EGX ends week mostly higher on Oct. 16    Egypt, Qatar sign MoU to boost cooperation in healthcare, food safety    Egypt, UK, Palestine explore financing options for Gaza reconstruction ahead of Cairo conference    Egyptian Amateur Open golf tournament relaunches after 15-year hiatus    Egypt's Kouchouk: IMF's combined reviews will give clearer picture of fiscal performance    Egypt will never relinquish historical Nile water rights, PM says    Oil prices rise on Thursday    Fragile Gaza ceasefire tested as humanitarian crisis deepens    Egypt explores cooperation with Chinese firms to advance robotic surgery    CBE, China's National Financial Regulatory sign MoU to strengthen joint cooperation    Avrio Gold to launch new jewellery, bullion factory in early 2026    AUC makes history as 1st global host of IMMAA 2025    Al Ismaelia launches award-winning 'TamaraHaus' in Downtown Cairo revival    Al-Sisi, Burhan discuss efforts to end Sudan war, address Nile Dam dispute in Cairo talks    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Al-Burhan renew opposition to Ethiopia's unilateral Blue Nile moves    Egypt's Cabinet hails Sharm El-Sheikh peace summit as turning point for Middle East peace    Gaza's fragile ceasefire tested as aid, reconstruction struggle to gain ground    Egypt's human rights committee reviews national strategy, UNHRC membership bid    Al-Sisi, world leaders meet in Sharm El-Sheikh to coordinate Gaza ceasefire implementation    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile actions, calls for global water cooperation    Egypt unearths one of largest New Kingdom Fortresses in North Sinai    Egypt unearths New Kingdom military fortress on Horus's Way in Sinai    Egypt Writes Calm Anew: How Cairo Engineered the Ceasefire in Gaza    Egypt's acting environment minister heads to Abu Dhabi for IUCN Global Nature Summit    Egyptian Open Amateur Golf Championship 2025 to see record participation    Cairo's Al-Fustat Hills Park nears completion as Middle East's largest green hub – PM    El-Sisi boosts teachers' pay, pushes for AI, digital learning overhaul in Egypt's schools    Egypt's Sisi congratulates Khaled El-Enany on landslide UNESCO director-general election win    Syria releases preliminary results of first post-Assad parliament vote    Karnak's hidden origins: Study reveals Egypt's great temple rose from ancient Nile island    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Egypt reviews Nile water inflows as minister warns of impact of encroachments on Rosetta Branch    Egypt aims to reclaim global golf standing with new major tournaments: Omar Hisham    Egypt to host men's, juniors' and ladies' open golf championships in October    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







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Tennis: Venus, Serena Williams 1 win apiece from Wimbledon final
Published in Ahram Online on 07 - 07 - 2016


Venus Williams sighed at the reporter's question.
After getting to her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009, and first at any Grand Slam tournament since a year later, she was asked what she learned in recent times, while dealing with an energy-sapping disease and a series of earlier-than-usual exits from majors.
''It's hard to say just one lesson,'' she began. ''It's easy to be afraid; you have to let fear go. Another lesson is you just have to believe in yourself. You just have to. There's no way around it. You've got to believe in yourself. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to, every time.''
Williams never lost that belief, the self-confidence that she still could compete at the highest level, the certainty that it made no sense to give up, to retire from the tour.
''The good part is, I always felt like I had the game. This is always a plus, when you know you have the game,'' said Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles, including five at the All England Club, but none since 2008. ''So you just have to keep working until things fall into place.''
At age 36, they have.
On Friday at Wimbledon, Williams will meet No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany for a berth in the final. Kerber has won three of their previous five matchups.
The American is the oldest woman to participate in a major semifinal since Martina Navratilova did it at Wimbledon in 1994 at age 37.
''It's nice to see, because she puts in the work,'' said David Witt, Williams' coach. ''She hasn't been back, but not because of her play. Any given tournament, she's capable of beating anybody in the tournament. It's just a matter of winning six, seven matches in a row and keeping your level of play at a high level.''
Someone who knows all about that is Williams' younger sister, No. 1-seeded Serena, who faces 50th-ranked Elena Vesnina in Friday's other semifinal. If Vesnina - who has never so much as taken a set off Serena in five previous meetings - were to pull off the upset, she would be the first unseeded woman to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open era, which began in 1968.
The 29-year-old Russian had never been past the fourth round at a major before this week.
Serena, meanwhile, is bidding for her seventh Wimbledon championship and, of even more significance, her 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall, which would equal Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era (Margaret Court holds the all-time mark of 24).
Serena has come close to drawing even with Graf before: At the U.S. Open last September, she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals while aiming for a calendar-year Grand Slam; at the Australian Open in January, she lost to Kerber in the final; at the French Open in June, she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the final.
Way back in 1999, the Williams sisters both reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Now here they are, almost 17 full years later, both in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 11th time. On all 10 previous occasions, one or the other took home the trophy.
If both win Thursday, they would play each other on Saturday in what would be the siblings' ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final and fifth at Wimbledon.
For Serena, it would mean she's participated in the last three major title matches, seven of the past eight.
For Venus, it would be her first Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost at Wimbledon to - guess who? - Serena.
''With everything she's been through, I think it's built a ton of character in her,'' Serena said, ''and in me, just by being around her.''
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