DOHA, Qatar - Can Venus and Serena win their respective semifinals on Saturday to set up the first all-Williams final at the Tour Championships?
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[7] Venus Williams (USA) vs. [8] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
Jankovic leads 5-4
You've got to hand it to Jankovic: she only booked her berth at the season finale eight days ago, and here she is in the semifinals. Sure, luck played a role in her round robin success, what with Dinara Safina's retirement at 1-1 in the first set - a valuable straight-sets win, nonetheless - and Caroline Wozniacki's obvious limitations yesterday. But good fortune is a valid component of sports, and beating a player who is clearly struggling physically is still a feat in itself. Jankovic's winning record over Venus should give the Serb extra confidence, on top of the fact that the defending champion has been fairly lacklustre so far this week (she's the first player since Amélie Mauresmo in 2003 to qualify for the semis on the back of just one round robin win). One of the 29-year-old's strengths, of course, is her ability to start a new day with a fresh slate. That means her title defense is still very much alive.
[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs. [4] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
S.Williams leads 1-0
Wozniacki actually held three match points in their meeting at Sydney last January, but while the 19-year-old has entered a new league since then, only the greatest optimist would expect her to get that close to Serena today. After her monumental win over Vera Zvonareva on Thursday, Wozniacki was a shadow of her usual self against Jankovic yesterday, and one of the key questions will be how much collateral damage was done to her recuperation. But, while no-one deserves her place in the semis more, Wozniacki won't expect an ounce of sympathy from Serena - at least not whenever the ball is in play. With her return to No.1 already confirmed, Serena is a woman on a mission to underline her supremacy. This week marks the first time the 28-year-old has ever won all of her round robin matches at the championships, and no doubt she's got even bigger things in mind.
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