Kournikova revival fails to break Williams bond

Less than two hours after their participation in the women's singles final, the Williams sisters were back out on Centre Court on the same side of the net yesterday afternoon to take on Anna Kournikova and Chanda Rubin in the second semi-final of the women's doubles.

The sisters had won this title in 2000 and despite their commitment to the singles campaigns, seemed fairly determined to get it back. They had breezed through the first four rounds without conceding a set, and had indeed lost only 13 games in the process.

They duly won through to the final today where they will face the Spanish-Argentinian pairing of Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez. But they had an unexpectedly tough fight from Kournikova and Rubin, with the former producing some dazzling shots that she will almost certainly want to send on video to those who have recently queried her ability and focus. She is also still in the mixed doubles with Jonas Bjorkman, and showed her renewed appetite for the game by turning out for this just half-an-hour after finishing the Williams match, causing a rush of fans across to Court One.

At first though, it had looked as though the Williams sisters would continue in their usual ruthless pattern. The new champion Serena opened up with three successive aces, the first of which came off her second serve. But some spirited volleying at the net from Kournikova and two good service games by Rubin stemmed the early rush of the Williams girls, with Serena adding to their problems by playing a wild service game immediately after breaking Kournikova.

At 5-5 in the first set it looked as though we had a match on our hands, although in truth the tennis was a pretty perfunctory business with few rallies and a succession of unforced errors making up most of the spectacle. Serena seemed to have energy left over, hitting the ball brutally at times, while Venus, though still subdued after her defeat, served reliably enough, although her returns were often erratic.

Kournikova and Rubin looked much more a team than the sisters did, and it was no surprise when they forced the first set to a tie-break. Here the play at last exploded into some virtuoso action, with Kournikova ending a dazzling rally with a precise volley at the net to take an early lead. A beautiful angled volley won the seventh point, and she pounced again on a weak return by Serena to give her pairing three set-points, which were converted immediately to take the first set, 7-6 (7-3).

But the Williams sisters began an immediate fightback by breaking the next services of both Rubin and Kournikova, to lead 3-0. It seemed as though Serena was trying to drag her sibling out of her torpor by example, with a couple of truly violent interceptions. The bombardment continued as the Williams girls quickly opened up a 5-0 lead, which Venus converted with great determination, to close out the set inside 20 minutes.

A bit of tetchiness at the umpire's chair from the Williams sisters seemed to be directed at Kournikova for making a noise during play, and the Williams' distraction was soon evident when they went to the wrong end for the start of the third and final set.

But their shots now assumed a new, almost intimidatory ferocity, with one or two being fired perilously close to their opponents. Rubin and Kournikova responded to this with great spirit, holding their serves in the face of the onslaught. Kournikova continued to play with verve, producing several crisp interceptions, and for once there was a smile on her face as her tennis credibility seemed to be returning by the point.

However, it was Kournikova whose serve was finally broken in the seventh game, and the Williams sisters quickly pushed their advantage home, storming briskly through more than a dozen points to take the match.