her excellent form with a superb first set.
And although she was pegged back in the second when she lost her service game late on, the doubles specialist roared back to take the third set 6-1 and reach the last four for the first time in her career.