Venus Williams shook off a painful blister on her right palm and rugged Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, who took her the distance.
Serena Williams battled from a break down in the second set and staved off three set points before a crowd pulling for a Lindsay Davenport upset just as the Arthur Ashe Stadium throng earlier leaned toward Mauresmo.
But the Williams sisters will be together again for tonight’s prime-time U.S. Open women’s final as all predicted. It’s the third straight All-Williams Grand Slam final, the second straight all-Williams Open final and their fourth final meeting in the last five Slams.
Capping a run of five straight games to rally from a 5-2 hole, Serena set up the sister showdown by ripping a forehand winner smack on the baseline. Davenport made her sweat in her catsuit but now Serena’s in the catbird seat, looking for a third straight Slam title. Venus, meanwhile, outlasted Mauresmo 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
“I’m definitely the happiest man in New York; there were major scares for both girls,” Richard Williams said.
It’s really strange, though, that no matter how popular they each seem, most in the audience rooted for an upset.
Serena is the favorite; she has won the last two meetings and Venus is nursing a bad hand. But Venus is the two-time defending champion.
Asked about the emotions of playing her sister again, Venus said bluntly, “All in all, I’m really just here to try and take the title.”
Venus said any difficult feeling in facing Serena is over. “Where’s the problem? There’s no problem. It’s all in the mind,” Venus said.
“Venus is playing well and I’m playing allright,” Serena said after her 6-3, 7-5 victory was in the bag. “Venus doesn’t really have a weakness.”
Venus blew a 1-0 set lead over Mauresmo and was up a break in the second before almost letting it slip away. Venus needed to get her hand treated and then wrapped to ease her discomfort.
“It was hard to hold the racket at times,” Venus said. “It’s a new experience. I never had one on my hand before.”
Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, Venus dug herself a love-40 hole. But bad hand and all, she reeled off five straight points to close it out, all of her serves clocked at 112 mph or more. At 30-40, Williams got it to deuce with a 114 mph ace. She bashed a 122 mph service winner to bring on match point and won when Mauresmo hit a forehand wide.
Then Serena took over. After a first-set cruise, she was down 5-2 in the second before roaring back and breaking Davenport at love to go up 6-5. She got ahead 40-0, hopping up and down after making a forehand volley winner.
“I tend to play better when I’m down, more relaxed,” Serena said. “I was only down one break.”
