Older, the better — Venus subdues Serena

After an edgy start Davenport, 24, held serve for only the second time to take the first set. Dokic, the 17-year-old playing her first ever senior semi-final, could not contain the power of her opponent’s groundstrokes and the American broke twice more in the second set to secure a 51-minute victory.

In a contest dominated by heavy shots and studded with thrilling rallies, Venus’s nerve held the better and she clinched victory in the tie-break when eighth seed serena served a double fault on match point.

The 18-year-old broke down following her mistake and was comforted by her big sister.

“It was not really so much fun,” said a subdued Venus, 20, after the 87-minute match. “I hate to see Serena go. It could have gone either way — I was able to stay tough.

“We were having fun out there, having a blast, showing people what real tennis is and I couldn’t really believe the match was over when that final serve went into the net.

“It was such a beautiful day but I don’t really feel like it’s a great victory. It doesn’t feel the same as if I’d beaten somebody whose name is not Serena Williams.

“Serena is a little upset now but in a couple of hours she will be really happy for me and she will be giving me advice whoever I play next.”

Thursday was only the third time that two sisters have met in the tournament’s 123-year history, and on each occasion the older sister has won.

Asked whether Venus was a better player, a despondent Serena said: “Today she was but I can’t say overall she is.

“She brought out her best game against me today. I guess I wasn’t all that ready.”

Venus, 20, had won three of their four previous encounters, including a second round win at the Australian Open in 1998. She will be playing her second Grand Slam final after losing the 1997 US Open final.

The early exchanges were littered with errors.

Venus was forced to save a break point in the opening game but she came through that mini-crisis with flying colours, firing forehands into the corners of the court.

Serena, the US Open champion and bookmakers’ favourite for the match, held serve but needed an ace on the deuce point and a big, heavy serve on the advantage point as Venus rallied well from the back of the court.

The elder sister began to settle on Centre Court, following her serves into the net and cutting off Serena’s shorter drives with drive volleys.

For Serena, it was her first match on the world’s most famous tennis arena, and Venus took full advantage of her sister’s inexperience.

She broke her serve for 3-1 with some breath-taking backhands but managed just two first serves into play the following game and allowed the eighth seed to break straight back.

Venus broke again for a 4-2 lead and sloppy returns from Serena plus some wayward forehands allowed Venus to stretch her lead to 5-2.

Serena saved one set point with a full-blooded backhand winner, but she sprayed a backhand long a point later to hand venus the set 6-2.

Serena, who had not lost a set in five previous rounds, struck back straight away. Venus threw in two double faults in the opening game of the second set and her younger sister broke.

She held for 2-0 with powerful serving, including two sizzling aces, but had problems with her footing on the slick surface.

Venus couldn’t get close to Serena’s serve as she swung it wide or thumped it down the middle out of Venus’ long reach.

The fifth seed had to fight off three break points as Serena jumped all over her serve but she finally held for 2-3. Serena held with ease to move 4-2 ahead.

Serena continued to make Venus work hard on her service games and she needed five deuces before she finally held for 3-4.

The match looked to be heading for a third set but Venus found an extra gear and having saved six break points in her previous two service games, hit a series of superb returns and broke serena to love to level matters 4-4.

Serena started to crack and Venus held to love — winning 10 points in a row. Serena somehow held on, and two games later the set entered a tiebreak.

At that point, venus’s greater experience told and she broke her younger sister four times in that decider, clinching victory when Serena pushed a serve into the net for a double fault.

“This time I think she (Serena) was thinking too much,” Venus said. “She’s a competitor…Probably even more than I am. She hates to lose.

“For me it’s like the big sister role now. I’ve always taken care of Serena…That’s the way it’ll always be.”

The sisters had warmed up with each other before the one hour 27 minute match.

“We were laughing, it was just regular,” Venus said about the moments before the match started. “We just get on so well. During the photographs we were telling each other `chin down’.”

The sisters’ father, Richard, stayed away from the semi-final, and was reported to have spent some of the match pounding the streets of Wimbledon in his running gear.

“I wasn’t on no court, I was on the street. I watched with these lovely people from The Daily Express and The Daily Mail,” he told Reuters.