Defending champion Venus Williams back in WTA championships final after beating Jankovic
By APSaturday, October 31, 2009
Venus reaches Doha final by beating Jankovic
DOHA, Qatar — Venus Williams reached her second straight Sony Ericsson Championships final by defeating Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
The defending champion trailed 2-0 in the decisive set, but broke the former top-ranked Serb three times in a row en route to a 5-3 lead. Williams then saved a break point in the last game before sealing the win with a forehand that bounced off the net cord.
She could come up against her sister Serena, who played Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in the second semifinal.
“In the first set, I couldn’t feel the ball,” Williams said. “Just to come back … to play so well against such a consistent player is great.”
Jankovic had just two winners in the first set, but Williams was done in by her inconsistent forehand and 23 unforced errors. She cleaned up her game in the second, hitting a forehand winner to break for 4-2 and holding the next game at love before serving out the set with a 119-mph ace.
Both players finished with more unforced errors than winners — 49 to 43 for Williams and 34 to 17 for Jankovic. Williams’ serve was equally inconsistent, mixing 10 aces with 11 double faults.
It was the ninth three-setter in 10 meetings between the two, with the head-to-head series now tied at 5-5. Their last meeting was also in the semifinal stage of the season-ending Doha tournament last year.
Williams advanced to the semifinals despite winning just one of her three round-robin matches, the first player to do so since Amelie Mauresmo in 2003. She only clinched a berth when Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Elena Dementieva in the last group round on Friday, but seems determined to make the most of her break.
“This is my last tournament of the year, so I’m giving a thousand percent,” she said.
