Saturday, July 05, 2008

Breakfast at Wimbledon

One of the Williams sisters will take another Wimbledon title Saturday when Venus and Serena meet up in the women's final. Then on Sunday, Roger Federer goes for his sixth straight Wimbledon crown when he faces his nemesis Rafael Nadal in the men's final. This preview is presented by BetUs Sportsbook in conjunction with OffshoreInsiders.com   

Both of the Williams sisters cruised through their respective semifinal matches in straight sets on Thursday. Serena, seeded No. 6, took care of Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-6 in a match that was stopped repeatedly due to rain delays. Venus, the No. 7 seed, got past Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6.

This will be the seventh time that Venus and Serena will meet up in a Grand Slam final. Their last finals matchup in a Grand Slam was also at Wimbledon in 2003, which was won by Serena. In fact, Serena has dominated her sister in Grand Slam finals with a 5-1 record that includes winning the 2002 French Open, 2002 and 2003 Wimbledon crowns, the 2003 Australian Open and the 2002 U.S. Open. Venus's lone win against her sister in a Grand Slam final came in the 2001 U.S. Open. Overall the Williams sisters have met up 15 times, with Serena holding a slight edge with eight wins to her sister's seven.

If Venus were to win on Saturday it would be her second straight Wimbledon title and fifth overall. It would also be her seventh career Grand Slam title. A win by Serena would mark her third Wimbledon title and ninth Grand Slam victory. Serena is a slim -135 favorite in the final, while Venus is close behind at -105.

In the men's final on Sunday it will be top seed Roger Federer versus No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal for the third year in a row. In last year's final Federer and Nadal played a marathon match which Federer won 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2. The 2006 final was also a long one, won by Federer 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2. Even though Federer has beaten Nadal at Wimbledon the last two years, it is Nadal who leads the matchup overall with 11 wins to Federer's six. But nine of Nadal's wins over Federer came on clay, while on grass and hard courts Federer is 6-2 against Nadal.

Federer advanced to the final after defeating Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 in the semifinals. Nadal met up with German upstart Rainer Schuettler in the semis and handled him 6-1, 7-6, 6-4. As a five-time defending champion, Federer is a -140 favorite in Sunday's final while Nadal is an even-money underdog.

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