Tennis: Venus Williams took another step towards a fourth Wimbledon title with a hard-fought victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals today.
Fresh from her brilliant performance against second seed Maria Sharapova yesterday, Williams battled to a 6-3 6-4 win to seal a semi-final against Ana Ivanovic.
An 11am start perhaps explained a sluggish start from Williams, who had not faced a single break point against Sharapova but had to save two in the opening game of the match.
She then took advantage of a poor approach shot from Kuznetsova to send a forehand winner down the line for the only break, serving out comfortably to take the set 6-3 after 30 minutes.
Kuznetsova had won the last two meetings between the pair, coincidentally both in the quarter-finals in Warsaw, but was quickly in trouble in the second set.
The fifth seed saved seven break points in an epic opening game but then surrendered her serve in the fifth game to seemingly put Williams in total control.
However, a lapse in concentration from Williams allowed Kuznetsova to break straight back, only for a third consecutive break of serve to give the 23rd seed another chance to close out the match.
It was beginning to look like no-one actually wanted to win the match as Williams squandered three match points to fall break point down.
But eventually the 27-year-old held her nerve, much to the delight of her family, including younger sister Serena, watching in the players' box.
Williams will have to play four days in a row if she is to lift the title on Saturday following all the rain delays, but would have no complaints.
"That's okay because if I have a day off it would mean I'm out of the tournament," she joked.
Ivanovic saved three match points before sealing her place in her first Wimbledon semi-final with an enthralling 4-6 6-2 7-5 victory over Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.
Ivanovic held her nerve superbly to stay in the match when she served at 3-5 down in the final set, then capitalised on a series of Vaidisova errors to move on and clinch victory in her first Centre Court appearance.
After exactly two hours, Vaidisova dunked a double-fault into the net to end the match and add to her reputation for mental fragility which has dogged her in big tournaments.
Vaidisova had lost from an almost identical position in last year's French Open semi-final, when she failed to serve out for the match against Svetlana Kuznetsova.