- 07 Sep 2007, 00:30
#893056
Jankovic made a blistering start to the match breaking in the opening game while Williams struggled with her unforced errors and more notably her serve.
But the American 12th seed began to settle into the match towards the end of the set racing through the second before pushing Jankovic all the way to the tiebreak in the third.
"I think you have fun sometimes on the court," Jankovic said after endearing herself with fans with light-hearted banter. "I don't think you have to always be so serious like some of the players are.
"You have to enjoy it. So this is what I'm doing, having a lot of fun on the court. I think it's nice to be fair, to give credit to the opponent.
"When she hits a great shot, why not? You can say, 'Well done.' Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with smiling on the court.
"I cannot do anything when she hits an unbelievable serve. I cannot return it. So why not give her credit and say, 'Well done, Venus.'
"I love when there are a lot of supporters. They go like, 'Jelena, we love your smile.' I'm like, 'But, yeah, it doesn't help me return her serve.' It's always funny. It's quite entertaining."
Williams, who had reached the quarter finals without dropping a set, looked strangely out of sorts at the beginning of the match surrendering her serve in the first and fifth games.
The current Wimbledon champion broke back in the sixth game but could not claw back the second break and Jankovic served out the set in the 10th game with a forehand winner.
Jankovic continued her excellent run of play breaking in the opening game of the second set with a pin-point lob, a tactic that worked fantastically well throughout the match.
But Williams broke back immediately racing up to the net to bury a forehand volley before breaking again in the fourth and sixth games and serving out the set with a cross court forehand winner.
The third set finally saw both players play some of their best tennis at the same time with both clinging on to their serve despite several chances for Jankovic in the second game and for Williams in the fifth game.
By serving first in the set Jankovic kept herself narrowly in the lead, forcing Williams to serve to stay in the match when trailing 5-4 and 6-5.
It was in the eleventh game that the Serb enjoyed her best chance to seal the match pushing Williams to deuce but an ace and a Jankovic forehand error allowed the American to hold forcing the tiebreak.
Williams played a smart breaker racing out to a 5-1 lead before earning herself three match points when she charged up to the short ball and put away the forehand volley winner. The first went begging when Williams hit an attempted inside out backhand across court wide but she got it at the second attempt plucking up a backhand volley out of the air and putting it down the line just out of the stretching Jankovic's reach.
"I wanted to come in today," Williams said. "I got lobbed a few times. I got passed a few times. But ultimately I think it really made a difference because I was trying to move forward."
"She's a very good competitor, and anyone has to play a lot of balls against her. I just went for it all the time, non-stop and it paid off. Jelena is an unbelievable competitor. It went the distance. It was awesome."
Williams will now play world number one and top seed Justine Henin in the semi finals on Friday.
bruka (igraju, a meni je muka)
Henin je već prva na svetu, bilo bi mi dosadno da pobedi.
Venus nije uspela da pobedi. Ovako će biti dosadno, neću gledati finale najverovatnije!
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